ALBUM REVIEW: Celestial Mechanics – Tronos
While there is a great deal to be said for tunnel-vision focus and auteurism, collaboration is very often the key to success. TRONOS is born from the meeting of two minds which have spent the best part of the last three decades utterly immersed in the art of extremity. Between, they have been responsible for some of the most important and revolutionary art ever produced in the realm of metal.
There are few characters in the history of extreme metal as important as Shane Embury and Russ Russell. While Embury is unquestionably most well-known for his long-time tenure as bassist and key-songwriter and unmovable part of grindcore icons and musical anarchists NAPALM DEATH, he has never struggled to keep himself busy. While continuing to produce skull-rattling art with his day-job, Embury has also found time to lend his hand to supergroups BRUJERIA and LOCK UP, underground darlings BENT SEA, international grind act HICKS KINSON and most recently, his predictably terrifying collaboration with Mick Kenney under the name BORN TO MURDER THE WORLD. There’s far more than one can list in any one review but needless to say, he has remained an ever-present stalwart of extreme metal.
Russell, on the other hand, is known for a more backseat role, having produced some of the most significant groups in this scene. From AT THE GATES to THE BERZERKER to SIKTH, Russell has time and time again demonstrated his impeccable ear for all things savage, and while having played in bands previously (perhaps most notably ABOSOLUTE POWER, a more traditional outfit, and previous collaboration with Embury), this is arguably the most he has been able to inject of himself into his art.
Both Embury and Russell adopt similar roles; each play guitar and ‘sing’, with the latter also providing decorative synth work. The lineup is completed by Dirk Veubeuren on drums who, while having made his name in Swedish melo-death mainstays SOILWORK, has recently been busy in MEGADETH. The pedigree present here is absolutely superb. The question is, is this an immensely satisfying complimentary meeting of minds, or a troubled power-struggle between two revolutionaries?
Rather surprisingly, the resulting album is not an all-out assault of rabid nihilism. As one glance of the track-listing and each song’s respective lengths would suggest, this is an album that takes its time more than perhaps both Embury and Russell, or fans of either, are more commonly used to. In this case, the music doesn’t blister so much as it churns. The ethereal nature of this album strives wildly from what we have come to expect from them, and it’s excellent to see they have approached this new territory with a degree of nous.
The opening two songs, Walking Among The Dead Things and Judas Cradle, just so happen to be the finest moments on Celestial Mechanics. The former acts as an artistically diverse, but no less menacing brochure for what’s to come, giving the listener a little bit of everything TRONOS have to offer. Grand synth passages rub elbows with chaotic dirges and rather helpfully, it’s likely to weed out anyone who isn’t going to enjoy this album. It gives way to Judas Cradle, the finest song present, which calls upon influences such as STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and FEAR FACTORY – a dizzying track which shows TRONOS both at their most theatrical and their most aggressive. The band are at their most infectious when they go bold, and should TRONOS release another album in the future, they would be wise to continue down this path.
Celestial Mechanics is also rich with guest appearances. Musicians from a range of bands as diverse as FAITH NO MORE, BRUTAL TRUTH and even THE WONDER STUFF. The most effective of these inclusions comes on Premonition which includes both Billy Gould of FAITH NO MORE and Snake of VOIVOD. If you’re hoping for Gould’s signature lumberjack-bass-work to rear its head, you will be disappointed – it is likely his work in BRUJERIA which has earned his place here. He provides a warmth to the track which the other songs do not possess, nor do they demand. It provides a tonal variety, and with Snake’s unmistakeably theatrical voice in tow, it’s one of the artistic standouts on Celestial Mechanics.
However, the album is far from perfect. Most glaringly, the album closes with a cover of BLACK SABBATH’s Johnny Blade. Never Say Die has always, in the most gingerly and diplomatic of terms, garnered a ‘mixed response’. Johnny Blade is one of the more memorable songs on it, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s hideous keyboards, shamefully repetitive riff, uninspired vocal performance from Ozzy; it simply does not measure up to what the band is capable of. Unfortunately, history repeats. TRONOS’ cover does little to correct past mistakes and acts as an unfortunate parting gift. One can see why it was selected; the band’s cosmic quality does lend itself to some of BLACK SABBATH’s more cosmic work. Why they didn’t pick The Writ or Symptom Of The Universe is unfathomable. This closer simply sounds like a MINISTRY D-side and does not allow the band to bow out as gracefully as they deserve.
The inclusion of Erica Nockalls, of long-forgotten but once wildly popular British alternative rock troupe THE WONDER STUFF, vocals and violin work also seems to be an addition which more gimmicky than it is necessary. Once you get the impression that this isn’t the day job of anybody involved, it makes total sense that these fun experiments would rear their heads here rather than on the next NAPALM DEATH album, for example. Sadly, one gets the impression these experiments are more fun for TRONOS than they are the fan, and ultimately it adds unnecessary weight to the album.
TRONOS’ Celestial Mechanics is a perfectly functional product, particularly as that of side-project. This is unlikely to go down in history, but perhaps that’s not the purpose of it. Everyone involved has already cemented their legacy, now it’s their opportunity to have fun. It’s an admirable purpose, but how much that will rub off on the listener remains to be seen.
Rating: 6/10
Celestial Mechanics is set for release April 12th via Century Media Records.
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