Tribulation: Beauty In The Macabre
Horror and metal have always gone hand in bloody hand when it comes to themes and inspiration across them metal universe and Swedish outlet TRIBULATION are no exception to blending the two into wonderful works of art that differ greatly in each chapter.
Many bands will claim they evolve with each album but the quartet took that to a whole other level in their transformation. Back in 2009 they released their debut album titled, quite literally, The Horror – a favourite amongst the underground death metal scene and since then have slowly been metamorphosising into something more gothic, whilst keeping their edge and latest release Sub Rosa In Æternum sees them reaching the optimum spooky butterfly, just a day after Halloween.
Catching up with guitarist and songwriter Adam Zaars, its been a few quiet years for the band but the exciting around this new era is strong. “Things have been pretty slow after the pandemic, and we took a little bit of a break over summer. We barely played any shows other than a show with WATAIN a couple of months ago, I’m really focused on the album and to start over in a way but not fully starting over. That is kind of the vibe of the band at the moment. It’s been something new, something fresh. A lot of excitement in the band.”
Since third release, Children Of The Night, TRIBULATION have been digging deeper into more romantic, gothic themes as the title would imply, but earlier released singles from Sub Rosa In Æternum showcase how vocalist Johannes has incorporated more clean vocals into the sound, which has left many of the scene surprised but intrigued. “It wasn’t like an immediate thing where we were all like, okay, this is what we’re doing now,” Adam explains. “But gradually, as we all started doing it a little bit more it was a challenge and liberating at the same time. So when we realised it was going to work and it was going to sound good and still like TRIBULATION, we just went for it. It was a perfect time to create this album because it opened doors that we would never open before, like the song Murder In Red, they wouldn’t have worked with growling vocals.”
Whilst there are elements of the new record that can often sound akin to the likes of GHOST in some instances, don’t let that fool you into thinking the black or death inspirations are gone. “I’d definitely say it has something to do with us as individuals, just growing older, I guess, and our lives, it doesn’t mean that I don’t listen to extreme metal anymore. I absolutely do.”
“As you said, we’ve always had this romantic element, even on the very first album. As we’ve proved, there’s a lot of space to move around in that space, and even just in the last few years, our sound has changed massively. If you had asked me a couple of years ago if this was the angle we’d take, I would absolutely not expect that to be a possibility.”
After a quick segway discussing how admirable it is that CANNIBAL CORPSE can still find so many ways to talk about murder in every lyrics, the conversation quickly moves to something Adam is incredibly passionate about – horror films. If you’ve listened to any of the more recent TRIBULATION records, this is incredibly apparent, with the band having an anthemic and incredibly theatrical approach both on record and in their live show experience.
“For this album in particular we took a lot of inspiration from Italian thrillers from the late 60s or through the 70s, really. They’re always very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, very cool lighting, very graphic with a lot of blood and well, beautiful murders. It’s been a long time since we’ve really written anything about that. It’s normally a lot more ethereal, so it’s been nice to go back to the basics in that sense and be more hands on.”
With Halloween fresh in the air of the discussion and many recommendations for films such as Suspiria, there isn’t much Adam shares that’s grabbed his attention from modern cinema (but he’s open to reader’s debating this once its published!). Vampires are a recurring theme for the band so Nosferatu has a special place for these children of the night. As Adam continues, “I’m looking forward to the new Nosferatu. It’s the same guy, Robert Eggers, who did the first one, so I’m hoping its good! I like the beauty and the way in which music is used in film which has been lost in the modern film industry for horror.”
After digging up some old band lore, we learn that TRIBULATION were in fact featured in a film themselves, as part of a couple’s experience of a festival and if you’ve been lucky enough to see them perform live you’ll see why, and with their eclectic style both visually and sonically, it’s no surprise that the four piece are able to be found on several line ups, with an upcoming tour with OPETH next in line and several European headline shows announced to support the upcoming album, along with more festival dates.
“We’ve always been a bit of a chameleon band. Even 15 years ago we would support GHOST but also WATAIN, so it goes to show that we can hit different constellations of music and we always have been able to which is great. I think with this next move we’re making with the new album, OPETH does feel like a perfect opportunity for us and we really hope that their fans will like it!”
Sub Rosa In Æternum is out now via Century Media Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS114 here:
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