Tystnaden

Tystnaden is a band from Italy that I discovered several years ago. Though they've been around since 1999, it seems they've never achieved any significant amount of recognition, to the point that they don't even have an entry on Wikipedia and when I type their name into YouTube the first thing that comes up is a Swedish movie from 1963. In fact, I believe the band was named after this movie, if I remember correctly. Though the band is Italian, the word 'tystnaden' is not - it is actually Swedish for 'silence'

This isn't a band I've followed very loyally over the years. In fact, I didn't even know until just now that vocalist Laura De Luca left the band, which apparently happened a couple of years back. Laura was the vocalist on all of their album releases, but their Facebook page now has a ton of photos of new vocalist Giada Etro, who seems to have been performing live with the band as far back as 2013. That's what I get for not paying attention. That being said, I can't offer any opinions on Giada's vocals, as I've never heard her sing. Laura, on the other hand, had a very distinct voice and accent. The accent was a little strong for me, as it seemed she didn't actually speak English that well (and all of their lyrics are in English) but I do think she is a quality vocalist and can't be faulted for her accent. I can only imagine how horrible my accent would sound if I attempted to sing in Italian!

Anyway their music has been a bit hit-or-miss with me, but they do have several songs that I think are fantastic. They are touted as gothic metal, but some of their music is a bit too nu-metal sounding for my taste. However, not all of it is. I think that fans of bands like Epica and Lacuna Coil might like Tystnaden as well -- if they are fond of clean female vocals mixed with male grunty/growly vocals.

One thing that I really like in their music is how certain songs have very obvious Italian elements. One of the cool things about metal bands existing all over the world is when bands include elements of their country's traditional music in their metal.

Here are a few Tystnaden songs I really like. The first is a beautiful ballad that really speaks to me musically and lyrically. The other two are just really cool metal songs that also feature those Italian-sounding elements I spoke of.