Supersilent

Motorpsycho's keyboardist Helge "Deathprod" Sten recorded also with improvisers Supersilent (keyboardist Stale Storlokken, trumpet player Arve Henriksen and percussionist Jarle Vespestad). They debuted with the triple-CD 1-3 (september 1997 - Rune Grammofon, 1998), the massive manifesto of their violent and cacophonous jazz-rock. Their aesthetic was more reminiscent of Borbetomagus and the Mnemonists than of free jazz. 1.1 is a ten-minute collage of vocal samples, dissonant instruments, electronic noise and tribal drums, followed by a 12-minute wall of noise (with varying degree of impetus), followed by seven minutes of drums-driven jazz-rock jamming. The cacophony turns dramatic in the 14-minute 1.3, a stunning example of dynamic soundsculpting. 1.4 is the exact opposite: a relatively calm and rational jam grounded in a thick tapestry of percussive sounds. The second album opens with an unusually slow and subdued piece, 2.1, with sparse drumming, a confused synthesizer and a distorted horn attempting a melody. The virulent and chaotic 2.2 restores their reputation, but overall the second disc is less apocalyptic than the first. 2.5 has 16 minutes of spastic drumming and violent noise, followed by a divine five-minute solo for electronic drilling sound, and then a seven-minute coda of more extreme "drum and noise". The highlight of the third disc is the 25-minute 3.3 that has subtler approach to mixing wild dissonance with wild dissonance, extreme noise with extreme noise. There is a more careful juxtaposition of timbers, and less reliance on drumming. When the drums appear, after eight minutes, the tone has been set for a hyper-kinetic jam of acoustic and electronic noise. Then Supersilent's gift for ignoring all musical laws is set loose, and the cacophony reaches the levels of the first disc. The 20-minute 3.4 is its alter-ego, relying on simpler constructs and milder sounds with more drumming presence and less electronics.

4 (Rune Grammofon, 1998) veered towards a oneiric fusion of doom-metal and Miles Davis. 4.1 is a mini-concerto for microtones until it awakens in a sort of castrated jazz jam. The nine-minute 4.2 is a blurred nebula of exotic rhythms, chirping instruments, droning organs, more reminiscent of Jon Hassell than of avant-noise ensembles, despite the crescendo that leads to a tribal bacchanal. The first hint of Supersilent's deranged aesthetic comes with ten-minute 4.3, but even this piece is unusually restrained chaos, with emphasis on percussion. Even the orgiastic 18-minute 4.6 exudes a jovial atmosphere that evokes Latin-American beaches rather than hell.

5 (november 2000 - Rune Grammofon, 2001), recorded live, further solidified their status as founders of a new form of music, at the border between free-jazz and post-rock. The 20-minute free-form jam that opens the album begins as a dialogue between evil subsonic hisses and theremin-like ethereal squeals, barely disturbed by sparse random percussion. As the furnace-like noise increases, fueled by pointless wailing horns, a mega-distorted guitar intones its terrible "om" to the skies. The following eleven-minute track plays mostly at very low volume, sculpting a soundscape of wavering keyboards and minimal instrumental sounds. That liquid, shapeless format mutates into the noir chamber jazz of 3 (14 minutes): fragments of melody surface from the moaning, whining, groaning mass of slow-motion sounds (even though the five-minute coda is a crescendo of frenzied cacophony). 4 seems to toy with even more minimal sounds, barely "sounding" anything at all. Harmony disappears in the asymmetrical vortex of the closing, 17-minute 5, another essay in infinitesimal music made of scant tones and feeble percussion.

Building on the emotive strength of its predecessor, and surrendering part of its stubborn looseness, 6 (december 2001 - Rune Grammofon, 2003) achieved an otherworldly balance of moods and sounds in six compositions (not only improvisations) of subtle counterpoint. Supersilent's fusion of electronica, jazz, noise and rock secretes the harsh, dissonant merry-go-round of 1 (eleven minutes), whose multiple "lead" instruments careen blindly together and blend into an organic stream, sounding like the tune of a music box being warped as it travels through massive black holes; the frenzied chatting among digital metallic devices of 3 (13 minutes) that degrades to a mostly silent ambience and then grows to an explosive finale; digestive robot soundtrack
More than in any of the previous albums, moments of simple pathos abound: the Jon Hassell-ian trumpet that moans alone in a raga-like space (vaguely reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun) throughout 2; the intense organ lines that sets 4 on fire, again straddling the line between psychedelic and dissonant music; the stoned "chanting" over out-of-tune piano and funereal synths of 6, that ends the album on an angelic note.

Supersilent's trumpet player Arve Henriksen released the solo albums Sakuteiki (Rune Grammofon, 2003), a parade of ambient-jazz pieces for trumpet, harmonium and percussion (all played by him), and Chiaroscuro (Rune Grammofon, 2004), recorded with percussionist Audun Kleive and digital/electronic musician Jan Bang, that adds his voice to the mix. Strjon (Rune Grammofon, 2007), mainly scored for trumpet, electronic keyboards and wordless singing, struck a balance between Supersilent's death-jazz and Henriksen's original ambient-jazz.

Il tastierista dei Motorpsycho Helge "Deathprod" Sten ha registrato con gli improvvisatori Supersilent (il tastierista Stale Storlokken, il trombettista Arve Henriksen e il percussionista Jarle Vespestad). Hanno pubblicato: 1-3 (Rune Grammofon, 1998), imponente manifesto del loro violento e cacofonico jazz-rock, 4 (Rune Grammofon, 1998), che vira in direzione di una fusione onirica fra doom-metal e Miles Davis.

Più che in ogni altro album precedente, abbondano i momenti di puro pathos: la tromba à la Jon Hassell che geme solitaria in uno spazio quasi raga (con vaghe reminescenze di Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun dei Pink Floyd) per tutta la durata di 2; le intense linee d’organo che accendono 4, ancora al limite fra psichedelica e musica dissonante; il canto sbronzo sopra un piano stonato e un funereo synth in 6, che termina l’album su di una nota angelica.

Supersilent's fifth album of "death-jazz", 8 (august 2005 - Rune Grammofon, 2007), following a dvd titled 7 (august 2004), collected shorter performances and was the most ethereal yet of the series. The first five pieces embraced a "gentler" form of ambient cacophony, although 1 and 5 slowly built up to monumental noise, The overall feeling was that Supersilent was returning to a more "humane" form of chamber music, a suspicion confirmed by the most original piece, 6, that sculpted an eerie atmosphere with shrill vocals and jarring glitches. 7, instead, erupted into the usual pummeling chaos, although throwing vocals into the mix.

Deathprod is the solo project from Supersilent's and Motorpsycho's keyboardist Helge Sten, mostly devoted to chamber electroacoustic music. Treetop Drive 1-3/ Towboat (Metal Art Disco, 1994) contains the three-movement 33-minute Treetop Drive and the 18-minute Towboat, two works of abstract electronic soundsculpting. Morals and Dogma (Rune Grammofon, 2004) pushed his sordid manipulations into the digital age. Using low-tech home-made recording devices, and emphasizing the very limitations of those devices (the hiss of an old tape recorder, or the distortion of a defective sampler, or the deteriorating sound of a digital-to-analog transfer), and then mixing them with live instruments, Deathprod de facto ventured into digital chamber music. The four-disc box-set Deathprod (Rune Grammofon, 2004) collects all his recordings since 1991.

Humcrush, the duo of Food's drummer Thomas Stronen and Supersilent's keyboardist Stale Storlokken, released Humcrush (2005) and Hornswoggle (Rune Grammofon, 2006)

On's Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night (Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'Acier, 2004 - Type, 2009) was a collaboration between French composer Sylvain Chauveau and Pan American's percussionist Steven Hess, remixed by Helge Sten of Deathprod.

Deathprod's ideology dominated 9 (march 2008 - Rune Grammofon, 2009), that disposed of drummer Jarle Vespestad and featured the other three (Arve Henriksen, Stale Storlokken and Helge Sten, aka Deathprod) alternating on keyboards. The result was glitchy rhythm-less ambient music.

10 (2010), Supersilent's second album as a trio (Arve Henriksen on trumpet and laptop, Ståle Storløkken on piano and keyboards, Helge Sten on guitar, keyboards and laptop), contains unreleased tracks from 8's sessions and some mediocre new material. More material from 8's sessions surfaced on 11 (2010).

Deathprod's Imaginary Songs From Tristan Da Cunha (Rune Arkiv, 2012) mainly collect a live performance of The Contraceptive Briefcase II for large choir.

Supersilent's trumpetist Arve Henriksen reunited his three Norwegian albums, Sakuteiki (2001), Chiaroscuro (2004) and Strjon (2007), on the seven-LP boxset Solidification as well as new album Chron. In between was Cartography (2008), scored for a large ensemble, notably Jan Bang (live sampling, samples, programming and arrangement), David Sylvian (voice, samples, programming), Eivind Aarset (guitars), Lars Danielsson (double-bass), Erik Honor‚ (synthesizer, samples, field recordings, choir samples), and probably his best work so far.

Supersilent's trumpetist Arve Henriksen collaborated with Belgian drummer Teun Verbruggen for Black Swan (september 2010). He led sextet on Places Of Worship (Rune Grammofon, 2013): Jan Bang (samples, programming), Erik Honore (samples, synth bass, synthesizer), Lars Danielsson (double bass), Eivind Aarset (guitars), Jon Balke (piano) and Ingar Zach (percussion). His Cosmic Creation (Rune Grammofon, 2014) is an eight-movement suite.

Supersilent's 12 (Rune Grammofon, 2014), their first album in four years, but recorded in 2011, was performed by Helge Sten, Stale Storlokken and Arve Henriksen.

Supersilent's Helge Sten released Monochromes (Bolt, 2015), containing three compositions by pianist Tomasz Sikorski: the 4-movement 14-minute Quads, the 16-minute title-track and the 22-minute Solitude Of Sounds,

Supersilent's 13 (2016) seems to contain leftovers from previous sessions as well as new material. There are several moments that could lead to a major album, although mostly not developed deftly enough. The relatively quiet 13.1 sounds like clowns playing/mocking folk shanties. The funny keyboard sounds that open 13.5 turn into a stormy conflation of a broken Bach record and a drum'n'bass record. The twelve-minute 13.7 unleashes screaming distortions and gloomy chords that sculpt a noir/horror atmosphere (unfortunately cartoonish vocals ruin the last three minutes). The 13-minute 13.9 is the most free-form bacchanal of the album but the noise has a direction, like a soaring emotion that cannot find words to express itself, so much so that the effect is similar to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, albeit with melodies replaced by braids of roaring distortions. It is one of their best compositions/improvisations in a while,

Alas, 14 (2018) was another disappointing album: 12 brief vignettes in a facile pseudo-ambient style.

Il quinto album di ‘’death-jazz’’ dei Supersilent, 8 (agosto 2005 – Rune Grammofon, 2007), in seguito ad un dvd intitolato 7 (agosto 2004), raccoglieva performance più corte ed era il più etereo delle serie fino a quel momento.

I primi cinque pezzi abbracciavano una forma più ‘’gentile’’ di cacofonia ambientale, anche se 1 e 5 conducono lentamente ad un rumore monumentale. La sensazione complessiva era che i Supersilent stessero ritornando ad una forma più ‘’umana’ di musica da camera, un sospetto confermato dal pezzo più originale, 6, che scolpiva un’atmosfera inquietante con voci stridule e glitch stridenti. 7, invece, eruttava nel solito caos travolgente, anche se con parti vocali nel mezzo.

Deathprod è il progetto solista di Helge Sten, tastierista dei Supersilent e dei Motorpsycho, perlopiù devoto alla musica elettroacustica da camera. Treetop Drive 1-3/Towboat (Metal Art Disco, 1994) contiene la traccia Treetop Drive, di 33 minuti e in tre movimenti e Towboat, dalla durata di diciotto minuti. Due lavori di astratta scultura elettronica del suono. Morals and Dogma (Rune Grammofon, 2004) spingeva le sue sordide manipolazioni fino all’età digitale. Usando dei dispositivi di registrazione casalinghi e low-tech ed enfatizzandone i forti limiti (il sibilo di un vecchio registratore, le disorsioni causate da un campionatore difettoso, o il suono che si deteriora di un convertitore digitale-analogico) e mischiandoli con degli strumenti suonati dal vivo, Deathprod si avventurò de facto nella musica digitale da camera. Il box-set di quattro dischi Deathprod (Rune Grammofon, 2004) raccoglie tutte le registrazioni dal 1991.

Humcrush, il duo di batteristi dei Food Thomas Stronen e il tastierista Stale Storlokken, rilasciarono Humcrush (2005) e Hornswoggle (Rune Grammofon, 2006). Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night (Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L’Acier, 2004 – Type, 2009) è frutto di una collaborazione tra il compositore francese Sylvain Chauveau e il percussionista panamericano Steven Hess, con il remix di Helge Sten dei Deathprod.

Le idee di Deathprod dominavano 9 (marzo 2008 – Rune Grammofon, 2009), del batterista Jarle Vespestad e che vedeva la partecipazione di altri tre musicisti (Arve Henriksen, Stale Storlokken e Helge Sten, aka Deathprod) che si alternavano alle tastiere. Il risultato è della musica ambient malfunzionante e priva di ritmo.

10 (2010), il secondo album dei Supersilent come trio (Arve Heriksen al laptop e alla tromba, Ståle Storløkken a piano e tastiere, Helge Sten alla chitarra, alle tastiere e al laptop), contiene tracce non rilasciate dalle sessioni di 8 e del nuovo e mediocre materiale. Altro materiale dalle sessioni di 8 è stato rilasciato in 11 (2010).

Imaginary Songs From Tristan Da Cunha (Rune Arkiv, 2012) di Death Prod raccoglie perlopiù una performance dal vivo di The Contraceptive Briefcase II per grandi cori.

Il trombettista dei Supersilent, Arve Henriksen, ha riunito i suoi tre albm norvegesi, Sakuteiki (2001), Chiaroscuro (2014) e Strjon (2007) nel boxset di seven-LP Solidification e nel nuovo album Chron.

Nel mezzo c’è stato Cartography (2008), scritto per un grosso complesso musicale. Tra coloro che vi hanno partecipato spiccano Jan Bang (campionatore live, campionatori, programmazione e arrangiamento), David Sylvian (voce, campionatori, programmazione), Eivind Aarset (chitarre), Lars Danielsson (doppio basso), Erik Honor (sintetizzatori, campionatori, registrazioni sul campo, campionatore dei cori), e probabilmente il suo miglior lavoro.

Il trombettista dei Supersilent Arve Heriksen ha collaborato con il batterista belga Teun Verbruggen per Black Swan (settembre 2010). Ha guidato il sestetto in Places Of Worship (Rune Grammofon, 2013): Jan Bang (campionatori, programmazione), Erik Honore (campionatori, basso sintetizzato, sintetizzatore), Lars Danielsson (doppio basso), Eivind Aarset (chitarre), Jon Balke (piano) e Ingar Zach (percussioni). Il suo Cosmic Creation (Rune Grammofon, 2014) è una suite in otto movimenti.

12 dei Supersilent (Rune Grammofon, 2014), il loro primo album insieme dopo quattro anni di pausa, è stato registrato nel 2011 ed eseguito da Helge Sten, Stale Storlokken e Arve Henriksen.

Helge Sten dei Supersilent ha rilasciato Monochromes (Bolt, 2015) che contiene tre composizioni del pianista Tomasz Sikorsk: Quads, lunga 14 minuti e in 4 movimenti, la title-track di 16 minuti e Solitude of Sounds, di 22 minuti.

13 dei Supersilent (2016) sembra contenere scarti provenienti da precedenti sessioni così come nuovo materiale. Ci sono alcuni momenti che potrei ricondurre ad un album importante, anche se molti non sono sviluppato in modo abbastanza convincente. La relativamente calma 13.1 suona come dei clown che prendono in giro i canti popolari. Il divertente suono della tastiera che apre 13.5 si trasforma in una tempesta burrascosa di una registrazione rotta di Bach e in una registrazione drum’n’bass. La traccia 13.7, di venti minuti, libera distorsioni urlanti e accordi cupi che scolpiscono un’atmosfera noir/horror (sfortunatamente, il canto cartonesco rovina gli ultimi tre minuti). 13.9, baccanale di 13 minuti, è la traccia dalla forma più libera dell’album, ma rumore ha un senso, un’emozione crescente che non riesce a trovare parole per esprimersi, a tal punto che l’effetto è simile ad una colonna sonora di Ennio Morricone, anche se le melodie sono rimpiazzate da concatenazioni di distorsioni ruggenti. Una delle composizioni/improvvisazioni migliori dei Soundsilent da un po’.

Ahimé, 14 (2018) è stato un altro album deludente: 12 brevi brani in un facile stile pseudo-ambient.