Finding The Way Back With The Trail Of Dead

After two meandering albums of disappointing proggy noise, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have gone back to the drawing board, calibrated their vision and returned with The Century Of Self, their sixth album. The project was inspired by what frontman Conrad Keely considers “a sense of renewal, especially after getting off of Interscope and having a sense that we’re doing it for ourselves- not having the pressure of some idiotic A&R guy asking us for a progress report.” 

Renewal is definitely the operative word here, as the echoes of 2006’s So Divided are only recognizable in the scope of ambition. The energy leans more towards 2002’s alt rock gem Source Tags & Codes.

The opening track is huge- an instrumental soundtrack of arrival as epic and looming as anything you might expect from a band with the audacity to name themselves …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. There’s plenty reason for enthusiasm as Giants Causeway leads into the equally ambitious Far Pavilions, shifting gears to a more cymbal-heavy rock format, centering on the vocal volleys of Jason Reece and Keely, the band’s dual creative nucleus. They’re known to play musical chairs within the band, switching between drumming, vocals and guitar, both on their records and live in concert.

There’s a strong sense throughout that whatever sonic majesties are constructed here are only done so for the sheer thrill of tearing them apart again. That’s both the defining trait and saving grace of this album. The grand arrangements, epic escalations and controlled demolitions on display through tracks like Halycon Days & Bells Of Creation (which fans will recognize from their Festival Thyme EP)

Luna Park, a delicate piece featuring Reece’s pensive, understated delivery and a rising piano, ends up sounding eerily like a mid-career Rolling Stones than anything else, particularly on the line When night descends, the fires rage. 

After a gorgeously magnetic opening, Pictures Of An Only Child comes on like Death Cab For Cutie trading notes with They Might Be Giants. The song feels strangely personal, and rightfully so- written fourteen years ago, it’s about Keely’s feelings of disassociation from his family as he looks through old photo albums.

The poppy Brit-punk vocal lead of Isis Unveiled is arresting, boiling to a sailor-singalong breakdown that slowly grinds its way down to nothing more than chattery ghost sounds before bursting back into the main riff in an explosive finish. The vocals match the tracks apoplectic atmosphere, lyrically recalling what appears to be the war between the Gods of the New Testament and the Old Testament. 

Isis is far and away the strongest point in the record, the energy of which recalls fond memories of all hell breaking loose when they played the Casbah, a thimble of a club in San Diego, a few years back. As their set came to an Endless, Nameless-type finish, Keely invited everyone in the audience onstage to keep the song going as each member turned their instruments over to total strangers and dove into the crowd. There was a minute and a half or so of sheer feedback and horrific dissonance, but eventually through the mess a girl in pigtails started pounding away on a snare and kick drum – and soon a rumbling, aimless guitar began keeping time with her, and about fifteen kids (myself included) were screaming into the mic. The song was over, the band’s job was done, but they had somehow passed the rock magic on for just a moment, and the crowd grabbed the tail of energy and milked it for all it was worth. For a few glorious seconds, Trail Of Dead had about 90 members.  I’m still waiting for my royalties check.

The classical piano of Insatiable One leads to Ascending, a tale of alienation and island fever with shades of At The Drive-In. It’s a bursting fit of a song, with overlaid vocals and visceral energy, prepping the listener for the massive album closer Insatiable Two. According to Keely, it’s about the Orang Pendek, the Bigfoot of South East Asia. “It’s the idea that there’s this very close relative of the human race living in the forest observing us, seeing our dominance of nature and feeling similar to us but in a sad way seeing how destructive we are,” he said in a recent interview.

Whatever the narrative, the track rises to a swooning, Bowie-esque piano epic, relentless and defiantly victorious to the very last moment. It’s the perfect, anthemic high note to end on, a choral barroom singalong that chases the shadows off. It’s the sound of a band redeemed, having found their way once again. 

The Century Of Self
February 17, 2009
Richter Scale (Justice Records)

1. Giants Causeway 
2. Far Pavilions 
3. Isis Unveiled 
4. Halcyon Days 
5. Bells Of Creation 
6. Fields Of Coal 
7. Inland Sea 
8. Luna Park 
9. Pictures Of An Only Child 
10. Insatiable, Pt. 1 
11. Ascending 
12. An August Theme 
13. Insatiable, Pt. 2