I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything quite like this before; an hour long sound-scape of material with music inter-spliced within its cold, wet grasp. Trist is essentially the work of Aran, one of the founders of Lunar Aurora who are now on an indefinite hiatus. No doubt the intention was to keep these bands separate, though if anything has been transferred over, it’s the atmosphere. Albeit not attempting to breach the darkness of Lunar Aurora’s midnight shades, ‘Willenskraft’ (German for Willpower) goes for a different kind of mood altogether, brandishing the power and sound of an ocean at us instead. Indeed, the entire album sports these sounds and I expect had Arran not ruined it with Black Metal ambience, the album would sell in huge bulk to those who require sounds of nature as an alternative to cocoa at night. Huge sections of this album feature little other than the soothing sound of waves which dominate close to half of the record, and actually the cover art is a pretty good visualisation of how it all sounds.
So then...after about twelve minutes of waves (which more or less comprise opener ‘Bewusstsein’) and mood enhancing synth, ‘Wagemut’ begins, with another minute or so of waves. Anguished howling can be made out in the background and ever so slowly the growl of a guitar rises. At the peak of its volume, a double bass drum attack springs from nowhere, most surprisingly, especially if what you’re expecting is a Burzumic crawl. Aran’s howling, reminiscent of Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto on the ‘Panzerfaust’ album returns to add an element of pain alongside a synthesiser whose aim is to add sorrowful accents to the guitar’s growl. Admittedly it goes on for a long time, but the beat alternates now and then, with fills and slight changes in tempo which definitely aid one’s endurance. In fact by the ten minute mark you realise you’re listening to quite a dextrous amalgamation of sounds, head swaying with the rhythm, mind absorbing the deceptively memorable and simple tune. It stops suddenly, leaving only the gentle synth to fend for itself with the waves lapping at its tones, and again we have little but the sound of the ocean to keep us company for the next few minutes.
Piano notes open ‘Herzenswunsch’, sounding almost dramatic after having adjusted to the waves. The cacophony resumes with the guitar and keyboard drowning out nature in a slow regular manner this time. The mood is airier and more celestial and euphoric than before, emphasized when the drumming takes the speed up a few notches and a false choir accompanies Aran’s screaming.
‘Verhinderer’ is absolutely bizarre and eerie. The German language is undoubtedly the most Metal one in my opinion and the spoken words at the beginning of this track are both sinister and malevolent. Gunfire and the general sound of war pervade the remainder of the track along with a haunting, mysterious synthesised background sound.
A brief but energetic guitar rhythm opens ‘Wandlung’, only to stop after a couple of minutes for some Dornenreichesque whispering to be uttered. God knows what is said, but it’s quite unsettling. Back comes the energy of the guitars, raw beneath the soaring synthesiser and fuelled by the double bass and snare drums. Screaming and groaning can be heard along with the waves somewhere in the background before another abrupt musical end...this time for good and the waves slowly fade away.
http://www.myspace.com/tristambient
http://www.cold-dimensions.de/
