Supersilent

Supersilent are THE most incredible artists to come out of Norway today. Even though their sound is rooted (ever so slightly) in jazz, they remain unique and practically indescribable. Imagine yourselves Wolf Eyes jamming with Sun Ra trying to play Godspeed You! Black Emperor covers, but not following any rules (feel free to mix and match artist names here). And even then, that would not be a very accurate description. Some of the group's albums could be categorized as noise while others are at the complete opposite side of the scale and resemble ambient music and yet, you wouldn't mistake them for anybody else (if that's not the best compliment you could give an artist, then I don't know what is!). Each member of the group plays an important role in keeping a certain balance in their sound (which sometimes feels like it could just fall apart at the drop of a needle), even though the slightly higher profiled Helge Sten (also known as Deathprod) is a core member of the group and takes care of the group's "audio virus". Trumpeter/vocalist Arve Henriksen is also quite impressive with his unorthodox use of his instrument.

Being a fan of the aforementioned Deathprod project by Sten, I had already heard of his participation in Supersilent, but I never bothered to listen. It was only after I had found a copy of 1-3 at half-price during a Christmas sale that I went ahead and bought my first Supersilent record (without having even heard excerpts of songs). What a revelation when I finally put the first CD in my stereo. This was some intense shit! It completely blew me away and I've been a Supersilent junkie ever since. I purchased everything they put out (before moving back to Quebec, Canada knowing very well that I would have to pay the exorbitant import prices once over there) and the rest is history.