Band:	Tribulation
Album:	Down Below
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	January 26, 2018
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. The Lament
02. Nightbound
03. Lady Death
04. Subterranea
05. Purgatorio
06. Cries From The Underworld
07. Lacrimosa
08. The World
09. Here Be Dragons
10. Come, Become, To Be [Bonus]
11. One Hundred Years [The Cure cover] [Japanese bonus]
12. Pay The Man [The Offspring cover] [Japanese bonus]

For many, the Swedish four piece that is Tribulation reached the peak of their ambition in songwriting with 2013's The Formulas Of Death, a challenging, polymorphic mix of death metal, black metal, and dark, ethereal atmospheres. Children Of The Night followed in 2015, a curveball that saw the band really cranking up the gothic influences. While good, it felt a little unrefined, as if it was sort of the missing link between The Formulas and an excellent new album in the future. This year, Down Below is indeed that "excellent new album."

With the big ball of enjoyable that is Down Below, we essentially have the "grown up version" of Children Of The Night. Like its predecessor, Down Below is overall more inclined towards the gothic influences and sort of turns down the volume on the extreme metal of earlier. Not "gothic" as in weepy girls in all black, lace, and spandex at some cyber club smearing their makeup over My Chemical Romance. More "epic" gothic laced with some underlying horror influences: replete with dark melodies, occasional synth use, and an overall aura that feels slightly symphonic without descending into the cliched cheese typical of most symphonic metal bands. "The Lament" is as great an opener as any to get this party between Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley started.

What's this? "Party," you say, Apothecary? Why yes indeed. While not a word one would often associate much with extreme metal, many moments on Down Below do indeed feel almost danceable and party-like. This is owed not only to the boosted gothic influence, but also to how Tribulation have shifted the way in which their extreme metal influences are channeled into it. These ingredients are still there in the vocals and in occasional riff patterns more characteristic of death and black metal. The trick is that now they're more an extra spice upon the meat as opposed to the meat itself, added more for the sake of groove and making the music more "bouncy" and upbeat than for the sake of extremity and frantic barrages. And it's certainly working to still keep the music highly catchy and memorable, albeit in a different way. I would be genuinely surprised if some of the various riffs and melodies on this album don't end up getting stuck in listeners' heads for days on end. "Subterranea" is a definite favorite of mine in this regard.

Major stylistic leaps are something not many bands within the metal genre can really handle effectively. Often they result in gimmicky, half assed efforts, or efforts that are genuine and more for the sake of experimenting than anything, but that nonetheless fail to stick hard enough on fans to win them over. Tribulation, however, have managed to push boundaries, evolve their sounds, and still maintain a hearty dose of support in the process. Want a strong modern example of a band that significantly revised the formula, cooked something new in the lab, and still kept most of its fans throughout? Look no farther than Tribulation and Down Below.

It's time to go down like it's 1816 at the Villa Diodati.