Canadian gothic doom outfit Tribunal return with In Penitence and Ruin, a conceptually rich and emotionally harrowing album exploring guilt, justice, and the unrelenting weight of consequence.
1. In Penitence And Ruin is described as an
album of “enormous scope” that echoes themes of justice and punishment. Can you
share more about the conceptual journey behind this record?
Etienne Flinn: The new album centers on a guilty Penitent, someone who
has done something deeply harmful and despite the efforts they may apply cannot
escape what they have done. The songs form a general cycle rather than a linear
narrative, with each reflecting on the deed and the damage done from different
perspectives. For example, ‘Incarnadine’ views the situation through the
relationship with the one the Penitent loves the most, whereas ‘A Wound
Unhealing’ takes the perspective of
someone who desires retribution on behalf of the victim, and ‘The Sword of the
Slain’ views the situation through the lens of an ancient and inflexible system
of justice.
The concept has been crafted with deliberate vagueness, and while both
Soren and myself may have more specific ideas as to what we mean to represent
we very much intend for the listener to consider these ideas for themselves and
come to their own conclusions on the themes presented.
2. Your
previous album The Weight of Remembrance
was widely praised. How does this new release build upon or differ from its
predecessor?
EF: We were very surprised and grateful for the overwhelming response to
our debut album, and frankly I am grateful that we composed much of this album
before the full weight of the response to our debut hit me with the release.
This new record builds on the core sound we established with The Weight of Remembrance, but pushes
our sound in new directions with specific songs that are faster or heavier or
more accessible than what we have done before. In general, In Penitence and Ruin has cleaner and crisper production along with
punchier and more direct songwriting, with shorter and more tightly edited
songs that still draw on the same center of influences. Instrumentally, the new
album features more dominant cello and keys, and an upgrade to 7-string guitars
for more crushing low end.
3.
“Incarnadine” showcases a powerful interplay between classical elements and
crushing doom. What was the songwriting process like for this track?
EF: This is a great song for this question, as it involves a unique
songwriting process. Most of our songs are written by either myself or Soren,
with the two of us collaborating on the details of arrangement and delivery.
‘Incarnadine’ represents the merger of three separate songs, where all of
the component songs had elements we loved but none of them were quite working.
The main riff and chorus melody were taken from a song of mine and the verses
and bridge from a different song of Soren’s, and the heavy funeral doom riff
was lifted from an older song called ‘Spiral’ that was cut from TWOR. Soren oversaw the procedure of
combining these compositions into a single piece that I think flows incredibly
well together and makes me curious as to what we could achieve blending our
songwriting processes more in the future.
4. The
duality of Soren’s sorrowful vocals and Etienne’s growls plays a significant
role in the band’s sound. How do you balance these contrasting vocal styles in
your compositions?
EF: I’ve always loved bands who blended clean and harsh vocals and we
always wanted a mixture of such vocals in our band even before we settled on
performing those vocals ourselves rather than bringing in an outside vocalist.
For individual compositions, we will often try different vocal styles for
different parts, and use the vocalist switch as a tool to bring new energy to
something that isn’t quite working, even quite late in the process.
For a few examples, the second half of the chorus of ‘Incarnadine’
originally was purely harsh vocals. I suggested that Soren try joining on the
last two lines fairly late in recording vocals, and we both loved the result.
Conversely, the original demo I made for ‘...And the Thorn-Choked Flowers Grow’
was dominated by clean vocals and honestly didn’t really work, and it was not
until I reimagined the song with dominating harsh vocals that its final
death-doom form took shape.
5.
Tribunal has evolved into a full-fledged quintet with new members. How has this
lineup change influenced the band's dynamic and creative approach?
EF: An interesting part of being a band in the (underground) public eye
is that you tend to be viewed through the snapshot lens of specific releases,
which may not reflect your experiences as a band.
While Tribunal was formed and continues as a band centered on the
songwriting partnership between myself and Soren, we sought a full lineup
fairly rapidly and recruited Lena Wienski on drums and Maria Kh on guitar with
whom most of TWOR took shape. The
pandemic splintered that lineup, but there was only a few months between that
lineup ending in the summer of 2020 and us beginning to work with our current
drummer Julia at the end of 2020 and our full lineup beginning to prepare for
live shows in early 2021. However, those few months where we were a true duo
were when we recorded TWOR and thus
represent to most what they think of when they think of Tribunal.
This new album was still written by Soren and myself, but with deeper
collaboration with Jessica, Dallas, and Julia on their specific instrumental
parts and on song arrangements more broadly. I look forward to even deeper
collaboration as we approach our third album as a full quintet.
6. Your
music is deeply atmospheric, incorporating cello, orchestral arrangements, and
haunting melodies. How do you approach blending these elements with the
heaviness of doom metal?
EF: This blending always came naturally to me as I’ve always loved bands
that blend melodic accessibility beauty with heavy aggression. This includes
both obvious doom influences such as My Dying Bride and Swallow the Sun, my
earlier metal influences such as Nightwish, Within Temptation, and Eluveite,
and even more embarrassing non-metal acts that first got me into heavier music
such as Asking Alexandria and Bring Me the Horizon.
On a compositional level, we will often think about blending parts
together that engage in different ways, and will use tools like harsh vocals
and cello melodies to ensure that each part and each song blend both melody and
heaviness in the way we want.
The final two tracks of In
Penitence and Ruin represent the most dualized form of this balance.
‘...And the Thorn-Choked Flowers Grow’ largely eschews clean vocals for the
purest death-doom composition we have ever made before ‘Between the Sea and
Stars’ pushes my harsh vocals to the margins for a delicate yet driving ballad
that pushes us into softer territory than ever before. I wrote both of these
songs and intended them to fit together as a pair in this way for a long time.
7. The
album’s artwork was created by Soren Mourne. Can you tell us about the visual
representation of In Penitence And Ruin
and how it connects to the album’s themes?
EF: One of the great parts of making our art internally is that it
creates an opportunity for a cover that both specifically represents Soren’s
vision of the album’s concept as both a painter and co-songwriter, but also is
a collaboration with myself and the whole band to make something that reflects
the album we had created together.
The cover depicts a crumbled institution of justice, lost to the sands of
time. No system or worldview will last forever, and the ideas of justice that
animate the album are both formed from crumbling remnants of systems past and
will themselves be reshaped by the passage of time.
8.
Tribunal is set to perform at Northwest Terror Fest alongside legends like
Agalloch, Gorguts, and Demolition Hammer. What can fans expect from your live
performances this year?
EF: I’m extremely excited to have been invited to perform at Northwest
Terror Fest this year. It is a festival that I have attended a number of times
with a pack of mates from Vancouver and it is incredible to have graduated from
fan to performer.
More broadly, we look forward to bringing In Penitence and Ruin to audiences more broadly in the coming year.
Our stage show is increasingly intense and dramatic, and bringing our songs
live to audiences is my favorite part of the creative process.
9. Doom
metal thrives on emotional weight and storytelling. Are there any literary,
historical, or cinematic influences that shaped the themes of In Penitence And Ruin?
EF: On a literary level, my influences are pretty cliche for the style. I
draw heavily from Tolkien’s work, as well as classic gothic works like Frankenstein, Dracula, and especially Wilde’s Portrait
of Dorian Gray. Beyond literature, I draw heavy influence from Miyazaki’s
works with FromSoftware, especially Dark
Souls and Bloodbourne.
In terms of historical influence, Tribunal consciously presents as a band
outside of a particular timeframe, appearing as both not quite modern without
framing ourselves as belonging to part of a particular period. This is part of
why the structure on the cover of In
Penitence and Ruin is presented as decayed, to avoid placing the observer
in a particular period.
10. With
In Penitence And Ruin releasing on
April 18th, what are your hopes for this album’s impact, and what’s next for
Tribunal beyond this release?
EF: Perhaps my initial vision was simply too limited, but I am already
beyond blown away by the respond to our first album and the excitement I’ve
seen for our new album. Anything that happens is incredible to me. That said,
ultimately our greatest hope is that anyone who enjoys gothic metal or
death-doom gives the album a listen and enjoys it.
I feel very lucky to have been invited to perform at a number of beloved
festivals and to open locally for major influences like Katatonia and Swallow
the Sun. I would love to tour more extensively with major bands and be invited
to new festivals, and would especially love to be able to bring our music to
Europe, where so many of our biggest influences are from.
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