Tribulation - The Children of the Night (2015)

In 2013 Tribulation released The Formulas of Death.  I reviewed it here on the blog; it has been my most-read entry over the entire time the blog has been active.  So when I got around to listening to new music in 2015 and saw that Tribulation had released a new album, I knew that I would have to review it.

The Formulas of Death presented a hybrid of black and death metal that looked toward the future, taking (or at least attempting) a bold step forward.  My feelings remain neutral, for the most part.  I can certainly appreciate the effort they put into the record and how it goes about its business effortlessly.

Tribulation signed to Century Media for the release of The Children of the Night. That leads me to wonder something that may well be unknowable: did the band sell this record to the label, or was this change in direction mandated by the label and agreed to by the band?

However it was manifested, there can be no doubt that this record is much different from the previous.  Whereas The Formulas of Death was built on a foundation of metal that then branched off past the outer bounds of the genre (and its death/black sub-genres), The Children of the Night is rather unapologetically a rock album dressed up with harsh vocals and a semblance of heaviness to mask its true intentions.

I would not classify this as a metal album.  In itself, that fact does not make The Children of the Night bad or not worth a listen.

Still, I cannot fathom why the band would change so much when it appeared they were on a fruitful creative path.  What they accomplished in the past was enough to get them signed to one of the larger metal labels out there.

I find myself unimpressed with the material on The Children of the Night and as a consequence, my enthusiasm for future releases by the band has ebbed considerably.

Tribulation - The Formulas of Death (2013)

First things first: listen to The Formulas of Death on Bandcamp.

This one's a bit difficult to get a handle on.

Tribulation is Swedish death metal.  However, unlike the glut of bands who are pursuing an old-school sound (complete with buzzing guitars and generally bad production), Tribulation has made a record which sounds good and doesn't sound derivative.  As to whether or not it is actually among the greats of 2013, I'm not entirely sure.  Perhaps it is being derivative under the surface somewhere that I haven't figured out yet.

The Formulas of Death is a long record.  It's 75 minutes worth of death metal with melodic twists and turns.  In fact, I'd say that for most of its running time, the band is pursuing melodic content.  Ample time of "Suspiria" and "Apparitions" (the two longest tracks) have clean guitars playing melodies rather than rhythmic devices.  Even when the guitars are distorted as you'd expect, the playing is something not quite what you'd normally hear.

Personally, I think this is something to be lauded.  Too few musicians take chances with the genre they're working in.  We've seen this in various metal sub-genres, but especially in death and black, where the codified tenets of each tend to be (pardon the pun) suffocating.  They're also unwilling to change, for the most part.

Next time, more riffs.  And maybe trim some fat.