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Rating: I have decided to dedicate my fourth review to a band that, strangely, has not yet been considered here on Debaser. This is the Trail of Tears, a long-standing Norwegian band founded in 1994 by vocalist Ronny Thorsen as a gothic metal group (but it's better to talk about "extreme gothic" as the group leader did). Their debut album, "Disclosure in red," was released in 1998, the same year as other significant works like "Widow's weed" by Tristania and "Aegis" by Theatre of Tragedy, two fundamental groups of the genre with which Trail of Tears must undoubtedly be compared.
My review will focus on the band's second work, "Profoundemonium" from 2000. I’ll say right away that, in my opinion, it's a very good record that has elaborated and developed what was present in its nascent form in the debut. What strikes me favorably is the freshness that "Profoundemonium" maintains eleven years after its release, despite many of the elements characterizing the gothic genre having been rehashed ad nauseam by many bands, often in a superficial and clichéd way.
Furthermore, and this is what I consider the album's strength, the individual tracks cooperate to create a dreamlike atmosphere, in which moments of decadent melancholy are skillfully alternated with sudden, furious black metal-influenced accelerations (and in this, Trail of Tears distinguish themselves from Tristania and more generally from many other groups of the gothic genre, showing that they possess their own stylistic signature, which is decidedly more aggressive).
Excellent examples are "In Frustration's web" and "Disappointment's true face", two tracks exemplary for their variety of tones and evocative capacity, in which Trail of Tears also show that they are not prisoners of the genre's stereotypes, as the female voice (Helena Iren Michaelsen on the first two albums) alternates between operatic and light singing, as had already happened in the previous album, but especially "Fragile Emotional Disorder", a track that I found splendid and moving, perhaps also due to the presence of Kjetil Nordhus’s clean male voice from Green Carnation, who was later given a much larger role in the band (he completely replaces the female voice in "Free fall into Fear" from 2005, by the way a stylistic turning point for the group that I found interesting).
Finally, there is no unnecessary pomposity: the melodic lines of the different instruments are not particularly elaborate in themselves, often tending instead to generate a sort of hypnotic effect on the listener through repetition, I believe intentionally (just listen to the keyboard line in "Profoundemonium," the intro guitar in "Sign of the Shameless," or the riff in “Image of hope”!) but they intersect and dialogue with each other in such a way as to construct tracks that are anything but static or predictable.
In conclusion, I’ll point out what I consider one of the few flaws of the album: the cover, truly ugly—no offense to the male audience—not so much for the image itself, questionably aimed solely at men, but because it is absolutely gratuitous and not coherent with the album. But, you can’t have everything.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Driven Through the Ruins (05:49)
You were the source to my deepest figments.
Yet a repentant deceiver, who surrendered to
the uttermost ridiculous ways.
I still scream in woe.
The evil in your soul, the demons playing with your thoughts,
will not disappear until you have let go of the past.
This moment is crucial...
All that matters is the size of the terror.
All that matters is the size of the terror!
To proceed I must know why you're still here.
Although I drudge to endure.
Mystery fog surrounds the trees.
This is the night of the beloved.
No! Don't leave me now!
Blow away the fragments of your own imagination.
The tension strikes me, though I shall fear no such thing.
For I am the peace that shall forever cause unrest.
You were the source to my deepest figments.
Yet a repentant deceiver, who surrendered to
the uttermost ridiculous ways.
03 Fragile Emotional Disorder (06:42)
I will persuade you to believe me when i say
that everything you hoped for is declined in every way.
I am responsible for your fragile state of mind,
and yet you refuse to see the only thing that's clear.
Namely that there's nothing left for you to treasure here.
I am responsible for your fragile state of mind.
So why don't you come with me,
and adapt to what I see?
Help me change into my other shell.
It may seem odd, but still it suits me well.
You never thought that you would feel such relief,
but thanks to me now you're finally at peace...
...with your fragile emotional disorder!
So why don't you come with me...
Your eyes sparkle with grief,
yet I shall close them without regret.
The optimism in your face has turned somber yet again.
I shall withdraw all mercy,
and multiply the feeling that sends shivers down your spine.
Open up and see.
Enter the image of all that you have feared.
I hold the key to slaughter your thoughts with ease.
I hold the dagger that'll cut you off from all your dreams.
So let it all come through the way that I have seen,
and let me watch you drown in reversed prosperity.
Never again shall you rise!
05 Sign of the Shameless (04:08)
How can we escape the insanity
that lurks within?
However, strange it might appear,
it's back to torture me again.
You should know that I have tried before,
to complete the pieces long ago.
Yet when you found me truly lost
I understood your precious cause.
Don't give up even though it's hard. Give it a try, just don't ask why.
My second voyage has begun.
On separate lines, and with all that follow.
Uncertain, though I'll try again.
So shameless, though still so real.
Lay beside me, don't think I'll wake again.
So shameless, though still so real.
Flow with the river and it leads you the way.
Tomorrow is going to be a better day.
You'll see the sun, you'll see the light.
It warms your soul, deep inside.
You'll feel the battle in your mind,
but you will win and survive.
There'll be no questions, no why,
'cause you'll see the answer is not a lie.
You'll see the sun, you'll see the light.
It warms your soul, deep inside.
11 The Haunted (05:01)
As you approach me you want to compromise.
(beyond)
You wish me dearly to surrender to the lies.
(beyond)
I praise the symbols of your deepest misery
rather than to live by your random theory.
(Beyond I fall, I feel the cold)
I will prevail, relentlessly
(beyond)
and shine on though with a distant inner scream.
(beyond)
I praise the symbols of your deepest misery
rather than to live by your random theory.
(beyond I fall, I feel the cold)
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
They are out there.
(Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah)
They are everywhere.
(Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah)
Prevail now, little one...
Prevail with me and watch the haunted burn.
Let's praise the symbols of their deepest misery.
Together we lay here in total ecstasy!
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
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