Artist: Trail Of Tears
Title: “Free Fall Into Fear”
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: 4/26/2005
Genre: Gothic/Black Metal
Rating: 8/10

I did not know what to make of Trail Of Tears when I first began the CD but I did realize very quickly that the group was onto something with this release. A dark mixture of Black and Gothic Metal with a number of vocal styles across the album make this an interesting musical journey. When you add to this some thundering drums and mood laden keyboards you have a band that can interest fans of multiple genres. Before this album, the band had singer Catherine Paulsen bringing a female vocal to the group but she has now been replaced by Green Carnations Kjetil Nordhus. This is a great band for Kjetil to be a part of and since Green Carnation is such a unique animal as well I find his contributions to TOT all the more compelling. Now with two male vocals (the other being handled by Ronny Thorsen) a wider variety of drama is able to be presented to the listener. There was so much of a mix happening here with some slower “more Gothic” parts and then suddenly you are swept away in a pounding Black Metal riff that shows more sophistication than the genre is often afforded. I admit I found this album incredibly powerful and can see it making a dent in the fan base of bands that have both an Atmospheric and Extreme sense to their music. Fans of bands like Samael and Tristania might enjoy this especially when they hear songs like “Frail Expectations” which begins with not only harpsichord but also blast drumming. Clearly, adding the talents of Nordhus gave this band a well-needed move in a Darker direction than they might have had by keeping the female vocalist.
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