Silentist – House On The Hill EP CD

Silentist – House On The Hill EP CD

"Daring to bridge the divide between Conlon Nancarrow, Henry Cowell and Painkiller, Silentist were the brutal prog vision of American multi-instrumentalist Mark Evan Burden (formerly of Get Hustle and Glass Candy). Active from approximately 2004 to 2009, Silentist were based in Portland, Oregon, and issued four EPs and a self-titled album, all but one published via Burden's own label Celestial Gang Records. Burden married blackened deathgrind with 20th-century avant-garde classical, executing advanced piano techniques over beds of blastbeats.

Burden was the sole ringleader for the project's first two EPs, handling strings, piano, drums and screams. By 2006's House on the Hill EP, Silentist became a duo with the addition of vocalist August Alston (of Apraxic, Lords of Light and many others). Near the end of the 2000s, bassist Dustin Ferris (of Hounded Wounds) was recruited for their live sets, wherein all three musicians performed to Burden's pre-recorded piano backing tracks.

A fascinating footnote in Portland's vibrant indie music history, Silentist found fans with the likes of Osees' John Dwyer and Deerhoof's Ed Rodriguez; underground extreme music label Crucial Blast colourfully described their style as "Rick Wakeman jamming with Dave Lombardo," with like-minded blog Antimatter Halo adding, "sorta like Lubomyr Melnyk channelling Swans."" - Prog Archives