Tristania - World of Glass (2001) FLAC

Tristania - World of Glass

In 2001 gothic Metal band Tristania released their first non-Morten Veland album, World Of Glass. Just looking at the song titles, one can tell they were a little upset with Morten leaving (take a look at the song titles, and interpret them in relation to a band's main songwriter, guitarist and vocalist leaving them), which pervades and pretty much makes World Of Glass.

It's instantly clear when listening to World Of Glass Tristania were incredibly pissed off at Morten Veland leaving the band (especially when his own band went on to suck...anyway). The emotional aspect of this record is the darkest of all Tristania, yet unlike the beautiful melancholy of say, Widow's Weeds, the emotions here are that of hatred, anger and depression. See lyrics such as 'the child in me just died/the scars in me will never heal' or 'this world/its evil ways/the pain that I hide' for evidence of this. The album is still a product of Tristania, meaning emotionally it is top notch; the emotional side always being moving and easy to connect to. This is perfect when you're in a sh*tty mood. However, some of the emotions are just too dark to be enjoyable (see 'Lost' and 'Hatred Grows').

The main aspect of the band has always been the vocals. Sadly, there are some sub-par performances on here along with the usual excellent ones. The other male vocalist (besides Osten) doesn't fit the slower passages; Vibeke's voice feels too harsh at points (see the start of 'Crushed Dreams', ugh); the harsh vocals sound computerised; all but one of the choir parts are boring (I don't know how they went from writing such awesome choir parts to such lame ones, surely they could have just repeated the formula Morten had). Otherwise we have excellent vocal passages as usual; the gothic choir passage at 4:20 of 'Crushed Dreams' is one of the best things they've ever wrote, everything in 'Tender Trip On Earth' rules, Vibeke's solo in 'Wormwood' is beautiful, and more. The core of the band still lives.

Musically the songwriting remains complex and interesting. My initial reaction was to think the band had lost the songwriting foundations Morten laid down (while Einar and Anders came up with the more complex detail), but foundation wise, the band manage to hold it together, if only just. The songs themselves are incredibly interesting and diverse, featuring dissonant violin solos, melodic black metal passages, oppressive choir sections, anthemic vocal triplets, sombre acoustic parts and more. Instrumentally the band are fine, with the one guitar being used efficiently and the drums sounding great as always.

Not the most consistent album, but enough greatness present to deserve a recommendation.

copas from http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Tristania/World_of_Glass/425/

Tracklist:
01. The Shining Path
02. Wormwood
03. Tender Trip On Earth
04. Lost
05. Deadlocked
06. Selling Out
07. Hatred Grows
08. World Of Glass
09. Crushed Dreams

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