It’s been
a while since I listened to Tristania – in fact the last album I heard
from these Scandinavians was the magnificent “Beyond The Veil” of 1999.
As the brand new “Rubicon” starts spinning the ‘Tristania’ sound is
easily recognisable – dark sombre moods, overlapping male and female
lead vocals and heavy riffs dunked into decisively Gothic atmospheres.
Pity, therefore, that the quality of the material here on offer doesn’t
stand close to the band’s early recordings. In fact, to be quite frank,
I found “Rubicon” rather boring and uninspiring.
As such
there’s nothing wrong with the level of musicianship or with the sound
of this album. For example Italian singer Mariangela Demurtas – who in
this album debuts with Tristania – does hit the right notes. The real
issue, in my opinion, is that “Rubicon” yearns for a greater emotive and
interpretative depth.
Songs such
as ‘Patriot Games’, ‘Illumination’ and especially ‘Magical Fix’ do raise
the album a notch but the cash-strapped Gothic Metal fan might want to
look elsewhere for his aural fix (no pun intended).