This silence was never so loud

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A while ago, a popular music publication published its countdown list of “live acts you must see before you die”, as such publications often do. After a detailed examination of the list, a friend ended up rubbishing the top five acts in the list, and then asked this correspondent for his own such list. After initially declining to participate in such a banal and done-to-death exercise, he came around after the friend pressed for at least a few names. Rammstein and The Prodigy would obviously be up there, as would Slipknot, but there’s this one band, this correspondent remembers saying, that would sit atop that pile; unfortunately, people would never get to see that visual spectacle.
These once-uttered words had to be eaten (with a generous sprinkling of salt), as news began filtering in at some point in early January that the high energy British crossover metal band One Minute Silence was reforming. Any notions of these being rumours were quickly smashed, as Brian “Yap” Barry (vocals), Massimo “Massy” Fiocco (guitars), Glen Diani (bass) and Martin Davies (replacing Eddie Stratton on drums), announced that they were indeed back (after over seven years in the wilderness) with a tour and new material planned.
“The timing and our headspace was just right,” says Massy and adds, “We had met in 2007 to see if we were up for starting One Minute Silence again, but we knew it wasn’t the right time. Then, in 2010, there was no convincing needed from anyone. We were all ready to step on stage again as OMS, and felt we were on the same page musically.”
Raising a fistful of issues through its music, the band was considered to be the angriest band in UK at one time. Will they reclaim that throne? “Well to be honest, we’re not angrier people. In fact, we’re all a lot more chilled and positive. I guess that’s because our anger and energy is more honed. Knowing what to say and when to say it is far more productive!” explains Massy.
The quartet that started up in the early 1990s, was originally called Near Death Experience, but had to drop this moniker after it came to light that there was one French and one American band who had the same name. And so, the band picked “One Minute Silence” to lampoon the practice of compulsorily having to observe a minute of silence as a mark of respect when “someone important or well respected dies”. This name travelled across Europe and the US, as the band slowly began to generate a cult following with their debut album Available in All Colours, which was distinctive for its bouncy sound, having been mixed by a hip hop producer.
In 1999, after original guitarist Chris Ignatiou left the band, young Massy entered the fray. “I was a fan of the band when I joined and feel so lucky to have had that experience. Being in a band with musicians of whom you are a fan, was just mind-blowing for a 19-year-old,” he explains.
Over the course of the next few years, OMS put out more two albums — the heavy-as-lead Buy Now, Saved Later and the multi-textured and varied One Lie Fits All. The band went all out to support these albums with some of the most back-breakingly long tours and incendiary live shows. The most notorious of these shows is of course, the 1999 gig and London’s Highbury Garage, where the 600-strong audience ripped this iconic live music venue to shreds at the supposed behest of the band. While Yap clarified that there were no such instructions issued by the band and the riot was a result of misunderstandings and miscommunication, the band had to shell out the expenses and was banned from the venue. But, that sort of ugly riot was to be a mere one-off.
In addition to an explosively hyperactive stage presence, the band’s live performances were always notable for the way the crowd was made a part of the show, whether it be the massive churning circle-pits or the band’s pit crew that went through the crowd, starting mosh-pits and curiously enough, making three-man-tall human pyramids and leaping off the top of them and into the crowd. “I’ll always remember playing the Manchester Evening News Arena with Slipknot and it was a sold out show,” says Massy and continues, “We started playing (the song) 16 Stone Pig and the circle-pit got so big that everyone started moving out (from the floor) to the stands. And I remember Clown (Shawn Crahan from Slipknot) standing at the side of the stage and just shaking his head in disbelief.”
At the top of its game and firing off vitriolic salvos from the lip of the stage at Tony Blair, George W. Bush and everyone in between and with the toilet circuit (a collection of shady venues at which up-and-coming acts perform) left behind a long time ago, 2003 looked to be OMS’ year. But, in October that year, like a bolt out of the blue, a message that resonated with a deathly air of finality was put up on the band’s website. Yap, Massy, Glen and Eddie were off in their own separate directions to pursue other interests and projects. “We’re still in love, we’re just not married anymore,” said the message. And that was that.
“I missed playing live with a great band to be honest. A tight rehearsal would have been good enough! Just playing with like-minded musicians is a hard thing to find,” recalls Massy and adds, “We’ve all been on pretty big artistic journeys since the hiatus. True art really is about who you truly are and what you’re truly feeling. We’re all really hungry for it right now so I feel it’s going to produce our best stuff to date. The combination of hunger and experience is extremely lethal! We’re looking at an early 2012 release date for the fourth album.”
On January 10, this year, the band officially announced that it was reassembling itself. With one change. Eddie of the flailing hair and limbs, who could make the most infernal racket with a simple rickety old four-piece drumkit, even while standing atop his drum stool, would not be a part of the band. Severely affected by coeliac disease, Eddie would no longer be able to drum. “Martin is incredible, a real virtuoso. We haven’t really played any of the old material together, so it’s hard to make a precise judgment. But, with all due respect to him, no one could ever fill Eddie’s shoes for me. I’ve lost one of my heroes and I miss him in the band dearly,” says Massy.
While the band has been jamming over the past few months, the Italian guitarist confides that OMS has yet to even play a full song together. “We’ve only jammed a few new ideas. It’s been difficult because Glen and Martin live in Bradford, while Yap and I are in London. So we’ve been passing over files via the Internet,” he says and continues, “We’re in writing mode at the moment, but as soon as we have half our live set ready, we’ll start rehearsing.”
Speaking of live sets, among some of the live shows that the band is planning to play this year, one of the biggest is the Sonisphere Festival (alongside Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer), but what of an India tour? “When we heard that there was a healthy metal scene in India, we all thought, ‘No ****ing way! That’s going to be awesome!’. It’s only a matter of time (till an India tour),” says Massy.
Ahoy, alternative music magnates and promoters, you know what to do!