Six Degrees of Separation
Triotus, Tricephalus And Tribadism
6.1
Why has it taken me so long to review this veteran Czech band's third album? Well first, I simply have better albums to review and listen to. And second their form of progressive, slightly doom thrash metal, just isn't very appealing to me.
Lying stylistically (not quality wise mind you) between Paradise Lost, Believer, and Bay area thrash such as Testament, SDOS are competent musicians, forward thinking and to their credit, pretty pigeonhole defying, but that all doesn't come together to make for a memorable album like you think it should. The album is decently produced, with an acceptable level of crunch and depth, and although the heavily accented vocalist is all over the vocal spectrum, he comes through convincingly on the record.
A better track than the generic moody thrash of "Shades of Troitus" would have been a better album opener, maybe the slight NWSDM lean of "Masterpiece of Pain", as it's more upbeat and energetic. "Insanity" is even more urgent, showing that SDOS can crank it up with the best of them but seems slightly out of place, while "So Bitter, So Wrong" reigns things in with a more doomy, mid paced sort of track, that cements the Paradise Lost influence. "The Night is Mine" is the album's first real misstep, with a sort of vampiric, romantic aura that simply misfires, but more Paradise Lost-isms of "Light Hates Me" and "Evening Star", make up for it somewhat.
SDOS are far more capable when trying to be more depressive and dark as highlighted by "Light Hates Me", "Evening Star", "Separated" and "Bound" than when trying to thrash it up ("From Twilight to Dusk") or plain try something different ("The Night is Mine", the gothic tribalism of bonus track "Lonesome"), and the band definitely needs to find a style and commit to it a little further.
This is not a bad album at all, but not really a great one either as it seems to highlight Eastern Europe's tentative forays into more expressive music that isn't neo-black, death or pagan based. It's a bold effort though and certainly a talented group that just needs to develop and streamline a little more before they can compete with their Western European and American counterparts.
