Based in Stockholm, Then Comes Silence was founded by Alex Svenson in 2012, originally inspired by frequent touring with A Place To Bury Strangers and an attraction to horror and the occult. Today he is joined by drummer Jonas Fransson and Hugo Zombie (Los Carniceros del Norte) on guitar. Then Comes Silence`s seventh album `Trickery` is released this month which celebrates friendship, unity and the feeling of belonging to a group, a tribe. This latest release was recorded in just three days in Kapsylen Studio in Stockholm.
The album opens with `Ride or Die` which has a rhythmic pulsing beat and guiding bass line with vocals that almost unemotionally call for a commitment to a cause, as yet unspecified. A kind of rallying call where the narrator expects unconditional devotion or death. All Hallows eve appears to be the setting for `Like A Hammer` with an uneasy expectation of what the night has to offer as one`s heart pounds like a hammer in expectation. A dreamy offering with an underlying sense of unease.
`Feel The Cold` is kind of chillingly mesmerising with a constant synth pulse and drumbeat allowing the vocals to piece the icy heart of this track. We have a thumping nigh on swaying foot tapping texture throughout `Tears and Cries` with Emma Nylén from Emmon adding a complementing vocal on this slightly anxious offering.
`Stay Strange` has a much more straight forward goth tinged post punk vibe about it where you expect it to share a guitar solo but instead reveals a brief slightly unnerving musical fairground segment before returning to it`s previous path. There was a kind of gothic cult classic ambience to `Stiffs` which leads you along fairly gently before some occasional combatant sections shake you to life. It concludes with a strangely odd musical box come fairground organ mood.
The idiom of `Blind Eye` equates to the ignoring of undesirable information and this is what the narrator seeks of the participant targeted on this enthralling earworm of a track. We enjoy a delightful synth led atmosphere on `The Masquerade` on which the concealment isn`t hidden but allowed to blossom.
`Never Change` is a fairly powerful quite introspective darkly tinged and at times swirling electronic submission almost an acclamation of love and affection for a partner or close friend. There`s one hundred and seventeen seconds of pounding racing slightly disturbing electro punk rock associated with `Dead Friend` a strange eulogy for the passing of a close acquaintance.
`Runners` is possibly a reference to the sci-fi film where a Blade Runner tracks down bioengineered humanoids known as replicants and destroys or extinguishes them. The interesting slant on this pounding thoughtful goth synth shaded composition is that the view is shared from the artificial being`s perspective. The album closes out with `Ghost House` which grows and flowers with a compelling contemplative complexion and tone.
`Trickery` was brought to life with the help and involvement of several guest musicians and friends of the trio including Dusty Gannon (Vision Video), Emma Nylén (Emmon), Gözde Duzer (Aux Animaux) and Jörgen Wall (Whale, Thåström).
As for me, I felt there was no deception on `Trickery` just a thoughtful, reflective and thoroughly enjoyable auditory experience.
Rating 8.5 /10
