Biography
Despite their moniker suggesting quietude, the Finnish ensemble Silent Voices produces music defined by intensity and drive rather than restraint or delicacy. Force and aggression rank among the ensemble’s core elements as participants in the power metal resurgence that drew a devoted following across Western Europe during the 1990s and 2000s. The group favors weight and heft yet avoids gratuitous noise or sheer brutality of the sort common in metalcore, death metal, black metal, or grindcore. Their considerable volume nonetheless supports melodic and musical qualities comparable to those once displayed by headbangers such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Ronnie James Dio in the 1970s and 1980s. In common with other European power metal revival acts that surfaced in the 1990s, Silent Voices deliberately revisits metal’s pre-1990s, pre-Nevermind period without apology. Although power metal supplies their principal orientation, the Scandinavians also draw from 1980s thrash metal and progressive rock, thereby merging an eclectic range of sources. Primary inspirations include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Queensrÿche, all regarded as foundational within the power metal revival, alongside Rush, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Kansas from the progressive side and Metallica, Megadeth, and Venom from the thrash side, the latter sometimes cited by historians as the second thrash or speed metal band after Motörhead. Like most Scandinavian metal outfits, Silent Voices have composed exclusively in English despite originating in a nation where English is neither the dominant nor the official language.
The band originated in Kokkola, Finland, in 1995 when guitarist Timo Kauppinen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen joined keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg and drummer Jukka-Pekka Koivisto; several years afterward, following the circulation of early demos, Michael Henneken joined as permanent lead vocalist. Their initial official recording after Henneken’s arrival was the self-released EP Memory and the Frame, tracked in 1998. They next issued the single “You Got It/Human Cradle Grave,” which Low Frequency Records, a Vantaa-based Finnish metal label, placed on several compilations. In 2001 Silent Voices signed with Low Frequency, which maintains a licensing arrangement with Phoenix, Arizona’s Crash Music, and the label issued the group’s debut full-length album, Chapters of Tragedy, in 2002. The following year Silent Voices recorded their second album, Infernal, in Helsinki; Low Frequency released it across Europe in June 2004, after which Crash Music brought it out in the United States in September 2004.
The band originated in Kokkola, Finland, in 1995 when guitarist Timo Kauppinen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen joined keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg and drummer Jukka-Pekka Koivisto; several years afterward, following the circulation of early demos, Michael Henneken joined as permanent lead vocalist. Their initial official recording after Henneken’s arrival was the self-released EP Memory and the Frame, tracked in 1998. They next issued the single “You Got It/Human Cradle Grave,” which Low Frequency Records, a Vantaa-based Finnish metal label, placed on several compilations. In 2001 Silent Voices signed with Low Frequency, which maintains a licensing arrangement with Phoenix, Arizona’s Crash Music, and the label issued the group’s debut full-length album, Chapters of Tragedy, in 2002. The following year Silent Voices recorded their second album, Infernal, in Helsinki; Low Frequency released it across Europe in June 2004, after which Crash Music brought it out in the United States in September 2004.
Albums
Singles
Live
