ALBUM REVIEW: Where The Gloom Becomes Sound – Tribulation

With 2015’s The Children Of The Night, TRIBULATION completed their transformation from the relatively traditional death metal band of their debut to a goth-infused fusion of death, black and psychedelia – a mix of genres that seemed to make so much sense that it was shocking it’d never happened before. Its follow up, Down Below, doubled down on their new found sound but didn’t quite capture the magic that The Children Of The Night seemed to exude in droves, overall feeling less memorable than its boundary-smashing predecessor. TRIBULATION’s latest, the morosely titled Where The Gloom Becomes Sound, follows the same sonic trajectory the band established nearly six years ago, building further on their unique foundation.

Although an oversimplification, at its core Where The Gloom Becomes Sound plays out like a selection of goth bangers performed by a death metal band. The shackles of mechanical tightness that often accompany metal bands are switched out in favour of bassy, shuffling grooves. However, the metallic venom and ferocity remains in punishing drums, barked vocals and the occasional fast guitar. Layered over the top is a significant emphasis on moody atmospherics, which owe themselves to black metal as much as they do goth. TRIBULATION‘s sound is identifiably their own, but despite this rather firm sonic template, every song carries a sense of creativity and experimentation too.

TRIBULATION‘s willingness to push their sound in a variety of directions is what keeps Where The Gloom Becomes Sound engaging from start to finish. Opener In Remembrance is a confident beginning, its verses combining haunting guitar lines with a pummelling bassline for momentum. The song erupts with an anthemic battle cry of a chorus which finds a perfect balance between hooks and aggression. The rousing guitar solo that precedes the song’s final chorus sets the scene for an album that proves chilling and stirring all at once.

True to this form, a number of songs adhere to a blueprint of euphoric darkness; Leviathans is chiefly an exercise in shoe-gazing textures, but finds time to dabble with neoclassical guitar leads drenched in reverb between its gloomy shuffles, Inanna feels like an aggressive poetry recital backed by the death march of hissy drums and Funeral Pyre is a high-octane death metal jaunt with horror film aesthetics thanks to shrieking walls of piercingly shrill guitar lines. However, there is further colour to Where The Gloom Becomes Sound than expected. Lethe is a short piano instrumental, its Beethoven-esque sonata evocations providing some brief respite from the pounding metal. Along with a number of cleaner sections throughout the album’s material, TRIBULATION display a great talent for pulling back the energy while consistently maintaining a deep sense of foreboding, such as on Daughter Of The Djinn.

If Lethe shows TRIBULATION’s ability to exercise restraint, the ferocious Daughter Of The Djinn sees the band break the seal on any remaining black magic they had squirreled away however. One of the album’s more blackened tracks, pseudo-blast beats accompanying the trademark twirling leads of Jonathan Hultén and Adam Zaars while Johannes Andersson roars ritualistically. And then, it all just dissipates – the song gives way to a single stripped back guitar part against a backdrop of nothing, masterfully building its way back up to the same level of intensity the track kicked off with. This capacity to shift gears so skilfully is one of TRIBULATION’s greatest strengths, with Daughter Of The Djinn standing as a particular high point. Where The Gloom Becomes Sound rounds out with The Wilderness, an ambitious epic that takes all the proto-black metal rhythms, the unnerving atmospheres and gritted incantations the band can muster as they sprawl through folkloric tales. Teeming with energy, The Wilderness is a showcase of all the best bits of TRIBULATION’s sound.

In all, TRIBULATION sound reinvigorated on what is ultimately a bittersweet album. Where The Gloom Becomes Sound is primarily composed by founding guitarist Hultén who quit the group ahead of its release. While it doesn’t quite reach the lofty highs of The Children Of The Night, Where The Gloom Becomes Sound comes awfully close, squeezing out the last remains from its predecessor’s template. Additionally, as a swansong for Hultén, it’s a strong note to bow out on. However, it also cements what a void his absence will create in the band’s material – it’ll be fascinating to see where they end up next. In the meantime, Where The Gloom Becomes Sound is a stellar end to this chapter of TRIBULATION.

Rating: 8/10

Where The Gloom Becomes Sound is set for release on January 29th via Century Media Records. 

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