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So. Here's an album that I've had for some time now, and I've never really cared for it that much. To me, it seemed like ATG's high level of complexity and technicality on this album dangerously approached what i call "wanker metal", i.e. complex just for the hell of it with no real point, trying to be as technical as possible at the expense of well written songs (the best example of this I have ever heard is Spiral Architecht's "Sceptic's Universe", one of the worst cd's ive ever bought, its as close to 100% pure pointless wankery as ive ever heard).... but now, i realize comparing ATG to such "wanker" bands is an insult. a HUGE insult. what we have here is a highly complex masterpiece.... complex done RIGHT, and very well thought out. had it been done wrong, it would be wankery. This album however is a very intelligently constructed album, highly rich in harmony, clever structure, emotional (note how many times i use that word in the song-by song review), high atmosphere, with technicality done RIGHT to top it off. This is what separates ATG from the wankers. I just didn't see it at first, but I never give up on albums (Sorath, trust me, i'm still trying to like "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas"). Eventually it all just came into focus. The first thing you might notice when listening to the cd is the very thin sounding production.... it sounds horrible at first, and i am usually one of the first to criticize a bad production, but the more you listen to this cd, the production moves from "horrible" to "interesting". it's actually very clear as a matter of fact. it isn't "heavy", but thats not the point of this album. in fact, sometimes the guitars even sound like violins, which is certainly interesting since ATG used a violin player for good effect on this album, it can sound odd and i dunno if anyone else thinks this way, but its actually really cool. Thankfully, the violin player isn't overused and adds nice touches to songs such as "Through Gardens of Grief" and "Neverwhere". Also, immediately noticible is Adrian Erlandsson's amazing drumming, very intricate, interesting, jazzy, he turns in a highly commendable preformance here. If you every want to hear him "show off", this is the album to look into.
"The Red In The Sky Is Ours/The Season To Come" starts the album off by blasting you in the face with Tomas Lindbering howling alongside. His vocals on this album, again to me sounded horrible at first, but I appreciate them now.... very tortured and desperate sounding, it works great. The end of the song is a violin solo, that yet again, sounded horrible to me at first when stacked in the middle of the album, but now when i hear it over the thunder and raining noises at the end of the song it just adds great atmosphere. "Kingdom Gone" is apparently a classic, very understandable, great riffs, vocals, chord progressions, everything. "Through Gardens of Grief" takes the album up a notch. Crazy serpentine riffing on the right guitar here while the left harmonizes nicely, all to a good rhythm. Interesting violin break as well. "Within", the album's epic, continues on this path. The Intro is slow and brooding, and then it blasts you with some frantic riffing on both sides, and the song follows with great riff after riff, and excellent harmonies. The end with the violin added is quite emotional sounding, the whole outro section is wonderful. The song also contains some of the best and craziest drumming I've ever heard. "Windows" is probably my favorite on the album, interesting violin intro, and the song has a very memorable descending chord progression section, i guess it can be considered the "chorus" of the song, its very emotional sounding, very well done. "Claws of Laughter" is a vicious song that begins with an insane drum intro with Lindberg's howls on top... the rest of the song is quite agressive. "Neverwhere" is another epic, certainly an album highlight, this one has a tense and desperate feel to it, it has quite a bit of emotion to it as well.... the violin is used brilliantly to add tension. "The Scar" is simply beautiful.... its an interlude track based of a simple melody that is mournful and memorable, it gets layered quite well, with no vocals but whispers on top, one of the best "interlude" tracks ive heard.... i remember when i didn't care for this album i though this was the best song by far. "Night Comes, Blood Black" and "City of Screaming Statues" (damn, those are cool titles) end the album in similar fasion to the rest, i actually think these are the 2 weakest tracks, they don't seem to have as much emotion as the rest of the cd, but they are still great. "City..." in paticular has a cool ending.
Almost inevitably, this album is always gonna be compared to ATG's other masterpiece, "Slaughter of the Soul".... although i don't think it's truely fair to do so completely.... most people that love the early works tend to despise SOTS, and vice versa.... but both TRITSIO and SOTS are brilliant albums, each with thier own focus, intentions, and direction.... while TRITSIO I have eventually found to be a more deeply rewarding experience, SOTS has ATG giving it all they got in terms of sheer power in riffing and intensity, keeping things short and sweet for maximum effect.... and it works, quite well, the album isn't considered a classic for no reason. TRITSIO isn't concerned with overwhelming your senses, but providing a more experimental and interesting experience. Both albums are masterpieces in thier own right, and I highly recommend reaping the rewards of both, without casting aside another. I guess i could add "With Fear...." and "Terminal...." to the list, but I haven't heard them yet apart from one or two songs off of "With Fear....", both of which were outstanding.
Albums like this are why I have a policy to never give up on an album, and to give everything a fair and unbiased chance. You never know what "horrible" album you might end up loving. a lot. Take my advice....
9.6/10
"The Red In The Sky Is Ours/The Season To Come" starts the album off by blasting you in the face with Tomas Lindbering howling alongside. His vocals on this album, again to me sounded horrible at first, but I appreciate them now.... very tortured and desperate sounding, it works great. The end of the song is a violin solo, that yet again, sounded horrible to me at first when stacked in the middle of the album, but now when i hear it over the thunder and raining noises at the end of the song it just adds great atmosphere. "Kingdom Gone" is apparently a classic, very understandable, great riffs, vocals, chord progressions, everything. "Through Gardens of Grief" takes the album up a notch. Crazy serpentine riffing on the right guitar here while the left harmonizes nicely, all to a good rhythm. Interesting violin break as well. "Within", the album's epic, continues on this path. The Intro is slow and brooding, and then it blasts you with some frantic riffing on both sides, and the song follows with great riff after riff, and excellent harmonies. The end with the violin added is quite emotional sounding, the whole outro section is wonderful. The song also contains some of the best and craziest drumming I've ever heard. "Windows" is probably my favorite on the album, interesting violin intro, and the song has a very memorable descending chord progression section, i guess it can be considered the "chorus" of the song, its very emotional sounding, very well done. "Claws of Laughter" is a vicious song that begins with an insane drum intro with Lindberg's howls on top... the rest of the song is quite agressive. "Neverwhere" is another epic, certainly an album highlight, this one has a tense and desperate feel to it, it has quite a bit of emotion to it as well.... the violin is used brilliantly to add tension. "The Scar" is simply beautiful.... its an interlude track based of a simple melody that is mournful and memorable, it gets layered quite well, with no vocals but whispers on top, one of the best "interlude" tracks ive heard.... i remember when i didn't care for this album i though this was the best song by far. "Night Comes, Blood Black" and "City of Screaming Statues" (damn, those are cool titles) end the album in similar fasion to the rest, i actually think these are the 2 weakest tracks, they don't seem to have as much emotion as the rest of the cd, but they are still great. "City..." in paticular has a cool ending.
Almost inevitably, this album is always gonna be compared to ATG's other masterpiece, "Slaughter of the Soul".... although i don't think it's truely fair to do so completely.... most people that love the early works tend to despise SOTS, and vice versa.... but both TRITSIO and SOTS are brilliant albums, each with thier own focus, intentions, and direction.... while TRITSIO I have eventually found to be a more deeply rewarding experience, SOTS has ATG giving it all they got in terms of sheer power in riffing and intensity, keeping things short and sweet for maximum effect.... and it works, quite well, the album isn't considered a classic for no reason. TRITSIO isn't concerned with overwhelming your senses, but providing a more experimental and interesting experience. Both albums are masterpieces in thier own right, and I highly recommend reaping the rewards of both, without casting aside another. I guess i could add "With Fear...." and "Terminal...." to the list, but I haven't heard them yet apart from one or two songs off of "With Fear....", both of which were outstanding.
Albums like this are why I have a policy to never give up on an album, and to give everything a fair and unbiased chance. You never know what "horrible" album you might end up loving. a lot. Take my advice....
9.6/10
