Tristania - World of Glass

(Originally published in Chronicles of Chaos in 2001)

I thoroughly enjoyed Tristania's debut [CoC #30], but I wasn't as impressed by their follow-up, _Beyond the Veil_ [CoC #45]. Therefore, my expectations for their new album were not very high. I am glad to say Tristania exceeded them. While still sounding like Tristania, they managed to rewrite their musical formula again, thus avoiding repeating themselves. Of course, when you pack such a vast number of components as this band does, you have a lot of options to choose from: clean and harsh male vocals, female soprano, both male and female choirs, violin and synth on top of the usual metal ensemble. They have also successfully implemented a few electronic effects, like the synthetic beat behind the choirs halfway through "Lost".

The album has another unusual feature: the second half is clearly stronger than the first one. After four songs, the vision of a 6-ish rating was spinning in my head, but the album made me maintain and actually increase my interest as it progressed. The melodies just made more sense and were much more enchanting on the slightly softer second half. This album lacks the melancholy of their debut, but apart from that, old fans should not be disappointed.

Original score: 8/10. Revised 2020s score: 3.5/5.