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Review |
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The Century Of Self is the sixth studio album release
by (… And You Will Know Us By The) Trail Of
Dead, the art rock six-piece from Texas. It’s
their first release since they left their contract
with Interscope, and the change in style is immediately
apparent. It is much more free and raw than their
previous album, ‘So Divided’, which
was tighter, but lacked the passion that this album
exudes.
The first thing that struck me about the album
was the cover. I know, I know, don’t judge
a book by its cover, but the artwork on this one
is so gorgeous; I could study it all day. Drawn
by their very own Conrad Keely, using only a blue
ballpoint pen, the intricate details are mirrored
perfectly by their elaborate and ambitious musical
style.
The album begins with a powerful instrumental
track, aptly named ‘The Giants’ Causeway’,
and continues full force with two more of the
heavier tracks on the album, ‘The Far Pavilions’
and ‘Isis Unveiled’. After a vigorous
start, however, things start to peter out. This
isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, and
the album settles down and becomes more balanced:
your interest is kept by a good mixture of heavier
tracks and downbeat piano scores. Things start
to get a little weak towards the end with the
inclusion of several interludes – ‘An
August Theme’, and two versions of ‘Insatiable’.
That’s not to say that these tracks aren’t
beautiful, because they are, it’s just that
they destroy the pace set by the album so far.
You can never accuse Trail Of Dead of being boring:
their style varies greatly in a single album,
and takes you from passionate, powerful, complex
walls of sound to beautiful, meandering, and wonderfully
simple piano ballads. With 13 tracks clocking
in at nearly 55 minutes total, Trail Of Dead provide
almost an hour of pure genius to listen to. The
Century Of Self was released on 17th Feb 2009.
4/5
Review by Helen Williams |
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| Band
Members |
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Kevin Allen
Aaron Ford
Conrad Keely
Clay Morris
Jay Phillips
Jason Reece |
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| Track
Listing |
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1. The Giants’ Causeway
2. The Far Pavilions
3. Isis Unveiled
4. Halcyon Days
5. Bells of Creation
6. Fields of Coal
7. Inland Sea
8. Luna Park
9. Insatiable (one)
10. Pictures of an Only Child
11. Ascending
12. An August Theme
13. Insatiable (two) |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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