Artist: Trail Of Tears
Title: “Existentia”
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: 1/26/2007
Genre: Dark Gothic Metal
Rating: 4/5

This follow up to Trail Of Tears monster piece “Free Fall Into Fear” would utilize some of the same principles that worked well for that recording but this time around a little more emphasis would be placed on the Dark Gothic Metal aspect. While possessing three sets of vocals on previous recordings the dueling male voices would be more upfront this time around and the result is a thunderous and brooding piece that gets things going right away with the opener “Deceptive Mirrors”. It’s here we find the growls of Ronny Thorsen backed by the deep and dramatic voice of Green Carnation’s Kjetil Nordhus over a driving musical score that even adds some symphonic chorals for good measure. The light and dark aspect of the male vocalists works well for TOT and it’s all complimented by the beautiful voice of Emmanuelle Zoldan. “Existentia” would be my second experience with the band and compared to “FFIF” I can definitely say that this release might be a little more accessible to the listeners of other Gothic Metal bands like Tristania and perhaps even Therion. I enjoy what the Darker side of Goth Metal brings to the table as it takes the conventional stuff and makes it all the more dramatic and thereby making the music a little more exciting and unpredictable. The numerous vocal tradeoffs here make the listener feel as though they are experiencing a scripted stage performance at times.
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