With "The Silence Industry," my long silence about various gems or stinkers from the vast music world comes to an end (once again). The self-imposed label "Gothic Rock" particularly drew my attention to this band; after all, I have already been influenced by artists like Fliehende Stürme or Adrian Benavides. So what does The Silence Industry offer?
The word "Industry" in the band name already gives a pretty good overview of what the band is supposed to sound like. In addition to the usual instruments, there is also a strong emphasis on electronic elements that create an "industrial" (is there actually a German word for this that doesn't sound totally awful?) sound. The band somewhat reminds me of "Depeche Mode" to start with, but they still have enough distinctive points of their own. "Depeche Mode" is just a small component of a large mosaic.
The vocals have been nicely processed through the mixing console, alongside the instruments. I even believe I can perceive a lot of "reverb," which makes the music not only sound more distant but also quite suitable as "background noise." When you also consider the long playtime and the moderately fast tempo, the music of "The Silence Industry" fulfills this task quite well. Particularly the songs "(Nightmare)" and "The Maw of Sleep (Barbituate Reverb Mix)" build on this, as they often forego vocals altogether. However, some of the songs sound as if the recording button was forgotten to be turned off, or one could simply accuse the people of trying to stretch the album's playtime. But here, everyone is likely to come to their own individual judgment. In my opinion, less would have been more. However, there are people who really dig this kind of thing, so my humble opinion is just one of many.
But there is still something standing in the way of a "background music" career: the excessive use of instruments.
Don't get me wrong: The instruments are damn good, just like the vocals. The problem is that in some songs and sections, the instruments are turned up so much that it sounds like a chaotic mess (similar to a Christmas shopping frenzy) that is completely out of rhythm and thus quite off-putting. The music becomes exhausting over time, and that should never be the case.
But if you overlook this point, "The Silence Industry" has crafted a very nice and listenable piece of music that takes a bit of the day's speed and plants it more in the form of colors and images in your head... and in a (mostly) pleasant way.
As special treats, I recommend "Insurgent Hearts," "Yours Is The Light," and "Living Of Precarity."
