Trail of Tears – Bloodstained Endurance 5/5

01. The Feverish Alliance 4:01 02. Once Kissed By The Serpent (Twice Bitten By Truth) 3:22 03. Bloodstained Endurance 3:36 04. Triumphant Gleam 3:41 05. In The Valley Of Ashes 3:55 06. A Storm At Will 4:00 07. Take Aim. Reclaim. Prevail 3:12 08. The Desperation Corridors 4:13 09. Farewell To Sanity 4:32 10. Dead End Gaze 3:58 11. Faith Comes Knocking 4:32 12. Onward March The Merciless (Digipak bonus track) 3:08

Roughly a decade ago the world of Gothic Metal had just been revolutionised by the appearance of three Norwegian bands; Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and Trail of Tears. Out of the three bands Tristania was instantly the most recognisable and went on to redefine the genre and spawned many copy-cat acts.

Fast forward ten years and things are very different. The genre of so called “Beauty and the Beast” Gothic Metal hasn’t really changed much, some claiming it has become stagnant, Tristania’s future seems doubtful with members leaving faster than rats abandoning a sinking ship, Sirenia, a Tristania spin off band, released two glorious albums before sinking to glorified goth pop with their latest two offerings and The Sins of Thy Beloved have been on hiatus since 2001.

After the release of their previous album, ‘Existentia,’ most of the members abandoned the band and many fans feared the death of Trail of Tears. However after listening to the opening tracks of ‘Bloodstained Endurance’ Trail of Tears have proved that they are neither dead nor stagnant.

Each Trail of Tears release has been significantly different and this album is no exception. The songs feel faster, harsher and more brutal than before, and the bands former female vocalist Cathrine Paulsen makes a welcome return to provide her haunting counter vocals to Ronny Thorsens’ dry growls.

With this album Trail of Tears have managed to draw in and combine all of their greatest strengths, as well as incorporating all the factors that seem to be missing from Tristania and Sirenia’s latest offerings.

For me the highlights of the album have to be ‘The Feverish Alliance,’ ‘Dead End Gaze’ and my personal favourite ‘Farewell To Sanity.’

The tracks do sometimes feel too short though, with barely any songs breaking the four minute mark. The album’s ballad ‘A Storm At Will’ sounds as if it would be more at home on a Nightwish album, although technically a brilliant piece of song writing, it just doesn’t fit in with the songs surrounding it and does not contain the same haunting qualities of their previous ballads.

These slight niggles aside, I believe ‘Bloodstained Endurance’ is the best Gothic Metal release of the year and proves that there is still new territory for the genre to explore.

Bloodstained Endurance is available to buy or download at play.com

Genre : Gothic metal

Article by Ewan McNulty