156/SILENCE RELEASES NEW ALBUM "FROM A DISTANCE". (ALBUM REVIEW)
- 54 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Pittsburgh atmospheric metalcore powerhouse 156/SILENCE has released their sixth full-length album FROM A DISTANCE via Pure Noise Records. The 12-track record follows 2024's PEOPLE WATCHING, but this isn't the band trying to make the same album twice. FROM A DISTANCE is heavy as hell in all the right places, while leaving plenty of room for synths, piano, clean vocals and the type of dark atmosphere that makes you feel like something is standing behind you.
There's always something extra rad about seeing a Pittsburgh band continue to level up. 156/SILENCE formed here in 2015, and vocalist Jack Murray, guitarists Jimmy Howell and Ryan Wilkinson, drummer Kyle O'Connell and bassist Mike Ernst have turned that hometown foundation into one of the most unpredictable sounds in modern metalcore.
Produced by Josh Schroeder, whose resume includes Lorna Shore, King 810 and The Plot In You, the album feels cinematic without sacrificing the band's ability to turn a room into a pile of moving bodies. The horror-inspired sounds of RESIDENT EVIL and SILENT HILL meet the off-kilter worlds of TWIN PEAKS and SEVERANCE, making the whole record is like a collection of songs on the soundtrack to a nightmare that you willingly keep replaying.
Opening track CONTROL BURNS starts with a sample from SEVERANCE and slowly lets the tension crawl into the room before the guitars and drums take over. It doesn't kick the door down right away; it stands outside and makes you nervous first. NO ARMS follows with this cold, almost shoegaze-style groove before shifting into the kind of chaos that reminds you exactly which band you're listening to.
ORDER & ENTROPY is one of the best examples of the balance 156/SILENCE finds across the record. Dreamy, melodic sections give way to a breakdown that feels like the floor dropping out from underneath you. The song's theme of trying to keep your focus while everything around you falls apart makes the change between calm and chaos feel even more fitting.
SWEPT FROM UNDER (CALL OF THE VOID) takes that darkness somewhere much more personal. The track wrestles with intrusive thoughts and the unwanted voice in your head that tells you to self-destruct even when you don't want to. It's uncomfortable subject matter wrapped in a song that still absolutely rips, and that emotional weight makes the heavy parts hit even harder.
The middle of the record keeps twisting the formula. AN EARLY EXIT leads into COLLATERAL featuring Tony Castrati of Crippling Alcoholism, a creepy industrial-leaning track that sounds like machinery coming alive in a pitch-black factory. Then CANNON FODDER brings in Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada. His voice doesn't feel pasted onto the song for the sake of having a big guest name; it fits into the layers of screams, piano and guitar like he has always been part of the band.
SECRET ROOM pulls the atmosphere back to the front before PROXY IDOLS comes in swinging. The latter tackles celebrity worship with a mechanical pulse, huge guitars and a breakdown built for a room full of people to lose their minds. PHOENIX DIES might be one of the album's biggest curveballs, jumping between haunting melody and outright brutality without either side feeling forced.
The title track FROM A DISTANCE features Alex Reade of Make Them Suffer and acts like the calm eye in the middle of the storm. Piano and delicate vocals give the album its most vulnerable moment before the weight starts creeping back in. It is a love song filtered through TWIN PEAKS, which might be the strangest and most accurate way to describe how pretty and unsettling it feels at the same time.
AFTER DUSK closes the record with electronic textures living underneath another final blast of metalcore. Instead of tying everything into a neat little bow, the song leaves the atmosphere hanging around after the album ends. It's the musical equivalent of shutting off a horror movie and still checking the hallway before you go upstairs.
We could go anywhere now, and that's the goal. Nothing is ever off the table.
That quote from guitarist Jimmy Howell says everything about FROM A DISTANCE. This isn't PEOPLE WATCHING PART TWO, even if the two albums share some DNA. There are more clean vocals, more electronic sounds and more moments where the band lets a song breathe before crushing it. Some longtime fans might need a few spins to adjust to the more melodic side, but that's also what makes the record feel like an actual step forward instead of a copy-and-paste sequel.
FROM A DISTANCE is dark, weird, emotional and crushing. It has enough breakdowns for the pit, enough hooks to get stuck in your head and enough strange little details to make every listen feel different. My standout tracks are NO ARMS, ORDER & ENTROPY, CANNON FODDER, PHOENIX DIES and the title track, but this is one of those albums that is best experienced from front to back with the lights down and the volume way up.
You can stream or purchase FROM A DISTANCE and check out the official video for FROM A DISTANCE featuring Alex Reade below!
FROM A DISTANCE TRACKLIST:
Control Burns
No Arms
Order & Entropy
Swept From Under (Call of the Void)
An Early Exit
Collateral (feat. Tony Castrati of Crippling Alcoholism)
Cannon Fodder (feat. Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada)
Secret Room
Proxy Idols
Phoenix Dies
From A Distance (feat. Alex Reade of Make Them Suffer)
After Dusk
Sep. 9, 2026 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Sep. 10, 2026 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows
Sep. 11, 2026 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
Sep. 12, 2026 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
Sep. 13, 2026 - Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club
Sep. 15, 2026 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
Sep. 16, 2026 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Sep. 17, 2026 - Winter Park, FL @ Conduit
Sep. 18, 2026 - Jacksonville, FL @ The Albatross
Sep. 19, 2026 - Greenville, SC @ Radio Room
Sep. 20, 2026 - Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life
Sep. 22, 2026 - Dallas, TX @ Puzzles Deep Ellum
Sep. 23, 2026 - San Antonio, TX @ The Rock Box
Sep. 25, 2026 - Mesa, AZ @ The Rosetta Room
Sep. 26, 2026 - Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
Sep. 27, 2026 - Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post Roseville
Sep. 29, 2026 - Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
Sep. 30, 2026 - Kansas City, MO @ RecordBar
Oct. 1, 2026 - Chicago, IL @ Reggies Rock Club
Oct. 2, 2026 - Detroit, MI @ TSDMAAC
Oct. 3, 2026 - New Kensington, PA @ Preserving
Oct. 7, 2026 - München, Germany @ Backstage
Oct. 8, 2026 - Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof Wiesbaden
Oct. 9, 2026 - Hamburg, Germany @ Docks
Oct. 10, 2026 - Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Effenaar
Oct. 12, 2026 - Vienna, Austria @ Simm City
Oct. 13, 2026 - Leipzig, Germany @ Felsenkeller Leipzig
Oct. 14, 2026 - Praha, Czechia @ ARCHA+
Oct. 16, 2026 - Köln, Germany @ E-Werk
Oct. 17, 2026 - Antwerpen, Belgium @ Kavka Zappa
Oct. 18, 2026 - Paris, France @ Élysée Montmartre
Oct. 20, 2026 - Bristol, United Kingdom @ Electric Bristol
Oct. 21, 2026 - Leeds, United Kingdom @ Project House
Oct. 23, 2026 - London, United Kingdom @ Electric Brixton
Oct. 24, 2026 - Manchester, United Kingdom @ New Century Hall
Oct. 25, 2026 - Birmingham, United Kingdom @ O2 Institute Birmingham
Feb. 3, 2027 - Fremantle, Australia @ Freo.Social
Feb. 5, 2027 - Hindmarsh, Australia @ The Gov
Feb. 7, 2027 - Melbourne, Australia @ Forum Melbourne
Feb. 10, 2027 - Bruce, Australia @ UC Hub
Feb. 11, 2027 - Moore Park, Australia @ Liberty Hall
Feb. 12, 2027 - Newcastle, Australia @ King Street Hotel
Feb. 13, 2027 - Brisbane, Australia @ The Tivoli
You can check out more info on 156/SILENCE in the links below:
156/SILENCE
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