Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Trail of Tears - Disclosure in Red (1998)

We all have the kind of music to, y'know, be able to concentrate deeply and escape into another world. For many outsiders out there, it might be jazz or classical, right? But for us metalheads, you know what we like. And I have the go-to band for this kind of escapism...

Trail of Tears stand out with their own beautiful sound of atmospheric gothic melodeath. Their debut Disclosure in Red and follow-up Profoundemonium start off their sound smoothly. I'm not as big of a fan of epic gothic metal as I was in my teens, but here it's blended with dark melodeath for enchanting majesty! Sweet melodies with angelic singing fit together alongside deathly rhythms and demonic growls. Helena Iren Michaelsen can even switch from operatic soprano to Cranberries-style rock vocals at ease.

The band crashes in right away with "When Silence Cries" with black metal-ish riffing that clearly shows the Norwegian black metal scene bleeding crimson into the band's influences, alongside Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery with its E-flat tuning, occasional blasts, and the alternation between growls and female singing. A truly powerful start! Some retro synths can be heard in "The Daughters of Innocence" to make things more interesting, as opposed to the orchestration and piano in subsequent albums. There's more vocal variation in "The Day We Drowned" with Helena's operatic side sounding quite impressive. Heavenly bliss flows through the acoustic bridge of "Mournful Pigeon".

"Swallowed Tears" once again has a bit of black metal elements in the arpeggios and blast beats. "Illusion?" is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful tracks I heard in gothic metal, and that's saying something considering I'm not into a lot of ballads. A dark serenade of lost love and depression. "Enigma of the Absolute" continues those clean sections of orchestrated synths and Helena's emotional singing while making room for some heaviness.

"Words of the Fly" is another melodic track with Helena singing beautifully like an angel, practically outshining The Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen. "Temptress" brings in a bit of the gothic doom of Within Temptation at that time with a magic touch. "The Burden" is the band's longest song at 8 minutes, giving the album a nice somber ending.

Disclosure in Red is all about the interplay, including the alternation between female singing and male growling, and the keyboards and guitars, all in gentle flow. It's rare for any death metal subgenre to have such soothing mournful breaks. Opeth is another band that can go from deathly to soft so easily, and that aspect was quite plain to hear at that time. It's astonishing how much my appreciation for Trail of Tears grew in just less than a year. Their debut shall be for anyone with sense of darkness and diversity....

Favorites: "When Silence Cries", "The Day We Drowned", "Mournful Pigeon", "Illusion?", "Words of the Fly"