Swedish band TRIAL have been around since 2007 or thereabouts, and launched their career as recording artists with the release of a self-titled EP in 2010. Since then a further EP as well as two full length studio albums have appeared. “Vessel” is the most recent of the latter, and was released through German label High Roller Records in 2015.
Heavy metal is a genre where many fans these days are men that are few years removed from being young, curious and always looking for something new, and considering that there’s no surprise that there’s a few bands around that have opted to create music of the kind that was sought out by those aging men when they were young. After all, that generation of men, of which I’m one myself, generally have the money needed to actually buy music. Our main challenge is that there’s just so much to buy, and many of us have a bad tendency to stick to what’s already familiar. But I digress.
Trial is an innovative addition to the roster of bands creating metal as it what done back in the 1980’s. Innovative on many levels at that, partially because they don’t stick to any one narrowly defined subgenre of metal, partially because they manage to create an album of progressive metal that won’t be recognized as such by prog snobs (of which there is a few) nor will it be all that noticeable as a progressive metal album by the regular metal fans. Mainly because the sounds, moods and atmospheres all stick to a relatively traditional metal based one. The progressive aspect: That there are almost as many alterations in pace, intensity and even style and themes than you’ll encounter on any 70’s Genesis album.
I rather guess that this band and this album isn’t all that much crafted with style in mind though, as the compositions first and foremost come across as functional, and that the frequent minor and major alterations are present to emphasize the theatrical and melodramatic aspect of the music present. Whether the band are active chugging through slow paced doom metal, galloping through the evergreen NWOBHM plains, marching to a more pounding heavy metal machine or more frantically running through speed metal realms, my impression is that it’s done and executed to create drama, tension and a certain theatrical atmosphere. Like thespians of old school metal, conserving most aspects and variations in a musical play of sort. That they also use, and to good effect I may add, drums and guitars playing at opposite speed another one of those details that for me spells out as a melodramatic detail, as is the at times frequent lapses into gentler and acoustic landscapes throughout.
The most frequent associations I get are towards Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate and King Diamond however. The former for many of the instrumental sequences, there’s quite a lot going on at times that Iron Maiden fans will recognize. Vocalist Johansson also has a voice that does have something of a Bruce Dickinson tinge to it in tone and range as well.
The aspect of this album that will make or break the listener are the verse, chorus and supplemental vocal passages however. In these the approach is much closer to what you’ll find on the old Mercyful Fate and King Diamond albums, and then in particular in how the vocals are used. The end effect this has is to hear a slightly less controlled version of Bruce Dickinson attempting to sing vocal lines made for King Diamond. Sometimes it does work fairly well, at other times the end result is rather odd. How much or not so depending solely on just how you listen to the vocals. If you’re generally fond of theatrical lead vocals and tend to appreciate this as an effect to a greater extent than vocals control, melodies and harmonies you’ll have a greater chance to be charmed by this aspect of the album, but if you’re the kind of person that prefers control over the theatrical the opposite may well be the case.
“Vessel” comes across as a rather creative and innovative production on many levels. On a core level it probably is rather firmly placed inside a retroactive metal frame of reference, in terms of composition, structure and execution it’s more of a progressive oriented affair and overall it comes across as much more of a theatrical one in terms of the moods and atmospheres explored in general and then with the lead vocals leading the charge. If that combination sounds tasteful, this is a CD you might want to spend a few minutes to get familiar with.
My rating: 69/100
