Tristania - Darkest White
CD Info
2013
Napalm Records / Austria
Tracks
English Lyrics
Change is controversial, and nowhere is this more evident than in the metal community. Unless you’re a classic band like AC/DC or Iron Maiden and can get away with playing basically the same thing for 20+ years, you’re faced with a dilemma: continue doing the same thing and hope you don’t become irrelevant and fall into oblivion like most bands, or let your sound evolve and change with each album and possibly lose many of your older fans while maybe gaining some new ones. We’ve seen both in the female-fronted metal scene: bands like Amberian Dawn or The Birthday Massacre are still growing in popularity despite the fact that both bands, though maturing over time, (and I’m not saying this is entirely a bad thing) have presented us with essentially the same thing on all their albums. On the other hand we have bands like Lacuna Coil and In This Moment, who cause many an old fan to grovel over the change on each new album while gaining legions of new ones. How many people have I talked to who think Comalies was the best thing since sliced bread but who take one listen (if at all) to Dark Adrenaline and never pick it up again? This is the case with gothic metal pioneers Tristania, whose seventh album, Darkest White, sounds nothing like any previous album and continues their trend of change and evolution. If you’re hoping for another album that sounds like Beyond the Veil or World of Glass, stop reading. What we have here is a new, darker, heavier Tristania, and the result is very much a successful album.
Darkest White showcases a much more brutal side of Tristania, as evidenced by the opener "Number" that hits the listener right in the ears with a heaviness we haven’t heard from the band since Ashes. The fact that the first vocals you hear on this album are the harsh screams of guitarist Anders, a constant presence on Darkest White, is very much representative of the musical direction of this record. It’s not long, though, before Mariangela comes in strong with her clean mid-range vocals on the chorus, more confident and powerful than ever. In fact, Darkest White sees Mary and Kjetil (clean male vocals), who both only joined the band on the previous release Rubicon, finding their confidence and becoming comfortable with their respective roles in the band. It actually seems as if Mary is taking both a step forward and backward on this album; absent completely on the songs "Darkest White," "Cypher" and the closer "Arteries", she still gives it her all during her parts on the other tracks. We also see the addition of a fourth vocalist, bassist Ole, who takes the lead on "Diagnosis" and "Lavender," offering a mid-range male voice to fit between Kjetil’s deep singing and Mary’s female vocal.
The new-found heaviness continues on the title track, as Kjetil and Anders trade off vocal duties over a crunchy guitar riff. Guitars take the lead on this album, not just filling in the background like on some of the previous releases, but staying on par with the vocals and giving their own flavor to the songs, like on "Himmelfall" with its bouncy central riff, the brutal "Arteries," and the dark "Night on Earth." In general, I’d say the songs on Darkest White have more of a groove to them than previous Tristania material, not at all an unwelcome addition.
Of course, Tristania still stick to their roots in one sense, and that is the dark, gothic atmosphere they helped to pioneer back in the late 90’s. Darkest White showcases this dark vibe to the fullest, especially on tracks like the gloomy "Scarling" and the addition of the signature gothic violin at the end of it, the doomy and heavy "Diagnosis," the melancholy ballad "Lavender," and "Cypher," which features a heart-wrenching performance by Kjetil, arguably his shining moment on the album. The layered songwriting and low-tuned guitars, as well as the vocals prowess of the four singers, contribute greatly to the dark and melancholy ambience that permeates the album, which closes on as heavy a note as it started with "Arteries," one of the heaviest songs the band has ever done.
Something must also be said about the phenomenal production on this album, thanks to the masterful work of Christer André Cederberg, former guitarist for the now-defunct Animal Alpha. On the production front, this is easily the best-sounding Tristania album to date, which contributes greatly to the overall enjoyment of the album, and his touch, according to the studio-diaries by Anders, helped the band capture the dark brutality that they were going for on this record.
Over the years, Tristania has gone through so many changes in both its lineup and its musical direction that everyone has their personal favorite point in the band’s history. Fans of the Veland-era Tristania may not like the newer alternative-gothic style in the slightest and maybe fans of Vibeke’s vocals still refuse to listen to anything with Mary behind the mic, but we can debate all that until the sun burns out. What remains true is that, through seven albums, the question has never been the quality of the music, but the taste of the listener. Each album is unique and presents us with a different sound and it’s up to the fans to decide which record they like best. Though World of Glass remains my favorite Tristania album to date, Darkest White comes in a close second, and I highly encourage any fan of any era give it a chance. Who knows, it may surprise you!
Standout tracks: It’s hard to choose, but my favorites on this album are probably "Himmelfall," "Diagnosis," "Scarling," "Cypher," and "Arteries."
9.5 / 10
