PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
‘Stay Strange’ is a song included on ‘Trickery’, the magnificent seventh album by Swedish post-punk/goth trio Then Comes Silence. Also home to the singles ‘Ride Or Die’ and ‘Like A Hammer’, plus several other future anthems, the record has been collecting accolades worldwide and seen the group favourably compared to late ’70s/early ’80s dark rock overlords such as Joy Division, Bauhaus and Killing Joke, as well as compatriots The Leather Nun.
“‘Stay Strange!’ is the call that Dusty Gannon of [US post-punk band] Vision Video shouts after every show,” explains TCS frontman Alex Svenson of the song’s chorus chant ‘Stay strange and pure at heart’. “When we returned home from our last tour with them, I began working on the song and made it a tribute to the post-punk/goth scene. It was also a natural choice to invite Dusty to sing the chorus.”
With drummer, Jonas Fransson laying down an energetic backbeat and Hugo Zombie providing rhythmic guitar lines, the solid basslines and velvety croon of Svenson are enhanced on ‘Trickery’ by retro synth sounds for what is a stunning and superbly recorded collection.
Formed in 2012, TCS initially built a large audience in Germany via frequent touring, their fanbase widening as they began sharing stages with artists such as A Place To Bury Strangers, Chameleons and Fields Of The Nephilim, as well as performing at festivals throughout mainland Europe. Regularly releasing high-quality new material, they have worked hard to promote it and are now recognised as a leading act in their genre. The videos for the two singles released in March just ahead of ‘Trickery’ have already racked up half a million views on YouTube.
Having played a sold-out 229 Club show in London in January, TCS will return to the capital on 1st November to play The Camden Club TICKETS, as well as appearing the following day at Whitby Pavilion as part of the Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival TICKETS. They will also play summer festival shows in Germany, and Belgium and will announce further mainland European dates imminently. They have just begun a US tour with Vision Video.
THEN COMES SILENCE | Trickery album cover artwork
from the album
TRICKERY
out now
LP | CD | digital
(Metropolis Records)
UK REVIEWS
“The post-punk influence of Bauhaus or Joy Division offset by an 80s windblown, cinematic sense of drama presented with silky production and confidence”
CLASSIC ROCK
“A huge, spectral sound that cascades the post-punk genres seamlessly whilst delivering a unique and compelling sound that is as captivatingly gripping as it is intense”
VIVE LE ROCK
“Way ahead of their contemporaries, they are greater than the sum of their influences. With every new release, more people are recognising that this band are special. Join us”
RPM ONLINE
“Stunningly powerful, it’s ferociously good and sets the standard for the goth rock genre for a good time to come *****”
OUTSIDE LEFT
“There is no substitute for good songwriting, and that is something this band have in spades. Stunning 9/10”
METAL DIGEST
“A testament of shadowy post-punk and emotive gaze with gothic overtones”
GOD IS IN THE TV
also includes the singles
RIDE OR DIE video
LIKE A HAMMER video
THEN COMES SILENCE | 2024 photo by Haris Mlivic
THEN COMES SILENCE
Alex Svenson – vocals, bass, synthesisers
Jonas Fransson – drums
Hugo Zombie – guitars
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