ABOUT 156/SILENCE 156/Silence makes intense, foreboding, and haunting music. Their songs are cinematic, blending brutality with intellect. They draw on real and imagined terror, all woven into melody and power. Vocalist and lyricist Jack Murray, guitarist and primary songwriter Jimmy Howell, guitarist Ryan Wilkinson, drummer Kyle O’Connell, and bassist Mike Ernst form a formidable unit, forged through shared passions and losses since the band’s earliest incarnation first formed in Pittsburgh in 2015. 2024’s crowd pleaser, People Watching, was a watershed moment, boasting breakout anthems “Better Written Villain” and “Character Development (Cold Start).” Distorted Sound wrote, “There is enough in the band’s repertoire to not only keep you entertained but also keep you guessing.” From a Distance, its spiritual sequel and the band’s first album with Pure Noise Records, ups the ante with gut-wrenching depth and atmosphere. Their sixth album is dark and ponderous yet triumphantly self-assured. (It follows the devastating standalone single “Our Parting Ways,” released in 2025 in loving tribute to longtime bassist Lukas Booker, who passed away unexpectedly earlier that year.) The group’s reputation as a live force of nature was earned on the road, where they deliver audience connection and sonic devastation while touring with the likes of The Devil Wears Prada, Chiodos, Fit For A King, Counterparts, Silent Planet, and The Acacia Strain, among other contemporaries. Produced by Josh Schroeder (King 810, Lorna Shore, The Plot In You), From a Distance finds 156/Silence heavy as hell, while leaning into atmosphere, mood, and emotional impact even harder. The group reverently namechecks classic game scores like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and the heady concepts of prestige TV like Twin Peaks (a sample from Apple TV’s Severance opens the album). Murray’s lyrics remain keenly observational, personal, and incisive. From a Distance serves as a bold thematic companion to its predecessor. While earlier records often documented tension at close range, From a Distance observes from a wider vantage point, examining social behavior, celebrity worship, intrusive thoughts, and interpersonal connection with steely focus. That authenticity is crucial to the band’s ever-growing audience. No two 156/Silence albums are alike, from the unhinged frenetic chaos of Undercover Scumbag (2018) to the gloriously savage and technical Irrational Pull (2020), which Metal Hammer likened to Converge and Botch. The diverse ruminations found in Narrative (2022) took things even further. BrooklynVegan called that album “bolder and richer” and “an exciting step forward for [the] band.” People Watching continued the prolific outfit’s tradition of steadfast evolution and innovation. Revolver praised the dark melodic edge of the Animal Farm-inspired “Better Written Villain,” declaring, “156/Silence may have just penned an instant classic of their own canon.” As Howell points out, they’d never really tried singing choruses and hooks prior to People Watching. “It went so well that we decided to double down on that.” From a Distance also features guest appearances from some formidable vocalists: Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada, Alex Reade of Make Them Suffer, and Tony Castrati of Crippling Alcoholism. It also cranks up the soundscapes. “I look toward bands we love that grew with their listeners, like Thrice and Bring Me The Horizon,” Howell says of their continuing creative mission. “They have a sound, but they grow and change. Some bands are comfortable repeating the same thing again. I don’t want to do that. I want to make you feel the way you do when you hear one of those important bands, without sounding like them.” Murray describes the title track as “a love song” and “probably the most Twin Peaks-inspired song.” From a Distance cuts deeper into People Watching’s lyrical heart. “Proxy Idols” tackles celebrity worship. “Order & Entropy” contemplates maintaining focus amid the utter devastation of things falling apart. “Swept from Under (Call of the Void)” sees Murray wrestling with intrusive thoughts. “They tell you to hurt yourself, even when you don’t feel bad,” he says. “It’s just the ever-looming shadow of weird and intrusive thoughts, and negativity, of just being swept from under by the void.” From straightforward hard rock to synth-heavy experimentation and all the way back to the band’s deadly mathcore roots, 156/Silence have established themselves as unbound by any genre limitation. “We could go anywhere now, and that’s the goal,” Howell says. “Nothing is ever off the table.” | 
