Review Summary: Brothers and Sisters! A new chapter in our lives has begun!
Concept albums seem to have dominated the underground music world over the course of the past few years. Whether it’s just a loosely based concept that pops in and out of the songs, or a well-structured, linear storyline that flows throughout the album, bands and artists have constantly attempted to bring in a single, dominating idea into their music. Reasons for following such a straightforward blueprint can vary, whether it’s just to give a little more focus to the artist’s sound, or to create a sprawling stairway into something
more. To take a step forward in writing and lyrical skills, as well as build a story that reflects some aspect of human nature. Michael Smith of Trvth knows this more than anyone. For the past two years, he’s jumped in between various genres of music, but hasn’t really gone for a concept-based sound since
Black Horse Plague. With
Episode 1: Exude, Trvth once again deviates into a new style and approach. Only this time, it’s a folk tale in aural form.
The story of
Episode 1 : Exude takes place hundreds of years after the downfall of global civilization and genocide by a secret society, in a new world where humans cannot die and live together in small, peaceful communities. The main character of the story, Leum, is the last man who was killed by the secret society, and has little recollection of any events that have occurred over the past four hundred years. He meets an old friend, Leirbag, who explains what has happened, and who also brings him back to the community. There, Domla, the eldest human, introduces Leum to the new society, and gives a speech about how the Messenger has told him that humanity will soon become far more powerful, intelligent, and united than ever before. The story ends with the residents of the village bathing themselves in the “pool of progress” and beginning the cleansing process Domla had spoken of. But there’s still an unnerving feeling when you realize that soon, humans will be able to read each other’s minds. Is this foreshadowing another conflict soon to come? Only in Episode 2 will it be known for sure.
Now, if it hasn’t become apparent yet, here it is:
Exude takes place in a fantasy world. There are even a few instances of non-humans being mentioned throughout the plot, and as aforementioned, humans are now immune to death by natural causes. This is the first Trvth album to feature vocals on every single track (minus the first one), with a surprising majority of them being spoken dialogue between characters. The spoken word segments don’t exactly have Oscar-worthy voice acting in them, but Smith does put in a substantial amount of emotion and believability into each character, especially considering the fact that Trvth is an entirely one-man project. The two major, dialogue-based songs are “Explanation” and “The Eldest”, along with the interlude “Induce”. “Journey East” and “Dreaming” also feature spoken word segments, though to a lesser extent. Most of the songs feature a cleaner vocal style and more acoustic-oriented instruments (excluding “Like Endless Waters”), as opposed to the heavier, more metal-based sound of Trvth’s popular works. However, as aforementioned, many of the atmospheric components of Smith’s black metal roots come into play on a frequent basis, creating a nice sense of balance.
And this leads straight into the album’s biggest strength: It’s a huge compilation of almost all the various styles and sounds Smith has toyed around with over the past two years, except with a central focus and sense of purpose. That being said, some of these styles might not have been executed very well on their own, and it would be questionable as to why Smith would include them on such an ambitious venture. But ultimately, the blend of these styles seems to, for lack of a better term, auto-filter out the more undesired elements of Trvth’s earlier journeys. Hell, even the singing is a little better, and that has to stand for something, right?
It takes a few listens to let
Episode 1: Exude sink in, but when it gets to that point, there’s no going back. The combination of the story and music fits together perfectly, even if it takes three tracks to get to the actual introduction of the story. The flow is incredibly dynamic in the sense that the music feels as though it’s moving forward with every track, and even the slower moments are enjoyable. If you just want to feel lost in a fantasy world for around fifty minutes, and have enjoyed any of Trvth’s discography prior to
Exude, then there is no doubt that you will be delighted with the results of Smith’s newest adventure.
