A refractory material used in refractory furnace liners, combustion chambers, baffles and artificial fire logs includes alumina silicate; an additive comprising at least one of silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide, boron nitride and silicon carbo-nitride; and a binder. The refractory material is light weight, has a high noise reduction capacity, is fire resistant and has a reduced silica content. In a most preferred embodiment, the additive makes up 50.0% to 55.0% of the material by weight, the binder makes up 4.5% to 5.0% of the material by weight and the linear shrinkage of the material is no greater than 3.5% at 2600° F. A preferred binder is colloidal silica although many others are suitable. Preferably, the material is free of cellulose fiber and sodium silicate.