Blending melodic metal and gothic metal and adding a touch of nu metal and alternative rock, Trillium have committed a quite solid debut release in Alloy, which strikes me as being a tad more interesting than many other releases within the same genre sphere of gothic metal.
Amanda Somerville's vocals are perhaps a bit softer than what I normally prefer, but she performs some pretty interesting vocal melodies, some of which are quite complex, which more than makes up for the lack of rock 'n' roll belting. Musically, the tracks are quite varied in terms of texture, ranging from a skeleton format of drums, bass, and guitars over very lush and almost symphonic, and definitely epic, passages to mellow and progressive bridges and breakdowns. Moreover, Trillium are not afraid to make use of electronic effects, and they successfully manage to do that without ever becoming too cheesy.
There are plenty of solid riffs on the album, some of which are even groovy, and guitar fans can also look forward to some pretty awesome guitar solos, some of which sound a bit inspired by Ritchie Blackmore. The musicianship is generally quite high on this album, and Trillium are doubtlessy also skilled songsmiths, who understand how to draw on well-known song structures and still add something to them and make them sound dynamic and interesting.
Fans of dark, yet catchy and melodic metal music should definitely check this release out, and Trillium's Alloy should definitely be a hit among fans of melodic female-fronted gothic metal. It is a very enjoyable listen.
Track listing:
1. Machine Gun
2. Coward
3. Purge
4. Utter Descension
5. Bow to the Ego
6. Mistaken
7. Scream It
8. Justifiable Casualty
9. Path of Least Resistance
10. Into the Dissonance
11. Slow It Down
12. Love Is an Illusion (bonus track)
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