Texas-natives, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, move toward freedom on its first release since splitting with Interscope Records. Its latest effort, “The Century of Self,” hits on all levels that are expected from the inspirational band.
With the release from Interscope, …Trail of Dead, were able to more freely express themselves. This is apparent when listening to this album side-by-side with its previous releases on Interscope. The band is at its creative pinnacle on “The Century of Self,” expanding their unique brand of alternative-based art rock.
“The Century of Self” is a big album, both in its sound and in its concepts. The expansive instrumentation and the powerful vocalizing blend to perfection, and topics like war and religion are highlighted throughout the album.
…Trail of Dead’s music is hard to categorize, and this album is no different. The sound shifts throughout the album, not just from song to song, but within each song, as well. The band is able to perfect progressive rock without laying down a track longer than seven minutes. Tracks build and fall in brilliant fashion, highlighting the band’s song-writing ability.
Expanding on the band’s creativity, the album’s cover art was done by the band’s lead singer, Conrad Keely, with only blue ballpoint pen. The artwork is as brilliantly intricate as the music contained beneath it on the album.
Although the album is complex, it has a certain ease to it. The tracks flow nicely and build and fade without much filler. With the large amount of instrumentation from track-to-track, there is always something new that can be heard with repeated listenings.
The album begins with a grandiose introduction track, “Giants Causeway,” that starts the album on an epic note. The song fades into the next track, “Far Pavilions,” a track that is brash, but not abrasive. “Far Pavilions” is loud and infectious, yet carries a lot of subtleties throughout. The song’s bridge, featuring a choir and an epic snare drum driven build, is quickly squashed by the song’s original feel, ending with feedback and the re-entrance of the choir.
“Far Pavilions” fades into “Isis Unveiled,” the album’s highlight. The track’s opening sounds like The Arcade Fire on steroids. The lyrics of the song tell the story of the Bible from an agnostic Christian point of view, which bring more weight to the already heavy feel of the song. Compiled of many parts, the song is a great representation of this album, as well as the band.
Though most of the album is voluminous, there are songs, as well as particular pieces within songs, that are both soft and subtle. The piano playing throughout adds great warmth to the tracks, whether it is pounding on tracks like “Far Pavilions,” or delicately leading on “Bells of Creation.”
The band also explores world music throughout the album, most notably on “Isis Unveiled,” “An August Theme” and “Insatiable (Two).” This addition adds great depth to the tracks and keeps the album fresh and interesting.
The album has a great feel throughout. Many of the tracks lead into the next, and create an album that has a unity from start to finish. Without any standout duds, and with the intended flow and feel, the album is a great “start to finish” piece with no track skipping necessary.
Overall, this album is a return to form for …Trail of Dead. The album shines through on all fronts, which can’t be said about its last two releases. The band embraces its creativity and new found freedom from label pressures, and puts out an album that will, no doubt, be considered one of its best.
SOURCE: http://www.advancetitan.com
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