Tribulation is one of those bands that keeps evolving and growing with every new record. Forming in 2005 in Arvika, Sweden, Tribulation started out as a traditional sounding death metal band that had some elements of black metal and goth metal. 2009's The Horror has lots of speed, blistering guitar solos and a heaping amount of Carcass worship. Not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. The Formulas of Death, released in 2013, has a similar blueprint to The Horror, but with some different derivations on the death themes. The record, featuring their breakout cut "Vagina Dentata," really put the band on the map, and tours with bands like Watain gave them increased exposure.
Children of the Night, from 2015 is really when Tribulation took the turn towards to more fervent goth embrace, shedding their death metal skin. One of the best metal records of that year, the band was able to satisfy fans of goth metal, traditional metal, thrash and black metal with a record that truly broke boundaries. The Swedes continued on the same sonic path with follow-up releases Down Below in 2018 and Where the Gloom Becomes the Sound in 2021. Both received high praise from critics and fans alike. A number of stellar EPs also kept the fanbase happy.
Finally in 2024 we see that Tribulation has now taken a further step towards becoming a near full-on goth band, though they're still not quite all the way there. The first time I heard Sub Rosa In Æternum , I thought Sisters of Mercy. Certainly the vocals by Johannes Andersson have changed. In fact, the majority of the vocals on this newest record are clean. Clean, but dark and baritone. It's something I would have expected from those 80's goth bands some of us used to listen to in NYC's famed Limelight club back in the day.
"Murder in Red," which the band has been promoting in recent weeks, is a slower track, but still with the gloom and melancholy that you'd come to expect. There's a bit of an industrial style track that runs through the song as well that more aptly puts the sonics in the glory days of the mid 80's. The video is also just in time for Halloween! Similar sounding cuts on the record are the bass heavy "Poison Pages" and "Hungry Waters." Both wonderful cuts that use just a touch of keywords and synths to round out the sound.
For those who appreciate the dirty growl of the band's past, don't fret. You still get that on songs like "The Vivid Ore," which could easily have appeared on either of the band's previous two records. "Saturn Coming Down," also surprises longtime fans with clean singing, but they mix it up a bit in the chorus. It's another ridiculously well-crafted tune.
While I absolutely every single cut on this record, it's the catchy as hell chorus of "Tainted Skies" that really drew me in. It's doomly, gloomly and even post-punk, but with a slight uptempo. So difficult to pull this off and blend and bridge all the different genres. This is where Tribulation really shines.
With this newest record, Tribulation continues to triumph. This is one of the most exciting and most original bands in metal and they're able to pull off a bit of a reinvention in a manner that only few bands would even dream of being able to do. This is first day buy without any doubt whatsoever.
