The Silent Era Release A Killer Album

A massive album release from The Silent Era manages to deliver a soundscape that blends the heavier elements of alternative rock with the edginess of industrial undertone, powerful and anthemic vocals, and this sort of gritty but sonically driving guitar tone that pushes the envelope.

The Wide And Deep And Cold album wastes very little time pulling you into their world with the opening track "On The Run", which starts delivering some of the staples that you are bound to hear more of as the album unfolds.

The track comes in with that unique guitar tone, which is one of the strongest and most unique attributes of the album itself. The drums are absolutely driving and roll forward, giving the song this huge forward momentum, and the vocals are just robust right from the start.

Now, although this track and a few others might give you a gist of what you can expect on the record, this is not the type of album you skip around with.

Listening to one or two tracks on this record will not give you the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole. This is important because this record is like an escape. There are more than a few surprises around its corners, and if you listen to it from start to finish, it is an engulfing experience that is completely awesome.

Songs like "Strange To Me" pull together such immense intensity and overdrive that it hits an almost dirty feel, but does so with a melodic underbelly, and again, these beautiful vocals that just have this incredible energy level, which matches the band itself, so each element of these songs pushes the others.

The drums push the guitars and bass, the guitars and bass push the vocals, and it all comes together with this closed-fisted, hands-in-the-air, anthemic powerhouse kind of feel, but it still holds to that raw kind of edgy tonality.

So,, you're getting a lot of crossover feels and sounds throughout the record. Again, there are these heavier elements that show more of an alternative rock feel, but there are also heavy elements that bear more of an industrial kind of sensation. The combination of those two elements works so amazingly with the way the vocals are portrayed and delivered that it comes through with its own atmosphere.

Once you're in this atmosphere, you don't want to leave.

The record spans 10 tracks plus an intro and is about 49 minutes long, and if you listen to the whole thing from beginning to end, you get pulled away from wherever you are and whatever you're doing and dropped into this other world for a chunk of time.

The world that you're dropped into is heavy, melodic, impactful, soulful, and is put together with fewer boundaries than you may be used to.

These are the elements that I love about this album.

There are very few walls built around these songs, and although you can tell there was a lot of attention to detail during their creation, none of the songs lose that persona or character throughout the entire thing, which may be the most important aspect of it all.

When you tear into it, some of these lyrics are very personal and come from authentic places, which lets you connect in certain ways, but most of the time, they tell stories.

I personally am more of a music guy than a lyric guy but, I was pulled in lyrically quite a few times here.

Aside from that, it's just the way things are delivered that really holds the impact. This is inventive, and songs reach outside the box quite often but still have amazing arrangements.

That overdrive is killer and helps the album reach a certain kind of height.

Levels of intensity come in waves throughout the record's course, and it really is quite an experience. When it's all over, you have to snap yourself back into reality again, and that is something I've missed.

This is an album meant to be heard as an album. It's also meant to be heard loudly because it's one of the best ways to soak it in.

With the release of such a well-woven album, we wanted to have a chat with The Silent Era to talk about where the soul came from and what may be next for the band.

Here's what happened.

Buzz Slayers: Let's talk about the Wide and Deep and Cold record! This was such a great album that hit strong grunge, riot-rock, garage, and way more! Where did this record come from?

Bri Macanas: Cheers! It’s wild hearing the different labels people find in the noise we make. The album definitely crawled out of some murky places, particularly the lovely global pause we all endured. A lot of the lyrical themes wrestle with those intense emotional states, the isolation, introspection and big changes. It felt like excavating some ghosts, and thankfully the heavy, atmospheric sounds the guys were creating were the perfect soundtrack for that kind of haunting. You can really feel the pressure and push for air in the new "Oscillations" video, actually – it brings the whole album journey into sharp focus visually.

Buzz Slayers: I'm hearing a few different approaches on this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Nicolas Zappa: In no specific order and just to name a few obvious ones that come to my mind now, NIN, The Cure, Deftones, Chelsea Wolfe but also some of the shoegaze and the industrial scenes, and a lot of artists you can’t really hear the influence in the music itself but it’s more in the approach, the heritage of David Bowie is a major thing for me.

BM: Nic’s covered the big shared ones. For me vocally, it’s less about specific bands and more about singers who aren’t afraid to be raw and vulnerable. Think the catharsis of Milena Eva, the atmospheric power and elegance of Amaya López-Carromero, or the epic cool of Alison Mosshart. It’s about conveying that deep, sometimes uncomfortable emotion honestly, and bringing some attitude while doing so.

Buzz Slayers: Are you guys performing live right now? Any touring in support of this release?

NZ: Yes, we have a couple of gigs lined up around London. We’d like to play more outside of London, and bigger events, ideally tour with more established bands, but it’s not an easy task if you don’t know the right people or don’t have the money to pay to play (terrible model, should be illegal) and afford touring. Whilst we’re working on this, we started to organise our own events called “We Only Come Out At Night”, where we invite other bands and fundraise for charities. We’re very DIY.

BM: Getting gigs is like trying to nail reverb to a wall sometimes. We seem to confuse promoters because we don't fit neatly into one box. Are we goth enough? Industrial enough? Too heavy? Not heavy enough? It’s exhausting. We know the audience is out there – people who want something dark and atmospheric but still intense. That’s why running our own ‘We Only Come Out At Night’ gigs is so important to us; we curate the vibe ourselves and connect with amazing bands who get it. We’re determined to carve out that space. Honestly, the energy we finally captured in the "Oscillations" video is exactly the kind of immersive, slightly chaotic experience we want to bring to more stages beyond London – we just need the right opportunities!

Buzz Slayers: Did you guys record this in a home studio setup, or did you go to a big studio for this?

NZ: Both. Drums and 90% of the guitars were recorded in a proper studio (Brighton Electric Studios) as we could experiment different amps, snares, mikings, get their beautiful room sound, but everything else, vocals, bass, synths, more guitars were done at home, so was the mix. Again, we’re very DIY. I think it makes the whole experience more interesting as well as the end results. That’s how you can differentiate yourself from others, including your biggest influences. 

BM: Yeah, my vox were definitely a 'home studio' affair – which basically means finding the quietest corner of my flat, probably surrounded by laundry, trying to channel deep emotional turmoil in a cupboard. There’s a certain raw energy, maybe desperation, you can only capture when you know someone might start drilling at any second. Adds to the charm. You can probably hear the existential dread quite clearly on the album. That was the aim, anyway... 'Matter Of Time' spells it out pretty well!

Buzz Slayers: Now that this is out, what's next for the band?

NZ: Well, that’ll be keeping on promoting the album. But we’ve already started to write the next songs. It’s quite early in the process but expect some differences in the mood compared to our previous releases, but it’s all logical.

BM: Yeah, promoting the album continues, especially now that the 'Oscillations' video is out giving people a visual entry point into our world. Plus plotting more WOCOAN nights and figuring out how to realistically flood more basements.  

Buzz Slayers: Are you planning any music videos in the near future?

NZ: We just released our first one for “Oscillations” https://youtu.be/SjZl20PKtMU (directed by Lola Atkins). There will be more for sure, now I can’t tell much about it because we haven’t planned anything yet. 

BM: We literally just released 'Oscillations' and that feels huge for us - our first proper visual statement! Seeing how that connects the music, and the themes visually makes us hungry for more for sure!

Buzz Slayers: Who's in all your headphones right now?

NZ: Right now, while answering your questions, I’m listening to a band called Glare, very good. But I’ve been listening to other recent releases lately such as Osnova, The Spoiled, Wet-Man, Oranssi Pazuzu, Model/Actriz, I like Ministry’s “squirrely” versions of their old songs too and the soundtrack of The Substance.

BM: My headphone time is usually filled with podcasts about science and skepticism or supernatural experiences. Musically though, I’ve been revisiting Spotlights and Healthyliving – they both nail that heavy/dreamy balance. Also really loving the latest from bands like Iress and Elephant Tree, just incredible atmosphere and intensity.

Buzz Slayers: Was writing and recording this album a big undertaking? How long did it take to finish this?

NZ: Hard to tell because we did it piece by piece, between writing and recording it’s all very spread out. Some tracks were written about 2 years before we recorded the first tracks. But I’d say once we had gotten drums and guitars done in the studio in February 2024, everything else went in motion to record everything else and mix, which was completed in July, then mastered, with the artwork being made in the meantime. We had to do photos as well, and produce a bunch of documents, like bio, album press release etc for the label so they could schedule the release on the 1st of November. 

It was a lot of work, I don’t know if people realise that. Because besides the artistic aspects of creating music and its production, it’s a lot of organisation, planning, budgeting, and other things. But it is much more satisfying than having everything made with generative AI, right? 

BM: Yeah, it kind of was, yes..! Nic covered the timeline, but yeah, the emotional excavation required for the lyrics alone felt like years, though it was all simmering beneath the surface. Then translating that into performances, recording between life chaos, mixing… it’s a marathon, not a sprint. People see the finished album, or the video now, but the sheer admin, anxiety, and endless tweaking behind the scenes is intense. It’s a miracle bands finish anything, frankly. But nothing beats holding the final thing, knowing you wrestled it into existence!

Buzz Slayers: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

NZ: It’s human. It’s a journey. It’s pretty emotional and might be confusing for those who are looking for singles. We tried to make an interesting record, which is why purists will probably not like it but if you have a taste for melancholic stuff and have an open mind, you should get it.

BM: It's quite a journey, we think. Very textured, human, and definitely reflects some uncomfortable feelings. We weren't aiming for easy listening or radio hits, but more for something immersive, something that might resonate if you appreciate music that leans into darker, more introspective moods. The "Oscillations" video gives a really good sense of that overall world, maybe check that out first if you're curious?

Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

NZ: Just thank you.

BM: Absolutely, massive thank you! Seriously, anyone who takes the time to listen, watch the video, share, or just gets what we’re trying to do, it means everything. Especially when you feel like you’re screaming into the void sometimes (like when your friends engage more with your holiday pictures and ignore your heart and soul..). Stick with us, there's more darkness (and reverb) to come.

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Thanks guys!