| CD REVIEW Tristania |
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Band : Tristania When Vibeke Stene left Tristania 2007, it all became silent around Tristania, one of the leading gothic metal bands at the time. The band withdrew themselves from any public attention, the official website was merely updated and covered in silence and meanwhile, the band went out on a long quest to find the girl who had what was required to be the new singer of Tristania. A long time of silence passed and then, all of a sudden, the band had found their newest figure head: Mariangela. This Latin-American beauty was asked to come to cold Norway, where she was given the hard task to replace Vibeke. On this album, Rubicon, we get a first taste of what she’s capable of. The first impression: a change of style, especially in the vocals. Mariangela has a very warm, jazzy sound and is nothing like her predecessor. There’s nothing left of the heartwarming soprano sound Tristania used to deliver to the world. Not that this is a bad thing, far from that, but it will take some time to recover from this change, especially for the fans. When you have a look at different discussion boards on the Internet, you will soon find out that the discussion and comparison between Vibeke and Mariangela is very much alive. It’s even comparable to the old discussion between Tarja and Anette from Nightwish. Though, in my opinion, both singers can’t be compared. Their style is completely different. What’s more important, according to me, is how this new voice blends into the original music of Tristania.
With Rubicon, Tristania proves that the band is still alive. Their long silence hasn’t weakened them at all. On the contrary, it has made them even more mature than ever before! This idea is reflected in the variety and virtuosity of songs on this new album. What is so perfect about this album, is the fact that the band is both conservative and progressive: they don’t deceive themselves by changing their style completely, but still they dare to be innovative and creative. And that’s a quality that some bands nowadays lack. Fortunately for Tristania, they have not been mislead. Both enchanting ballads ("Exile", "Illumination") and pure metal tracks ("Patriot Games", "Vulture") are to be found on this album and the new single "Year of the Rat" will stick to your mind after having listened to it for the first time. The rest of the album needs more time to be fully discovered. With Rubicon, Tristania proves to be more alive than ever. Now it’s up to Mariangela to show us how she’ll bring the older songs to live. Something to look forward to, that’s for sure. 85/100 Tim Tronckoe. |