- Desert Island Cloud Silent Mass: A Sonic Pilgrimage into Ethereal Darkness

Silent Mass invites disciples of Post-Punk, Ethereal Wave, Shoegaze, and 90s Alternative to a wailing wall of sound that is irresistible for anyone who has prayed for a darker and heavier Enya or is beckoned to embark on a sonic pilgrimage through territories claimed by The Cranberries, Chelsea Wolfe, Cranes, and Dead Can Dance.

In sun-drenched pre-pandemic Los Angeles, Silent Mass emerged as a solitary pursuit by Ammo Bankoff. Her debut single, a cover of ‘Total Recall’ that Big Takeover Magazine called “melancholic escapist dreamery,” was released in 2020 on Dune Altar as part of the charity compilation ‘Do You Feel That Way Too? A Tribute to Adrian Borland & The Sound.’ Shortly after, she relocated with audio engineer and guitarist Robert Duncan to join drummer and producer Alex Posell in NYC.

Encompassing haunting vocals and lush guitar lines with primal percussive rhythms that nod to Ammo’s punk-infused youth, Silent Mass released two more singles, ‘Rose + Crown’ and ‘A Cold War City’ in 2021. “Ammo recalls so many different artists (Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive), while not sounding particularly like any of them very much. This is melancholic loaded reverie, capable of entrancing you into Lynchian territory,” noted The Spill Magazine. Their latest single “The Great Chaos” “finds beauty in the spiral of self-discovery. It’s a love song about mourning a version of your past self,” proclaims Ammo.

Currently hailed as “ethereal Brooklyn goths” by Brooklyn Vegan, Silent Mass will get you into a “dreamy state” with a sound that has disseminated to sold-out shows as far as Berlin and Los Angeles. They have shared the stage with occult rockers True Widow and played NYC’s five-day New Colossus Festival. In honor of the Summer Solstice, their debut album ‘The Great Chaos’ is due to be released on June 20th, 2024.