{"id":10764,"date":"2020-02-16T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T05:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=10764"},"modified":"2020-02-13T13:59:37","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T13:59:37","slug":"and-you-will-know-us-by-the-trail-of-dead-x-the-godless-void-and-other-stories-superball-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=10764","title":{"rendered":"And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead \u2013 \u2018X: The Godless Void And Other Stories\u2019\u00a0 (Superball Music)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>2020 sees Austin alternative rockers And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead celebrate their 25th<\/sup> anniversary with the release of their 10th<\/sup> album \u2018X: The Godless Void And Other Stories\u2019. It\u2019s been six years since their last album, and with the departure of long time bassist Autry Fulbright and guitarist\/drummer Jamie Miller, founding members Conrad Keely and Jason Reece seem to have come full circle and recorded \u2018X\u2019 as a duo, sharing lead vocals and guitar\/drums duty, as they did for their first 2 albums.<\/p>\n

With themes of loss, introspection and displacement, largely fuelled by Conrad\u2019s forced move from his home of Cambodia back to his native Texas, Trail Of Dead challenge themselves, as with every album, to create rich musical tapestries of post punk \/ art rock.<\/p>\n

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\u2018X\u2019 opens, as many Trail Of Dead albums do, with a slowly building, atmospheric instrumental that sets the scene for the upcoming musical journey. The mystical \u2018The Opening Crescendo\u2019 does exactly what it says on the tin, and with bells, whistles and chanting, it is probably the most grandiose of all of their opening offerings.<\/p>\n

Known for their incendiary live shows and the tendency to trash their instruments and themselves (in the past anyway) Trail Of Dead are a band who exists on their own plateau, like Jane\u2019s Addiction meets A Perfect Circle, where art rock and prog meets punk in an explosive mish-mash of glorious sound.<\/p>\n

A Trail Of Dead album is not a casual, nor at times an easy listen, yet with each repeated plays the rewards are there to be taken. For me, it is a journey to be taken in as a full album experience, artwork in hand to peruse at will.<\/p>\n

They veer from the melancholy and moody to aggro-rock with ease. Trademark beats, intricate guitar work and familiar melodies are rife in \u2018All Who Wonder\u2019, and \u2018Into The Godless Void\u2019 marries grungey guitars, tribal beats and guttural wailing in a way that has not been envisioned since Jane\u2019s Addiction shocked the system with \u2018Nothing\u2019s Shocking\u2019. A 3 minute art rock epic, it\u2019s the alternative to the Alternative, and probably the best thing Jason Reece has sung on since \u2018Caterwaul\u2019.<\/p>\n

Yet there\u2019s a moment in \u2018Who Haunts The Haunter\u2019 where Trail Of Dead sound remarkably like Oasis. The stabbing refrain echo\u2019s \u2018Morning Glory\u2019s iconic intro. And while Conrad\u2019s vision of millennial pop music is far removed from Noel Gallagher\u2019s mainstream radio-friendly songwriting style, interestingly they share the same ability to create grandiose, stadium-sized tunes. Take album centrepiece \u2018Children Of The Sky\u2019, a sprawling epic tale of loss that builds in a \u2018Champagne Supernova\u2019 sort of way. You\u2019ll never hear this tune on the radio though.<\/p>\n

The 90\u2019s nostalgia continues elsewhere, \u2018Don\u2019t Look Down\u2019 with its jangly guitars and indie pop vibes brings to mind Mega City 4, and sweet acoustic guitars and a haunting melody give a melancholy vibe to \u2018Something Like This\u2019 before waves of distortion takes the song off on a musical tangent.<\/p>\n

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Keely and Reece still put their heart and soul into Trail Of Dead after a quarter of a Century. While themes of heartbreak, loss and regret may on the surface seem depressing and miserable, these are the things that fuel the tortured artist and breathe fire into their creative mind. In truth,\u2018X\u2019 is an uplifting album that offers much. It\u2019s easy to get lost in the song dynamics, from the proggy sections to the punk intensity, it\u2019s a noisy and thrilling joyride through sonically seductive expanses of sound. Even \u00a0Conrad\u2019s ever-stunning artwork that is as thought provoking and rapturous as the music itself.<\/p>\n

Still doing things on their own terms, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead show no signs of slowing down just yet, and \u2018X\u2019 is a fine addition to their discography.<\/p>\n

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