ALBUM REVIEW: Hunger – Then Comes Silence
When watching the news, it can seem like the apocalypse is looming over us. Whether it’s climate change, the rising cost of living, or anything else dire, the world seems a lot more grey nowadays. Even the music – which is often used as an escape – can seem down on its luck. However, in the darkness, there is always a light. And that is where THEN COMES SILENCE come into play. Their new album, Hunger, is about hope. The Swedish gothic post-punkers offer a light at the end of the tunnel on their sixth studio album.
Across 11 songs, Hunger brings the positivity to the forefront. Despite the depressing name, Tickets To Funerals is a heavy, electronic rock song. The upbeat track is a fantastic introduction to the album. The instruments are the main focus of the song, and the electronic rock sounds natural. Rise To The Bait is a little more mellow; however, it still maintains the upbeat vibe of the first song. Interestingly, it is more focused on the vocals. This is not a bad thing as it gives frontman Alex Svenson a chance to show off his talented voice. His vocals are the kind that could suit any genre of music; however, it is extremely well-suited to this type of music.
Six albums in, you’d be worried that THEN COMES SILENCE have lost their sound. That’s understandable, considering that six albums is a lot to release. But the band are smarter than that. They come back more confident than ever on this album. The gothic lyrics show this. Whether it is talking about “the beauty of darkness” on Cold From Inside or when the “weird get strange” on Weird Get Strange, the band are always embracing the unknown.
As for the music? The sound is consistent throughout the album. The pacing is not affected by any of the songs. Furthermore, the sound progresses from electronic-tinged goth rock into full-blown goth rock. This is a clever way of taking the audience on a journey as the album plays. However, it would have been nice for the electronic elements to have stayed for more than the first couple of songs, because they worked very well with rock sound. Additionally, whilst Hunger is a very good album in its own right, and the band have clearly stuck to what they know, this is also an issue. It would’ve been nice to see some experimentation on the album, because the hints of what we get are very good. Mixing up the sound could have also made each song sound unique because sometimes the songs sound a bit similar.
Overall, Hunger is a very good album. Does it sometimes fall into the trappings of not exploring outside of the box? Yes, and that is a shame because when the album does go outside of the box, it is fantastic and works really well. Apart from that, the album is cohesive, and the band clearly know what they are doing with their music, it’s just that it just can feel a little underwhelming sometimes.
Rating: 6/10
Hunger is set for release on July 1st via Nexilis/Schubert Music.
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