IN REVIEW: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - "IX"

One has to wonder if Conrad Keely sleeps. As an avid writer in addition to his role as primary songwriter, frontman and artwork creator for ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, the only thing more astounding than his creativity is his prolificness; IX is (rather obviously) Trail Of Dead's ninth album, but also the fourth in five years.

In fact, while some artists receive criticism along the course of their careers for a perceived shortage of ideas, Trail Of Dead have been targeted more often than not for having too many. The band's lofty aspirations may have gotten the better of them a couple times along the way, but in recent years they've settled into a comfortable groove. However, ever averse to settling, they boiled their sound down to its furious essence on 2012's Lost Songs.

That album scaled back the group's more cinematic impulses and placed heavy emphasis on high energy and concise attack, and IX starts out with the same focus. The percussive, punchy first half practically speeds by in only twenty minutes while keeping the tunes tight, captivating and in some cases (like the slow burning single The Ghost Within and the elastic groove of Jaded Apostles) downright catchy. It's also an incredible show of restraint; a few of these songs would have once been a compromise at twice the length, but years of experience have revealed a measure of maturity that they perhaps would have been too stubborn to acknowledge a decade ago.

As compact as the first six songs are, the album's second half goes big, acting in defiant contrast. Instrumental How To Avoid Big Ships swells with just the right amount of tension, setting up for the majestic and stunning Bus Lines, a tune that knows exactly when to scale itself back and when to charge into cacophonous bliss. It's a thrilling turn by a band that's provided its fair share of thrills.

The trick is attempted again with the next track, the nearly eight-minute behemoth Lost In The Grand Scheme, with lesser effect; it's not a bad track, but building up to the song's admittedly great crescendo takes a little too long. Speaking of taking too long, the album's penultimate track serves as a four-minute segue to the white hot finale Sound Of The Silk, which is varied enough in style that it didn't need such a drawn out introduction.

Still, it's easy to let an abundance of ideas cloud your judgment and clutter up your album, and that the overflow is confined to a couple of small isolated pockets on the record is to be commended. Minor grievances aside, IX is a great listen that commands attention and rewards open minds with not just another good Trail Of Dead record, but a great one and very possibly their best since Source Tags & Codes.

November 10, 2014 • Superball/Dine Alone

Highlights The Ghost Within • Jaded Apostles • Sound of the Silk