Where the Gloom Becomes Sound.
The fifth record from the band continues on the path s laid out across 2018 s
Down Below and 2015 s
The Children of the Night, which is one that is cinematic in scope and encompasses a variety of sounds from punk, goth rock, death metal and rock n roll.
Despite the band s penchant for blending these sounds so well, opposed to a cut-and-paste amalgamation, Zaars expressed he rarely finds genre mashing to be an attractive quality in the music he consumes and that Tribulation s outright songwriting aim was not to bring cohesion to so many influences.
He also discussed the exit of guitarist Jonathan Hultén, who left the group after recording
Swedish death metallers Tribulation plunge back into darkness with a blinding fifth album drawn from deepest night…
Words: Sam Law
An organ’s funereal drone steps down like a ghoul descending his basement stairs. The probing music-box tinkle of xylophone adds the ghostly playfulness of some poor lost soul. Guitars scrabble like nails against the inside of a coffin lid. Then the curtain drops and you’re slingshotted out into a jagged midnight landscape of dense forests, winding dirt roads, looming castles and distant snow-capped peaks.
This is In Remembrance, the opening track on Tribulation’s fifth album, and it only takes a minute to remind you why the Swedish terrors are, by a distance, the most atmospherically evocative outfit in modern metal.
Tribulation Cement Their Status as Heavy Metal Frontrunners on Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
Published Jan 27, 2021
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Black metal is one of the most prolific metal styles in the world, but its general musical inaccessibility prevents it from being embraced by the mainstream metal world, save for a handful of bands like Dimmu Borgir and Carach Angren. Enter Tribulation this Swedish quartet have been at it since 2005, and in that time have released five studio albums, two EPs and a live record. They ve been on an upward trajectory for a while, seeming one right move away from becoming a true household name. Their latest release,
OUTBURN ONLINE
January 26, 2021
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ESTER SEGARRA
Nothing, not even a pandemic, can prevent Tribulation from releasing the band’s new album,
Where the Gloom Becomes Sound. The Swedish Grammy winners also have a tour and festival dates booked for later this year. As with many Tribulation albums,
Where the Gloom Becomes Sound embodies a creepy and dreary sound, and recently longtime member Jonathan Hulten departed the band and was replaced by guitarist Joseph Tholl. With all of this happening, it should be a big year for Tribulation. Guitarist Adam Zaars discusses adding Tholl to the lineup, the band’s songwriting, and performing after so much time off.
Tribulation Has Become Life: The Occult Magic of Where the Gloom Becomes Sound Tuesday, 26 January 2021
Photo: Ester Segarra
Johannes Andersson grew up in a fairytale. Born in the countryside, a mile away from the small Swedish town of Arvika, he was raised by a potter mother and painter father. There was a workshop in the barn out back and an easel in the master bedroom upstairs. While his parents created, his neighbour would take him fishing by the lake, or he’d pick wild mushrooms.
The people in his village told him stories. He heard about the piper down by the river who would play for young children only to then drown them. Out in the woods was Rånda, the succubus who lured men away, never to be heard from again. There were tales of fairies and magic everywhere.