Originally written by Jason Jordan.
Acceleration was my favorite album of 2004, which means that I was the obvious choice to review the latest incarnation from the supergroup Age of Silence. A little over a year since their debut dropped, fans are now blessed with Complications – Trilogy of Intricacy EP, and I’ve been scurrying to get a handle on the latter. In my “research,” I’ve arrived at numerous conclusions that are as follows: I’m simply not as taken with the EP as I am the LP, the material at hand seems like a halfhearted epilogue or addendum than a full-fledged substantive outing, and I think the decision to record an EP – rather than spend time writing a longer opus – was perhaps premature and, in effect, detrimental to Age of Silence in the long run.
As one can facilely surmise from the title, three songs grace the disc and they form fifteen minutes as a whole. To my knowledge, the band’s lineup has remained the same since Acceleration, so all the attributes are invariably similar. Lazare (Solefald, Borknagar) still provides his rousing unusual vocals, Winter (Winds) is still at the heart of the compositions as a result of his keyboard interjections, and Hellhammer (Mayhem, Arcturus, Winds) still provides the rhythmical backbone. The others – Extant (guitars), Kobbergaard (guitars), and Eikind (bass) – are definitely in tow, but audiences generally flock to a project due to its big-name players. The compositions, then, are on par with previous material as far as structure, style, and technique go, though “The Idea of Independence and the Reason Why It’s Austere,” “Mr. M, Man of Muzak,” and “Vouchers, Coupons and the End of a Shopping Session” don’t measure up to the quality of their forefathers. The ambience hasn’t been shattered altogether, just cracked, and the musical performances feel…sluggish. To reiterate for emphasis, Complications – Trilogy of Intricacy EP rarely varies from the modus operandi applied to its predecessor, which essentially means the transition from Acceleration to this is quite comfortable. However, in my opinion, the full-length towers over copious albums, and said EP is just one of many records that is confined to living in the shadow of its ancestor.
With that being said, you probably know what’s to follow in the summation. Those who hold Age of Silence in high regard will have no travails becoming accustomed to their latest excursion. I, for one, wished they would’ve waited longer, recorded an elongated sophomore outing, and sat back to relax. Also, I fear eager music-goers (new word; get over it) will resort to twiddling their thumbs until these guys muster yet more time to pen a less disappointing effort. Not exactly the vivaciousness I was hoping for, but a decent EP nevertheless.
