“I have been lucky enough to do gigs with both of these wonderful drummers, in duos and larger ensembles. I am very excited that they have come together to record a duo album. Chris Sharkey has done a wonderful job recording them, we are placed very near the drums and thus perceive all overtones and subtle shifts in timbre, including the swishing sounds emanating from manipulated cymbals.

We hear Emil Karlsen’s kit on the left-hand side and Mark Sanders’ on the right. Their styles are individual but compliment each other beautifully. Each track showcases a wide range different areas from textural sustained sonics to polyrhythmic contrapuntal dialogues. Sometimes we hear sounds shift slowly from left to right and back again, whereas on other occasions we hear moment by moment interactions where fleeting sparks drift very quickly across the stereo field. The interplay is consistently wonderful and very musical. Emil and Mark have known each other for several years and comprehend each other’s playing very well. The selected material/vocabulary is carefully chosen, and the result is a fantastic drum duo album full of variety. The playing is virtuosic throughout, but never at the expense of musicality.” Phil Durrant (December 2022)

“Brilliant drumming by two fearless artisans; hearing, resounding the real world around us. Truth is in our ears.” – Chris Searle, The Morningstar

Remarkable exploratory dialogue of the sound and expressive possibilities of percussion, a jungle of signs and gestures where the listener can let loose his curiosity and his imagination. – Jean Michel Van Schouwburg

Karlsen and Sanders engage in a dialog and play off of one another, but do so individualistically and to the point that either’s drum track taken alone would be an interesting listen – Mike Borella, Avant Music News

The album offers six distinct and patient, intimate and free-flowing conversations of like-minded, inventive rhythmic explorers, ranging from polyrhythmic, contrapuntal dialogues to sonic explorations – Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

One has the feeling that one is sitting in the front row at a concert hearing all the different nuances in the playing. – Tony Dudley Evans

“I strongly believe that Muted Language will become very important in the fresh catalogue of Bead Records.” – Fotis Nikolakopolous, Freejazzblog

Polyrhythms galore seem to be the currency of the underlying structure and the proximity of the recorders to the drum kits creates a concert-like soundscape, as every nuance of the hinted undercurrents or trace of an overtone is felt as a variation to the overall resonance. The drummers’ interplay relationship is finely complementary, characterized by and demonstrating an incomparable technical skill in music. – Ken Cheetham, Jazzviews 

RELEASE DATE 23/04/23

Mark Sanders – drum kit
Emil Karlsen – drum kit

Recording, mix and master – Chris Sharkey
Liner notes – Phil Durrant
Recorded: 4/5/2021