///ABOUT - Silent Chaos

About Silent Chaos

Silent Chaos [Marta NoOne: modular synthesizer, vocals, FX, mixing, mastering, video programming – Ugo Vantini: electronic and acoustic drums and percussions, loops, samplers, field recordings manipulation, graphics] is an experimental audiovisual project founded in Rome, Italy, in 2016. They moved to Scotland in 2018, searching for inspiration and new challenges.

Their music feeds on non-linear time, on conceptual and performing circularity, ancient and futuristic sounds advance in a spiral-shaped way. Their sound is structured but not predictable, in an impromptu composition based on channelling through improvisation. Past, present and future times merge in ancient sonorities and electronic twistings. They released their debut album “Micro” through Eclectic Productions in 2017 and they were featured in four international compilations; the second album “Osclltr 012” was released in 2018 through Berlin’s label Osclltr Records. Their third studio album “Macro”, has been released on Spring Equinox 2020 for the label WDGAF.

Silent Chaos did sonorizations for various art exhibitions, composed for experimental theatre and live radio performances, and performed, with their audiovisual projects, at the Italian contemporary art museum MAAM and in various other venues between Italy and UK. Currently based in the North East of Scotland, Silent Chaos presented their composition “Schizophrenia in Schizophonia” in a live performance at the SERG Sonic Realities International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018 in Aberdeen, and performed at the King’s College Chapel of The University of Aberdeen; they performed with the A/V site-specific work “Permutations”, at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen, in Autumn 2018 for sonADA inTransit III; they performed at the Glasgow’s CCA for Cryptic Nights on March 2019 with the A/V project “Origins”; they’ve also performed “Origins” at Anatomy Rooms in Aberdeen for Listen Again Festival 2019, the fringe of Look Again Festival. “Origins” radio edit has been broadcast for Radiophrenia 2019. They performed for WAGON in the Japanese Garden of Duthie Park “The secret music of plants”, an electroacoustic performance which involves a plant connected to the modular synthesizer with biofeedback sensors, letting the plant generate music through the synthesizer. In October 2019 they performed “Origins” at Soundfestival in Aberdeen.

In October 2021 they participated with the composition “L’Oscuro Oceano dello Spazio Infinito“, originally commissioned by Soundfestival for the 2020 Festival, in the event SURROUNDSOUND: Sound Fountain at Marischal College, hosted by Soundfestival for British Art Show 9.

In Summer 2019 they were awarded the Alt-W Fund by New Media Scotland and Aberdeen Performing Arts, to produce a generative artwork for Aberdeen’s Music Hall giant LED screen. The exhibition has been postponed to 1 November 2021 because of the lockdown. With “Human AutomatArt” Silent Chaos fill the Music Hall with a bespoke network of different types of sensors, whose gathered data drive the digital painting visualised live on the screen.

Human AutomatArt is in Edinburgh from 9 to April the 24th 2022, 10am to 5pm, for the DataSphere exhibition, for Edinburgh Science Festival, at the National Museums of Scotland.

About Silent Chaos’ History

Marta NoOne is an Italian sound and visual artist, now based in the north-east of Scotland. Deeply interested in chaos and order interactions, human and machine connections, she’s engaged in an aesthetic-philosophical research that uses sounds and images to try to understand the current world. In this path she organized unconventional events of electronic music and contemporary art, as the electronic music festival “Electric Cirkus” in Rome, featuring more than 30 artists and an audience of more than 2000 people; she collaborated with several artists in live and theatrical performances, and produced original soundtracks for independent short films as “C-despair”.

She has a Sound Engineering diploma, an Ableton Live Producer diploma, and a Master’s in Sonic Arts obtained with her interactive audio-visual work “Aletheia”. She also works as a live and studio sound engineer.

Ugo Vantini is a musician, graphic artist and producer, born in Rome, Italy and based in Scotland, UK. He also worked in theatrical and cinematographic productions covering different roles such as sound engineer, assistant director, editor, cameraman. He always used his main instrument, the drums, to communicate his personal conception of musicality, through the use of atypical sonorities, phrasing and exploration of unusual expressive languages, that depict his sound visions.
He played since the beginning in musical groups, sometimes formed and produced by himself, that proposed music out-of-the-box, often with a strong connotation of improvisation, often collaborating with artists who shared his concepts of sound expressiveness and the use of complex polyrhythms. Recently the extended and integrated use of electronics, through the use of multiple pads, samples, field recordings, loops and effects, led him to use the drums in an even more organic way, expanding his stylistic style and enriching it with colours and sounds otherwise unreachable. He played in many music festivals, along with international artists, such as: Omaggio a Demetrio Stratos, Calcatronica, Risonanza, Progressivamente Rock Festival, Marechiaro Blues, Free Field Festival, Rock Progressive Festival Amnesty International, Electric Cirkus, Cryptic Nights, Listen Again Festival, fringe of Look Again Festival, and many more. He played with and produced bands such as Movie, Divae, VU Meters, Entropia and Entropia Techno Department. He played and collaborated with groups and artists such as Balletto Di Bronzo, Ezra Winston, Gary Green, Vittorio Nocenzi, Rodolfo Maltese, Twin Dragons, Nicola Alesini, EMusic and many others.

TESTIMONIALS

“The video for the opening track, “Nocturne on Ganimede,” provides a good introduction to their esthetic, especially given that visual presentations are part of their normal operation. Another great track is the album closer, “Adonai’s Calling - The Hail of God,” which actually does feature a beat at times, though it’s far from a typical electronic program. Silent Chaos may not be what you want to listen to every day, but with Macro they’ve released one of the finest abstract electronic (or electro-acoustic) albums I’ve heard.”

Jon DavisExposé - Silent Chaos — Macro (We Don't Give a Fuck, 2020, DL)

“The first performance at this year’s festival of the 'Late night soundsessions’ series saw Silent Chaos give an ever-impressive performance, showing off their prowess with electronic composition. The enigmatic duo, Marta Noone and Ugo Vantini, showed their full engagement with every aspect of their sound, manipulating vocal frequencies fed though a microphone and through their modular synthesiser. The drum samples triggered by Vantini’s hands were crisp, clear and well mixed. The sound was evenly balanced and had strong presence without relying on mere loudness alone.”

Samm AngaSound Festival - sound festival 2019 review: Bill Thompson & Silent Chaos

“Silent Chaos, Cotard’s Syndrome - The Waking Dead: this duo (Marta NoOne and Ugo Vantini) from the U.K. (Scotland, to be more specific, yet originating from Italy), with a modest discography on their roster, is little more experimental, resulting in a huge pallet of noises and sounds. Their track on this compilation shows their inventive approach. At the one hand, you have those samples, noises, Musique Concrète elements and field recorded sounds; at the other hand, Silent Chaos add many electronic devices and sequenced synth experimentation, with an ominous sphere as result. At the same time, it does sound mechanical yet also transcendental (even extra-terrestrial) in some way. …left alone in the vast outer space…”

Concrete Web, Various artists - Forgotten Abandoned Desolated (May 30, 2019)

“Part of the wonder of Origins is trying to work out how certain sounds are created. Silent Chaos, aka duo Marta NoOne and Ugo Vantini, who formed in Rome, make immense monolithic drones using modular synths, laptop, video and a whole panoply of unusual instruments. Their sound soothes, then warps. NoOne's voice rings out and is processed live, all integrated with tape loops, as distorted 3D images of heritage sites and figurines seem to vibrate. It becomes transcendent, a wholly meditative yet disorientating experience. Reviewed at CCA, Glasgow, Thu 7 Mar.”

The List, Cryptic Nights presents: Watchtower & Origins (Mar 11, 2019)

“The experimental nature of Silent Chaos’ AV make up forces the viewer to observe and question our relationship to technology; how it dominates so many of our lives and how it has enabled a disconnect with the natural world.”

The Wee Review, Cryptic Nights presents Watchtower and Origins at CCA (Mar 10, 2019)

“Stepping back to ancient times, Origins aims to regain freedom from technology to reveal ancient human archetypes and ideals that are becoming all but lost. Building tension between structured drones, steady drums and continuously changing and glitching visuals, Silent Chaos create a dark, dream-like environment where we discover a growing disconnect with nature and our true selves.”

Cryptic, Watchtower & Origins (Jan 16, 2019)

“Silent Chaos at the magnificent Kirk of St Nicholas, however, was an entirely different proposition. An inspiring set from the avant-garde electronic duo, perfectly fused with a futuristic light installation, created an ethereal experience.”

The Press and Journal, Not-so-silent nights in the city (Dec 22, 2018)

“The first duo to perform on Thursday were Ugo Vantini and Marta NoOne who work under the name of Silent Chaos. Synbals opened with Marta hitting a small bell like instrument and then Ugo Vantini began activating the cymbals by stroking them with thin chains. Later, Ugo used beaters or just the nails of his fingers to draw different sounds from his cymbals while Marta bowed the Dronin or sang notes, some of them remarkably deep, into a microphone. All these amazing things were amplified or reshaped electronically. The resultant sounds ranged from whispers to explosive roars. They sounded metallic, percussive, becoming almost orchestral or like a large choral extravaganza. Altogether it was new and hugely entertaining to both watch and to hear.”

University of Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen Concert Series 2018–2019 - SHIFT-ENTER An Evening of Sonic Arts (Oct 15, 2018)

“A jovem editora russa Distorted Void voltou este mês aos lançamentos através da compilação Forgotten, Abandoned, Desolated. Esta edição conta com oito temas de artistas distintos mas que têm em comum a exploração dos reinos do dark ambient e drone, e que poderiam facilmente servir como banda sonora dos trabalhos de realizadores como Maya Deren ou Guy Maddin. Cada faixa é uma excelente amostra da sonoridade de cada artista e recomenda-se a audição dos seus restantes trabalhos, como os novíssimos reworks de duas composições de Atrium Carceri pelo projeto NERATERRÆ, o disco Deathscapes do grupo Psionic Asylum, Osclltr////012 dos escoceses Silent Chaos, o já extenso catálogo de Noctilucant ou Dark voice Of Angelique, ou ainda os álbuns mais recentes de Moloch Conspiracy e Urs Wild, ambos editados pela Eighth Tower Records.”

João BarataTreshold Magazine, Stream: Forgotten, Abandoned, Desolated - Distorted Void Compilation (Jul 20, 2018)

“El dúo italiano Silent Chaos está formado por los geniales artistas Marta NoOne y Ugo Vantini, invitándonos en su nuevo álbum a sentir estos vientos sonoros underground transformados en dinámicos movimientos musicales de más de diez minutos de duración cada uno, salvo el último tema “Beyond Reality” con poco más de ocho. Cuatro espectaculares y sorprendentes temas vertebrando el álbum “Osclltr////012”, convertidos ya en una virtuosa demostración de talento musical mediante la inteligente utilización de equipos musicales electrónicos como los sintetizadores modulares o la batería electrónica.”

Félix V. DíazLux Atenea Webzine, SILENT CHAOS “OSCLLTR////012” (Jul 04, 2018)

“Silent Chaos livre dans cet album une musique dont les expérimentations sont à la fois riches et variées. Le duo déploie dans cet album des variations qui provoquent l’inattendu. Entre sonorités inédites, poésie électronique noire et sobrement évocative, Silent Chaos est parmi les groupes de musique expérimentale les plus intéressants. Si la part d’improvisation est sans doute importante, c’est la façon dont les musiciens savent jouer avec ces sonorités qui rend certains passages finalement classiques, tant le langage du groupe emprunte à différents genres de musiques, de la techno au dark ambient ou du Power electronics à la musique concrète.”

Heiðnir Webzine, Silent Chaos – Osclltr012 (May 12, 2018)

“Marta and Ugo surely have a bent for sonic explorations. This is a “you don’t know what to expect around the next corner” type of album. What is obvious from the very first listening to “Micro” is their affection for analogue means of expression. The sound is cold, but clear and sharp like a razor which serves the atmosphere they’re trying to create… an atmosphere that reminds me of dying technology long after it reached its peak and now slowly heads towards entropy.”

Santa Sangre Magazine, Silent Chaos – Micro (Apr 10, 2018)

“Fear and elevation. That's what this sounds like. It seems that SILENT CHAOS are attempting to bring the listener into their own brand of higher consciousness. The realm of metaphysics interpreted as a listening experience. Many artists have attempted this idea for many years... But few have been as successful as SILENT CHAOS.”

Corey PhillipsTraumatic Static REVIEW - SILENT CHAOS - MICRO - PRO CDR (Jan 25, 2018)

“Silent Chaos est un jeune duo italien – Marta NoOne et Ugo Vantini – estampillé sound art. Cet album pointu s’engouffre dans une recherche matériologique concernant la métamorphose des ondes, motifs et timbres sonores. Il s’appuie conceptuellement sur la cosmologie néoplatonicienne et sur les avancées théoriques et théo-philosophiques de Plotin, en particulier dans sa recherche sur l’articulation entre le fini et l’infini, le micro et macro, et les correspondances entre l’univers vivant, la totalité et la nature humaine. Par essence, cet album se dévoile à l’auditeur comme expérience sensible, cognitive et affective portant sur le son perçu comme un corps infiniment manipulable, modulable par des expérimentations soniques, mais aussi comme vecteur de spiritualité. Micro s’échafaude autour d’infinies mouvements, bifurcations, sonorités fractales et non localisables, en rhizome et admettant tout un ensemble de connections foisonnantes.”

MITHRA! Templezine, [Chrönique] Silent Chaos – Micro – Album – 2017 (Nov 15, 2017)

“With sheets of Doppelered synths, Silent Chaos returns us to the theme of King Midos’s imprisoned and deformed son. The famous labyrinth of Greek mythology. A countdown to the brokenhearted tears of a just ruler mourning his slain offspring. Here sorrowful, warped strings sag with longing against primitive pounded toms.”

J.B.[Chrönique] Various Artists – Labyrinth – Compilation – 2017 (Sep 10, 2017)

“Silent Chaos is a project I recently became familiar with through their album micro. Their track here, Daedalus of possibilities is one that comes from that same album. While it drips with significance on their own album, forming a very important part of their catabasis narrative, it forms an equally important but very different piece of the puzzle here. We are finally given some mythological connection in the anthology to the most well-known labyrinth of all time and the man that helped engineer an escape. The track grounds the listener once more, after spending several tracks meandering through our subconscious.”

Thelema Veritas, Dark Ambient Review - Labyrinth Anthology (Jul 03, 2017)

“Ipnosi è la parola chiave per definire quest'album (micro). - Nel frenetico mondo di oggi dove la musica è ridotta alla sua parte essenziale, il consumo rapido e veloce e la struttura semplice per essere ricordata il più facilmente possibile e quindi accessibile a tutti quanti, il lavoro dei Silent Chaos invita a fermarsi e riflettere presentandosi come una fagocitazione della società consumistica e una rielaborazione della stessa ad una pulsazione più lenta e dilatata.”

Nigredo, Silent Chaos - "micro" (Jun 19, 2017)

“La première chose qui interpelle chez Silent Chaos n’est rien d’autre que son nom. Le paradoxe évident que constitue un chaos silencieux donne déjà de sérieuses indications sur la teneur de la musique des italiens. Marta NoOne et Ugo Vantini ont mis leur travail en commun sous la bannière de Silent Chaos pour donner naissance à un album éprouvant, abscons, et diablement insondable. Cinq titres de belle longueur au programme, et une atmosphère pesante qui va crescendo au fil de l’écoute. En effet, micro a toutes les cartes en main pour vous offrir un voyage psychotique que vous n’êtes pas prêt d’oublier.”

Maxime DeruyHeidnir - Silent Chaos – Micro (Jun 18, 2017)

“As a matter of small recompense this is Italian duo Silent Chaos with a track prized from a new Eighth Tower gathering entitled ‘Daedalus of possibilities’. A hulking slice of darkening isolationist ambience cut to a sonic calibre not unlike those emanating from out of the dark side of the much admired Boring Machines imprint, the tones dense, tense and somewhat submerged in a hazy fog, prowl the shadowy terrains like some huge leviathan, amid the bleak oceanic swathes ghostly echoes on looped replay usher in and out creating an eerie atmosphere, ever deeper into the belly of the beast the sounds shift into a sharpening focus and a petrified perspective revealing sorrowfully sighing gloom draped spectral chamber opines, the effect it has to be said, forging a kinship with James Hamilton’s The Keraunograph Ensemble.”

the sunday experience - strange sounds for freakypeople, silent chaos (Jun 12, 2017)

“I cinque brani che caratterizzano questo esordio discografico - micro - espressione sintetizzata di un anno di concerti multimediali, performance teatrali e radiofoniche, prove e sessions di registrazionie - documentano perfettamente questo osmotico sodalizio, votato alla sonorizzazione inquieta e destrutturata, ma sempre seduttiva, grazie ad un magnetismo obliquo ed indiretto che accompagna incessantemente i quasi 50 minuti in cui si sviluppa l'opera tutta.”

JanusArtists And Bands - Silent Chaos - Micro (Jun 09, 2017)

“Silent Chaos clearly are musicians, you can tell from the quality of the sound and the production. micro is not a random assortment of sounds cobbled together with lots of loops and reverb to make it sound interesting and deep. Silent Chaos is not that sort of modern art rubbish. This is chaos with a purpose, a purpose so vague and shadowy that it may well seem like chaos to those of us who don’t understand, or can’t understand, would truly see it as chaos. In truth, even though the name of the project is Silent Chaos, everything on the album has an order. It is a wild assortment of sounds and loops and drones and percussions but each nail and screw is placed perfectly so. micro is order out of chaos.”

Thelema Veritas, Dark Ambient Reviews - micro - Silent Chaos (Jun 08, 2017)

“Gli ossimorici Silent Chaos si definiscono “un duo, o meglio, un tutt’uno musicale”. Sono Ugo Vantini, “cresciuto e sviluppato in un brodo primordiale denso di progressive rock contaminato dal jazz e dal classicismo” e Marta NoOne “che si è nutrita di musica industrial riecheggiante in costruzioni gotiche permeate di scariche elettriche”. Quello che fanno è musica elettronica estemporanea, dalla quale “affiorano echi di musica concreta, cori, suoni tribali, noise e ambient”.”

Manuel D'OrsoCollective Waste: Interwaste – Silent Chaos (Apr 09, 2017)

“Technically and visually art cover, production , complete design “descriptions”, deserve the highest possible positive ratings. Judging by the complex arranged sound and concept, the duo faced numerous electronic challenges, of which dark ambient, dark wave, and to a lesser extent noise/industrial tracks, are clearly visible. The themes of the tracks differ from each other, and the atmosphere is also different, as well as the not infrequent change of mood, which passes through the offered sound challenges. Silent Chaos have avoided the trap of “entering” or “passing” through different time frames, and their release can equally be treated as relatively modern, but also as one that embraces older expressive values.”

Branimir Lokner - Time Machine MusicSILENT CHAOS – “Pure Chaos”