Silenus are building their own world from Long Island. Their imagery and art feels like the Hell in the religion of a tribal cult that worships the ground, fully aware of what’s underneath. The video for “The Garden Is Burning” pulls the imagery from “The Calf” from the dark into a more complete light.
In their own words, “This is raw, a true reflection of self. This is us from root to limb.” Whether that quote refers to this video, song or the EP for which it serves as title track matters not. One view will enrapture you in what they call “this primal force that is Silenus.” The band, formed in 2015, continue, “We’ve finally created something that matches how we feel as a whole. There’s an energy to Silenus and each of us feel it every time we play, write and record. We want other people to feel that too.”
They’ll also feel off-put, as the video brings to mind 2019 horror cult classic (in the making) Midsommar. The panic-inducing metallic hardcore also features some haunting vibes. Far from what metalcore became, the singing is low and rumbling, yet similarly effective—a spectre hovering in your peripheries.
Silenus’ goal is much more direct, yet insular.
“The differences between our previous release and The Garden Is Burning are time and concept. Our previous release focused on our conflict with environment, while The Garden focuses on the growing conflict with self: the subtraction of the outside world and into our own. This project takes all that we were trying to convey with our previous release and amplifies it, This is not only a more enraged Silenus but a matured one as well. If Life Out of Balance was a flesh wound; this is the deathblow.”
Listen and watch at your own risk in the player below.
The Garden Is Burning EP is out tomorrow via Daze Records. You can buy it on CD, as well as a poster and Silenus shirt, via the label.