VIOLENCE (sometimes stylized VILENCE, V†LENCE, or V†L£://CE) began as an art-house project by Los Angeles -based Olin "Palmtrees Caprisun" Caprison in 2010. A multi-instrumentalist, Caprison composes, produces, and performs for all of VIOLENCE's output. Their compositions are known for their complexity, often shifting between and combining multiple styles in single songs.
Caprison put out various releases on a number of internet labels and features on several physical compilations, such as Blasting Voice (curated by Ashland Mines for Teenage Teardrops), before pressing music onto physical media. VIOLENCE's first physical release, REPTILE/Hand-Me-Downs From Heaven, a two-part EP, was released by Steak au Zoo Records in 2012. In 2015, VIOLENCE became one of the featured artists of Mykki Blanco's DogFood Music Group, a project that showcased black artists working with unusual influences and styles. VIOLENCE had three tracks featured on C-ORE, DogFood MG's premiere compilation, and first performed in Berlin as part of the C-ORE tour. Their ferocious spoken word and caustic fusion of black metal, punk, and sweeping industrial stood out as one of the highlights. Subsequently, VIOLENCE released their EP, The Embrace of Enkidu and Gilgamesh, which was dedicated to reflecting friendship and its toils through a mix of hard body grime, morose noise, and celebratory anthems.
A Ruse of Power, Caprison’s first release on the NON Worldwide label, was labelled as “one of NON's biggest and most out-there releases yet” (Resident Advisor). In the summer of 2017, they released the cassette Human Dust to Fertilize the Impotent Garden on PTP. About this work they write, “my palette consists of the shattered micro-architecture of an unprejudiced, undiscerning, cosmopolitan, anti-culture massive music archive. A piece this, a piece that.” Caprison’s lyrical themes resonate from earlier experiences growing up in Baltimore, to meditations on life from primary viewpoints of the intersections between various cultures. Their live shows are all-consuming, deeply personal, campy, and visionary in their stylistic hybridity.