Artist: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Album: The Century Of Self
Year: 2009
Grade: 3.5 pretzels
Across the vast spectrum of band names, there are good ones, there are bad ones and then there’s …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. It’s awkward, impossibly long and, sure enough, the band members insist that the ellipsis always be there. It’s such a rough name that it almost crosses over into being awesome. Almost. For the record, the band says they took the phrase from an ancient Mayan chant, but, somehow, this just makes me angrier at them. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness is the only band that gets away with shenanigans like this in my mind.
In terms of actual music, Trail Of Dead (no, I will not keep writing the whole thing out!) go for broke with huge, monolithic slabs of noise. The guitars are huge, the drums are huge, the keyboards are huge…are you starting to see the pattern here? In 2002, they established themselves with the well-received Source Tags & Codes, before a string of disappointing albums cost them much of the goodwill they had built up, along with their record contract. The Century Of Self was recorded more-or-less on their own, before a small imprint called Justice Records took the gamble and picked it up.
Now, when I sat down to write this review, I fully intended to rip this album apart. After the first listen, I dismissed Trail Of Dead as arena-obsessed guitar freaks with a ridiculous name. But as I sit here, playing the record for a second time, I can’t in good conscience say I don’t like most of what I’m hearing. The huge guitar riff-itude on “Isis Unveiled” is actually all kinds of awesome, even after the band gets lost in an overlong bridge during the middle two minutes of the song. “Halcyon Days” sounds like the loudest Decemberists song ever. Is it all somewhat ridiculous? Well, yes, but perhaps not in a terribly bad way. Trail Of Dead certainly do love their prog-rock noodling, but they manage to rock mightily at the same time. Bands have been trying to reconcile those two urges for decades. I guess I have to tip my hat to Trail Of Dead for finally getting the combination right.
Before listening to any of their music, I had already made up my mind about Trail Of Dead. I knew they played loud, arena-ready guitar music and I knew they had a stupid name. Putting two and two together, I assumed they were some humorless, indulgent band that I would hate unconditionally. See kids, this is what happens when you insist on elipses! But, after listening to The Century Of Self and spending some quality time on their Wikipedia page, my opinion towards the band is softening. They certainly aren’t my favorite band in the world, but this world needs more strong guitar music. I commend Trail Of Dead for filling that niche with a minimum of stupidity. Also, Wikipedia tells me that their name “is merely an ongoing joke.” My god! They have a sense of humor after all!
In terms of actual music, Trail Of Dead (no, I will not keep writing the whole thing out!) go for broke with huge, monolithic slabs of noise. The guitars are huge, the drums are huge, the keyboards are huge…are you starting to see the pattern here? In 2002, they established themselves with the well-received Source Tags & Codes, before a string of disappointing albums cost them much of the goodwill they had built up, along with their record contract. The Century Of Self was recorded more-or-less on their own, before a small imprint called Justice Records took the gamble and picked it up.
Now, when I sat down to write this review, I fully intended to rip this album apart. After the first listen, I dismissed Trail Of Dead as arena-obsessed guitar freaks with a ridiculous name. But as I sit here, playing the record for a second time, I can’t in good conscience say I don’t like most of what I’m hearing. The huge guitar riff-itude on “Isis Unveiled” is actually all kinds of awesome, even after the band gets lost in an overlong bridge during the middle two minutes of the song. “Halcyon Days” sounds like the loudest Decemberists song ever. Is it all somewhat ridiculous? Well, yes, but perhaps not in a terribly bad way. Trail Of Dead certainly do love their prog-rock noodling, but they manage to rock mightily at the same time. Bands have been trying to reconcile those two urges for decades. I guess I have to tip my hat to Trail Of Dead for finally getting the combination right.
Before listening to any of their music, I had already made up my mind about Trail Of Dead. I knew they played loud, arena-ready guitar music and I knew they had a stupid name. Putting two and two together, I assumed they were some humorless, indulgent band that I would hate unconditionally. See kids, this is what happens when you insist on elipses! But, after listening to The Century Of Self and spending some quality time on their Wikipedia page, my opinion towards the band is softening. They certainly aren’t my favorite band in the world, but this world needs more strong guitar music. I commend Trail Of Dead for filling that niche with a minimum of stupidity. Also, Wikipedia tells me that their name “is merely an ongoing joke.” My god! They have a sense of humor after all!
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