CD review TRONOS ‘Celestial Mechanics’

(8/10) Is Tronos another supergroup? No idea, since I don’t like this inflationary used term. What I do know is that Napalm Death’s Shane Embury and producer Russ Russell teamed-up and started Tronos. Drums are handled by no less than Dirk Verbeuren and if you read these names you don’t need to look into the crystal ball to foresee an excellent metal album.

‘Celestial Mechanics’ is the longplayer the guys have as their delivery, an album that gets to the record stores on April 12th. The album is build on a concept, which was in place first. Embury and Russell talked about human life, from the end of the human race to energy transformation through meditation and ultimate death. Based on this conversation the two guys wrote two songs and since things went very well, more tunes have been done in no time.

In total it’s ten tracks that made it on ‘Celestial Mechanics’, a record that needs time to unveil its beauty. Tronos and their debut don’t fit into any genre thinking and challenges existing frameworks. It’s a melange of influences and sounds that mainly have a Voivodian expression, by still being different. As varied as the songs are, the divers is the group of guest musicians that support the trio. Voivod’s ‘Snake’ Belanger is part of the game as well as Billy Gould, Troy Sanders and Dan Lilker. Also this speaks for itself.

The tunes the guys created range from atmospheric moments (‘Walk Among the Dead Things’), via dark songs (‘Voyeurs of Nature’s Tragedy’) to uptempo smashers like ‘The Ancient Deceit’. These are just three examples and you can pick any song on this album, it will deliver excellence.

‘Celestial Mechanic’ is an album that needs a bit of time. It might not be love on first sight, but with each time spinning this longplayer it step be step reveals its finesse. Take the time and excitement will be the reward.

(8/10)

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