20 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2018 (So Far)
14. Tribulation – Down Below
Bridging black metal with Paradise Lost-esque gothic rock, Tribulation shone once more in January with their fourth album, Down Below. Its energetic take on the more sorrowful end of the heavy metal spectrum made it a truly intriguing disc to wander through, its macabre corpus feeling predominantly like the most morbid of fast-paced waltzes.
Guitar solos dance wildly thanks to the skills of Adam Zaars and Jonathan Hultén, injecting Down Below with the unholiest of tones and harmonies usually reserved for the soaring black ‘n’ roll of modern Satyricon. Johannes Andersson’s gritty vocals fit with his and drummer Oscar Leander’s mid-paced rhythms, landing at the perfect pace to blend invigoration with sadness.
Every song on Down Below is a new, melancholic treat, from the slow-burning “The Lament” to the magnificent riffs of “Subterranea” to the enigmatic instrumental “Purgatorio”.
As an entire experience, it is the perfect follow-up to its similarly acclaimed predecessor The Children of the Night, proving that the band’s decision to bravely ditch their deathly overtones as found on their first two discs has been more than worth it.