... Trail of Dead - Century of Self

The radical thing about these guys is how they manage to avoid the troubling label of prog rock. On every album they straight up rock hard, without becoming overtly melodramatic or overusing time signatures. The Century of Self is more of that good stuff, but with some marked differences. In the past, Conrad Keely’s voice took over, but here he blends better with the volume and vibe of the instruments as on the track “Luna Park.” Also here is a more prominent role in the keyboard. Throughout “Fields of Coal” there is a tinkling of running fingers along the ivory, providing a more proggy electric feel. But the sound always seems to change. There are some points with a distinctly ‘90s rock feel, bringing me back to times of blasting the radio out a friend’s window as we played man hunt.

So, is The Century of Self a step up? This isn’t so clear. Whatever The Trail of the Dead choose to put out is gonna be better than most of the crap out there, but in comparison to their earlier stuff, this album doesn’t measure up. The Century of Self seems more theme oriented as well as an attempt to streamline some of the otherwise raucous stuff they usually do. It’s a well put together album, but it just doesn’t pack enough punch. The answer to what is lacking can be summed up in a common rocker remedy: get back to your roots.

Label: Justice Records
Release Date: 2-17-09

-Seth Fraser