Tribulation : " Where the Gloom Becomes Sound"

 

The first song has the snarling vocals that still serve a purpose despite not contributing to melody along with a tense riff and plenty of hooks to be found. Oh yeah and a cool groovy bass line which is normally unheard of in death metal. The second song "Hour of the Wolf"  is less groove more Swedish metal in flavor. The same could be said for "Leviathans" , but it adds more rock flare to what goes down and is an interesting song for it. They now have the drummer from Deathstars which contributes to their more rock n roll sound as he never kicks into high gear like their original drummer. This is nothing against Oscar in fact it might be that he works for their new direction better. Dynamically this song goes more places. The brighter tone after the break down , would normally not work for me , but it is fine here. 

"Dirge of a Dying World" sounds like what might come from a meeting with a major label and Watain if they told Watain to try to come up with something that might also appeal to fans of Nightwish. It doesn't suck and goes to some interesting places it is just not what I expected. You hear the word goth get thrown around with these guys so you assume that means they are going to be darker. It is about as dark as maybe Sentenced in that regard. There is more of a Judas Priest like attack to the more upbeat stylings of "Daughter of the Djinn". This be be heavier but either this guys doesn't hit his drums with metal thunder or it is a production choice. It might be a combination of the two. This is not a deal breaker. He does break out some chops later into the song.

"Elementals" is the first song that feels a little like filler as it just charges ahead on the rock road with little to stand out. Not a bad song , but when we consider this band's body of work it might be a bit dialed in. "Inanna" reminds me of Watain's  "Waters of Ain" but with more guitar solos . I suppose it depends on how you feel about guitar solos. Not the album's most original moment and the more classic metal sounds on "Funeral Pyre" , which the takes a turn to the more spooky side with the atmosphere that creep in mid way into the song. The last song is fairly consistent for what this band does running off more of a triumphant gallop and perhaps not as dark. I like this album I have gotten a fair amount of mileage out of it so far. If you are a fan then they are giving you what you want for sure I will give this album a 9.