Tribulation - The Formulas of Death

Artist: Tribulation

Album: The Formulas of Death

Label: Suspicious Activities

Genre: Death Metal, Progressive Metal

The Formulas of Death is the second album of Swedish quarted Tribulation. Spanning everything between death metal, progressive metal, doom metal and with a deep layer of atmosphere in every pore and beat, this is a fascinating album.

This young band shows that, for writing The Formulas of Death, the got their creative juices flowing. At times, the result borders the magnificence of Opeth's Morningrise.

While the foundation of the music of Tribulation remains furious death metal, as was fully featured on their debut album The Horror, they have now taken the depth of death metal as a starting base from which many different styles are explored.

The result, The Formulas of Death, is a captivating album, that at its best points ties the listener to his chair, wondering what surprises will be next. At its worst moments, more traditional death metal seems to be used as a filler element in between passages of free creative work.

Some of the most interesting tracks on The Formulas of Death are the following: “Wanderer in the Outer Darkness”, as it explores elements of black metal and power metal; “Suspiria”, with its melodic references to the characteristic doom metal of bands like Moonspell and My Dying Bride; “Rånda”, that keeps reminding me of Opeth's Morningrise; “When The Sky Is Black With Devils” and its jazzy, progressive groove and the final track of the album “Apparitions”, a collection of scenes and images from the underbelly of metal hell.

The Formulas of Death is an album that keeps surprising me at every listening session, and a release that I will keep revisiting in the future. Tribulation has a remarkable creative force in them, and I hope their future releases will bring this power to full bloom. This album is recommended for all lovers of the darker metal genres – it truly feels like a breath of fresh air in the sometimes cliché-ridden metal scene.

Listen to: Randa

Buy Tribulation – The Formulas of Death