Tribulation

Where The Gloom Becomes Sound

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Genre: Extreme Metal.
Released: 29/01/2021
Via Century Media

Album Review: Tribulation – Where The Gloom Becomes Sound

Tribulation has been a band that has been hard to define over the years, constantly changing the style of music they play in a way few can pull of well. Nether the less the band continue to grow in popularity and remain as one of the extreme metal stand out acts. There new album ‘Where The Gloom Becomes Sound’ is no exception to the band’s unique style. Tribulations sixth studio album is a great blend of Black and Melodic metal with a hint of thrashy behaviour.

The album starts with the ever gloomy ‘In Remembrance’. A song forged from the depths of Arvika, Sweden. The Black metal tone is extremely prevalent within this song. Johannes’ vocals sound gritty and powerful throughout the song. The instruments blend together to create a sense of doom and despair. A theme the album will continue down throughout. ‘In Remembrance’ ends and ‘Hour of The Wolf’ begins. A more upbeat song to get your head moving while you listen. The song features an extremely rememberable riff that reemerges throughout the song.

Up next we have ‘Leviathans’. The lead single from the album captures Tribulations sound perfectly. The bound create a feeling of eerie and gloom through the vocals and lyrics while the instrumental sounds are more light and cheerful. The melodic style of play creates a contrast unlike most extreme metal bands and it works for tribulation perfectly. This song captures that chaotic energy and distributes it in the form of an instant classic.

‘Dirge Of A Dying Soul’ however sees the band create a more grass-root sounding black metal song. From the powerful percussion to the more harsh tones featured from the guitar, the song makes for a change of pace once again. A slower, more doom esc feel created and crafted expertly. Following on from that, we get hit by a sudden change with the piano sounds of ‘Lethe’. Surprisingly the album comes to a relaxing halt with an entire song played only by the keys, an interesting choice that fits surprisingly well.

However, this more peaceful sound is quickly assaulted by ‘Daughter Of The Dijnn’. An incredible mix of thrashy percussion and slow, droning melodies. In addition to that, Johannes delivers an incredible vocal display in this one. The intensity and power he delivers throughout really helps to make this song stand out from the pack.

‘Elementals’ unfortunately falls short compared to the rest of the album. The song feels like a very bog-standard album song despite having a few good displays of the guitarist’s abilities. The song itself is a decent one however feels weaker than the rest of the album comparatively. Luckily, the album picks back up with ‘Inanna’, the lengthy intro works perfectly to create a gloomy atmosphere. Once Johannes comes in the sound really takes shape. A beautifully crafted piece of music played to near perfection. ‘Inanna’ is a must add to any extreme metal playlist out there.

The penultimate song is ‘Funeral Pyre’. A fast-paced, thrashy tune to help close the album out. Complex solos and really impressive drumming accompany the dark lyrical content the song has to offer well. Furthermore, the song will have you banging your head no matter what. An extremely contagious beat features prominently throughout and makes for an exceptional song.

All of a sudden we find ourselves at the end. ‘The Wilderness’ is the song to take the album off into the sunset and its a perfect match. Once again the melodic nature of the band creates an almost joyous feeling from the instrumental while Johannes’ gloomy words create the feeling of danger and unease. A lengthy song coming in at 6:40 means you have plenty of time to take in all that Tribulation had to offer.

Overall, I believe this to be Tribulations best work yet. Songs like ‘Inanna’ and ‘Leviathans’ help to make the album stand out from other albums in the extreme metal genre. Tribulation continues to break the mould and push boundaries of what you can expect from extreme metal and there blend of Black and melodic metal continues to be a winning formula for the Swedish band.