review: Tribulation -- catchy gothic metal from Sweden

Tribulation

Where the Gloom Becomes Sound

Metal Blade Records

29 January 2021

The Swedish band Tribulation is known for changing from album to album. They began some 20 years ago as a zombie-themed thrash band, changed their name to Tribulation, changed to more extreme metal, and then to something like melodic and melancholic metal with extreme vocals, which is where they seem to have finally settled down in their most comfortable setting. The new album offers, in general, music that is midtempo/uptempo and very accessible, with lots of guitar ear-friendly melodies of a melancholic style. The melodies are not necessarily happy and they are not colorful, but after some listening the greyness of the melodies brings out pleasant feelings, and a certain subdued joy, if you will.

It is best to approach this music from the perspective of a mixture, and a non-strict attitude. At first, listeners might think that this is extreme metal (their name, the Addams Family-like imagery [clothing and make up, for instance], the calculated marketing of the music videos, their early history, and the way that the press talks about them). It seems like many people treat the music as if this were some form of extreme metal. It is not. Second, expect for the music to be, if anything, a form of gothic metal, but more like “gothic” and “heavy metal,” from the perspective of musicians who come from an extreme metal background. You can hear the experience in extreme metal, it’s something that is audible, identifiable, but it’s not the genre of the album, if that makes sense.

The last thing that fans really should know is that the vocals are extreme, and not sung. It is an intelligible snarl that focuses on enunciation. It is not a harsh tone but it is not singing, either. There are no attempts at singing. The music is unexpectedly catchy, rocking in low-key way, and also accessible for cross sections of potential audiences, if they give it a chance, and don’t get too caught up with the business model of the marketing strategies of the band.

Below are two songs from the album. In our opinion, the second song is a much better representation of the overall style found on the album.

https://www.facebook.com/TribulationSweden/

Tribulation - Funeral Pyre (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Tribulation - Hour of the Wolf (OFFICIAL VIDEO)