Trepalium
H.N.P.

French band Trepalium has taken their name from an ancient three poled torture device, is that an indication of what to expect? It is also said that Trepalium is latin for labour something that according to the label this band is used to being referred as one of the best live bands of the generation. Somehow I do think things like that has to be taken with a pinch of salt considering that labels usually have an agenda appearing positive towards their bands, I have never seen the band live so I don’t have a clue if attending their live shows is torture or just crushingly good. No matter which, they do have managed a pretty terrible cover art, but maybe this is like in the case of Pictured that I reviewed yesterday that the album is the opposite of the cover. Pictured had a terrific cover but the album was fairly terrible, this might be the other way around. It is the fourth album of these torturers and it is named simply H.N.P. which might stand of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Polluted, but it might also stand for something completely different like Heic Noenum Pax.

Groove Metal, that is what it can be said to be as it is quite groovy. If you have heard Gojira or Dagoba I can tell you that their music is somewhere rather close to those, if not it is heavy, groovy and aggressive extreme metal with a hint of catchiness. The production and sound is fairly good and the singer is not particularly varied, not that good either if I am to be honest but that doesn’t really matter in this case. If the singing isn’t varied, the music is but without really leaving the set frames, it maybe does in the ending Pantera cover which can’t be said to be terribly good. But otherwise the ten tracks and near 40 minutes of music show a good sense of variation and idea.

There is much more depth in the music of Trepalium than what appears at first glance. It has a very nuanced approach to the assault of brutal aggression in a groovy sense this album offers, and this makes it an album that grows on you and that is also very good and fun to listen to. It can last for a long time due to the musical depth but it is at the same time easy to take in. I would say that the album has no real weakness if you discount the ending cover song but at the same that is a fun addition at it does not really have to be good as it is a great piece of curiosity about this band and such things are great on an album.

I like this album quite a bit and have to conclude that this french quartet clearly has a great deal to offer me as a listener and unlike fellow frenchies of Pictured it has a poor cover but great music while Pictured has it the other way around. I prefer it the Trepalium way as it is the music that matters most. Speaking of the music I would say that Insane Architect is my favourite song on this album, I have no idea why but I just enjoy that song slightly more than the others and maybe there is a somewhat insane architect behind creating this album as well and it is a self biographical song. I have no idea though as I don’t even know the lyrics of the song in question.

Anyway, if you do enjoy groove metal, or just groovy metal, then this is your thing. If you don’t I think this might be your thing. And if you like a great live band having played more than 300 shows with remarkable performances go see a show with Dream Theater. I just cannot understand why labels has to nag about live stuff in their promo material for a studio album, it is no live album and their skills as a live band doesn’t mean shit to the quality of this studio recording. Not that the press material really matters as they are just like your facebook (yes I mean Yours) crap a rosy rewrite of reality (but more solid information would not hurt in many cases), but that does not really matter as this is one terrific album that I can recommend especially for you.