Back in 2003 a band called Violent Silence released their debut album through Musea, and I promptly decided that I wasn’t a fan and said as much at the time. Of course, that didn’t stop them, and they have since released a couple more albums, and Hidden Lands came into being in 2012 and this is the third album since then. What is the connection? Well, Bruno Edling (vocals), Hannes Ljunghall (keyboards and guitars) and Philipp Bastin (bass) all appear here, and were also all involved with the Violent Silence debut all those years ago. It’s only drummer Gustav Nyberg who is the odd one out. I hadn’t realised the history of the band until I sat down to write the review, as I always listen to music without any preconceived ideas, and often only read the press release or research the band after I have played it through a few times.
I’m really glad I did that this time, so that my previous dislike for Violent Silence didn’t taint my feelings for Hidden Lands: I don’t like this one either. I wasn’t a fan of the vocals when I first came across them all those years ago, and the same is true in 2017. Also, there seems to be a distinct lack of musical ideas, so that the listener often seems to be treading water. Having long songs and being able to play your instruments well doesn’t necessarily make your music appealing, and that is what I found here. The guitars aren’t to the fore enough, and everything seems to have been suppressed and taken back as opposed to being brought forward and being dynamic. I have seen some rave reviews over this album, but I am used to being in the minority and just can’t get on with this at all.
