Review Summary: Melodic Metal For Dummies.
As I was trudging through the deep forest of videos that is known as Youtube, I stumbled upon an unfamiliar album. Dazzled by its artwork, I walked deeper into the woods. Triosphere’s album was called “The Road Less Travelled”, a blatantly obvious ripoff of Robert Frost’s beloved poem, “The Road Not Taken” – I stifled a laugh. “How unoriginal”, I thought. Now in good humor, I shifted my eyes to the band’s name. “Oh great”, I sarcastically muttered, “This is going to be some cheesy power metal that will probably suck”. With little want, I switched on my computer speakers and punched the play button. My eyes opened wide, and my mouth slowly and gradually drooped agape. I was actually enjoying the album, much to my surprise!
Triosphere plays raw, unmitigated metal. Shredding like you wouldn’t believe, the guitarists hammer away, with supreme melody, hard-hitting notes. They are skilled without a doubt, yet tasteful enough to know not to toot their own horn. Thrashing sessions and impeccable guitar solos may pop up now and then, but the main focus is always melody. This rule also applies to the well-suited drums, which are focused on the band as a whole. Basically, every band member centers on the sum of its parts rather than the parts themselves. However, they still leave room for plenty of creativity as they employ their technical proficiency from track to track.
Triosphere is traditional heavy metal, with aspects of power metal, progressive metal, and hard rock. Like I said before, the focus is on melody, so growls are not included, and the guitars are not intentionally spine-ripping, although often are. “The Road Less Travelled” is power metal in the sense that it is metal, and it is powerful. Many power metal bands are cheesy simply because they are power metal bands, but Triosphere is not even a bit cheesy. The band is comprised of guitars, drums, and a vocalist, leaving out any cheesy synths, keyboards, or anything like that. There is little to keep this from being a fun metal album.
One thing that must be highlighted is the lead vocalist/bass guitarist, Ida Haukland. The singer is a woman, but the first time I listened to the album, I thought, by default, that the singer was a man. She has an uncommonly deep voice, and also an uncommonly powerful voice, like the biting bark of a dog. Her delivery is harsh, but her packaging is tight, similar to a jack-in-the-box or a gun, both ready to unleash hell. Her voice needs to be heard in order to understand its magnitude, just as this album needs to be listened to. For any self-claimed fan of melodic metal, “The Road Less Travelled” is essential.
