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/:: Artist :: Tristania ::\
:: Album :: Darkest White ::
:: Year :: 2013 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Metal Source :: CDDA . ::
:: Label :: Napalm Records R.date :: 21.06.2013 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: NPR488CD Size :: 101,3 MB __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 272kbps : .
. Quality :: 44,1kHz/Joint-Stereo .
. .
Website :: http://www.tristania.com/
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 01. Number 04:45 ::
:: 02. Darkest White 03:26 ::
:: 03. Himmelfall 05:48 ::
:: 04. Requiem 05:29 ::
:: 05. Diagnosis 05:02 ::
:: 06. Scarling 05:18 ::
:: 07. Night on Earth 03:35 ::
:: 08. Cathedral (bonus) 03:32 ::
:: 09. Lavender 05:11 ::
:: 10. Cypher 05:43 ::
:: 11. Arteries 04:11 ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 52:00 min ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: Norway's Tristania was one of those quirky, but compelling ::
:: bands that really grabbed my attention with their Beyond ::
:: the Veil album. Their strange mash-up of goth, death, black ::
:: and symphonic metal was quite intoxicating and had more ::
:: moods than any crazy ex girlfriend you care to mention. ::
:: Follow up World of Glass was also gripping and fascinating, ::
:: but as the years went by, Tristania's wow factor rapidly ::
:: drained away. By the time of 2010s Rubicon, they had become ::
:: a mere shade of their former selves and the album felt like ::
:: run-of-the-mill goth-metal with little to set it apart from ::
:: the legions of similar female-fronted acts. I expected more ::
:: of the same here with Darkest White, but I was pleasantly ::
:: surprised by the improvements the band has made in their ::
:: approach and song writing. Gone is the languid and generic ::
:: goth drone and in its place is a much more diverse blend of ::
:: elements. There are more harsh, vaguely blackened vocals, ::
:: more aggression to the music, an odd, straight-up rock ::
:: influence and plenty of well executed male and female ::
:: vocals. There are also nods to their old material as well ::
:: as notable Moonspell, Green Carnation and The Gathering ::
:: influences and needless to say, those help quite a bit. ::
:: While it isn't some kind of musical breakthrough or ::
:: innovation in the genre, it's an enjoyable, accessible ::
:: album with a few exceptional cuts that have been rattling ::
:: around for days in the mostly vacant skull of Steel Druhm. ::
:: ::
:: The first thing one will notice as opener "Number" unspools ::
:: is the dramatically increased dark mood and urgency. The ::
:: sound is similar to Green Carnation material (which makes ::
:: sense since they share the clean vocal handiwork of Kjetil ::
:: Nordhus) and there are some convincing harsh rasps (from ::
:: Anders Hidle, I believe) to get the blood up. When the ::
:: smooth and powerful voice of Siren-in-chief, Mariangela ::
:: Demurtas blows in, they put the song over the top to ::
:: success. Elsewhere they experiment with something akin to ::
:: an indie rock ethos and traditional goth-metal on ::
:: "Himmelfall" and borrow a page from The Gathering during ::
:: their Nighttime Birds era for the satisfyingly melodic, yet ::
:: energetic "Diagnosis." "Lavender" mixes sedate, soft rock ::
:: with a vibrant chorus that might have fit on some melodic ::
:: viking/epic metal album and it ends up an addictive listen. ::
:: ::
:: The big showstopper here is "Requiem," which captures ::
:: lighting in a bottle with a simple, but impossibly earwormy ::
:: delivery and outstanding vocal work from Mariangela. Her ::
:: warm, rich,The Vision Bleak but powerful delivery packs ::
:: plenty of emotion without sounding forced and the vocal ::
:: melodies are real winners, full of sadness and mourning. ::
:: This particular song really latched onto my cranium and ::
:: I've been playing the bejeezus out of it this week. ::
:: ::
:: There are also some songs that don't do all that much for ::
:: me, like the title track and "Night on Earth." While not ::
:: terrible, they just seem too disjointed and weak. Worst of ::
:: the bunch is closer "Arteries," which feels pasted together ::
:: and the poppy, clean vocals feel very out-of-place and too ::
:: weird to enjoy. ::
:: ::
:: While I wasn't overly impressed by Mariangela's vocals on ::
:: Rubicon, she seems much more convincing and powerful this ::
:: time out. Her vocals are paired with the clean and harsh ::
:: male vocals in a successful way and all involved perform ::
:: well without sounding like a tired "beauty and the beast" ::
:: act. The backing music is a bit of hodge podge of classic ::
:: goth sounds, Stone Temple Pilots style rock (especially on ::
:: "Night on Earth") and the occasional burst of angry ::
:: blackness. While none of it will blow your mind, it's ::
:: interesting enough and provides a suitable base for the ::
:: vocals while allowing them to carry the day. ::
:: ::
:: It seems the Beyond the Veil days are gone forever, but ::
:: this is a nice outing for fans of gothic metal and shows ::
:: Tristania trying new things once again with mostly solid ::
:: results. Come for the hot babe, but stay for the quality ::
:: tuneage and zombie Bob Ross artwork. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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