The Knife: Silent Shout Release Date: July 25, 2006 Label: Mute U. S. www.silentshout.co.uk Rating:

If there is one thing about The Knife that seems to linger in my mind after listening to their new album “Silent Shout,” it’s the idea that I’ve never heard anything like it in my life.

The Knife, a brother and sister who hail from Sweden, have put together 11 tracks that are not only mind blowing, but also immensely deep and reverberate long after the album ends.

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Their sound is a collection of electronic beats, warped voices and sinister lyrics bound to send shivers down your spine before making you tap your toe and nod your head to the sonic assault.

The album starts with a thudding base that quickly traverses into a synth scatter storm that skips across the track “Silent Shout.” The grooving dance tunes continue with songs like “Neverland,” which pulse with energy.

The catchiest song on the album is “We Share Our Mother’s Health,” without a doubt. The drum machine rattles and notes clank harshly as Karin Dreijer’s voice wrestles with her own voice deepened through voice manipulation. The effect is stunning and used without being gimmicky.

“Marble House” sways with synthesized castanets and ghostly voices that echo as she sings of the desire to escape confinement.

By the end of the album, Silent Shout has worn you down and left you exhausted. “Still Light” is the perfect bookend to close this chapter, evoking the last moments of a person’s life asking if it’s still light outside.

Dreijer said the alterations in her voice through the album were made to represent the different personas represented in the album. It’s these alterations to her voice that make this album a unique experience as she becomes the voice of a sailor, a sickly person and a scared housewife among many others.

Whether the songs come crashing through the gate or sneak up on your ears, “Silent Shout” is relentless in its drive to satisfy. It is difficult to describe the album to a full extent because it was born through pure originality.

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While words might fail to adequately express the beauty of “Silent Shout”, one thing is for certain – you’ve never heard anything like this before.