{"id":11540,"date":"2020-04-04T05:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=11540"},"modified":"2020-04-02T20:40:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T20:40:31","slug":"then-comes-silence-machine-oblivion-spv-metropolis-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=11540","title":{"rendered":"Then Comes Silence \u2013 \u2018Machine\u2019 (Oblivion\/SPV, Metropolis Records)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ll let you in on a little secret.<\/p>\n

When we were running Uber Rock at its peak, we used to get literally hundreds of new albums to download and review a week. So, how did we pick out what fitted best with our readership and most of all our dedicated team of writers, who let\u2019s remember were effectively working for free? Well I found the best way to weed out the real crackers was via a technique I used to call \u201clucky track number seven\u201d.\u00a0 It was something I\u2019d used for years when test driving albums, ever since CDs were invented in fact, in so much that the first track of any new album I would play would be track seven. My twisted logic being that in the age of thirteen\/fourteen track albums if a record could blow you away half way through then\u2026it must be a great record.<\/p>\n

So why am I telling you this? Well it\u2019s through this technique I first discovered Swedish goth outfit Then Comes Silence. It was back in early 2016 that I first heard their third independently released album, \u2018Nyctophilian\u2019, (well it was track seven \u2018Animals\u2019 actually) and it immediately impressed the hell out of me sounding not unlike Sisters of Mercy might sound if; 1) they had a drummer, and 2) they actually still put out records.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2017 and the band were snapped up by Nuclear Blast for the release of their awesome \u2018Blood\u2019 album and I for one thought that with the surge in popularity at the time of bands like Ghost that the arena stages of the world were just a hit single away for the band, and let\u2019s face it that album had about six or seven tunes that could have been HUGE hits given the right exposure and a little bit of help from Lady Luck.<\/p>\n

Which kind of brings us bang up to date, albeit for the fact that \u2018Monster\u2019 the band\u2019s first for the Oblivion\/SPV, Metropolis Records alliance still sees the band without that illusive mainstream breakthrough.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit for this one I didn\u2019t start with track seven, and in many ways, I actually wish I had, because it did initially take me a few spins to get under the skin of \u2018Machine\u2019, yet rather spookily it was \u2018W.O.O.O.U.\u2019 (the lucky seventh track on the album) that finally got me pressing the repeat button, and now I just can\u2019t stop playing this gloriously dark thirteen tracker.<\/p>\n

The pop hooks of \u2018Blood\u2019 are still present it\u2019s just they take a little longer to become earworms, with the likes of \u2018Dark End\u2019 and the simply magnificent \u2018Ritual\u2019 (featuring True Moon\u2019s Karolina Engdahl on guest vocals) initially half-masking their infectious charms in the shadows before finally getting around to sinking their teeth into your neck come chorus time. There\u2019s an almost Mission goes industrial feel to \u2018I Gave You Everything\u2019 something Wayne and Co have tried to do on so many occasions and, in my opinion, have never quite pulled off, but here Then Come Silence do it with ease. \u2018Apocalypse Flare\u2019 likewise is possibly the best Mission song The Mission have never actually written.<\/p>\n

In many ways Then Comes Silence are like Stockholm\u2019s answer to Helsinki\u2019s Grave Pleasures both bands painting a post-apocalyptic soundscape that melds together elements of goth and electronica for the next generation of khol-eyed musical vampires to fall in love with, and in the outstanding \u2018Glass\u2019 they could very well have their very own \u2018Love Like Blood\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Machine\u2019 is the almost near perfect soundtrack for 2020 \u2013 please don\u2019t let it pass you by, because it\u2019s a simply stunning record that truly \u2018Cuts Inside\u2019.<\/p>\n

Buy ‘Machine’ Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll let you in on a little secret. When we were running Uber Rock at its peak, we used to get literally hundreds of new albums to download and review a week. So, how did we pick out what fitted best with our readership and most of all our dedicated team of writers, who let\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[4758],"class_list":["post-11540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-then-comes-silence","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11542,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11540\/revisions\/11542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}