Toroidh — European Trilogy
From the first album from 2001's Those Who Do Not Remember the Past Are Condemned to Repeat It, the rich mix of styles is already fixed and wonderful focused in their execution and vision. It feels like one is steeping back through time, following the blood soaked lines of European war and power hunger struggles, it’s like a shadowy history lesson come to almost 3D life. You can see the mass of crowds, orator working the crowds in the bloodlust frenzy over twisted national inequality word play. You can see the cold and tired filth ridden solder trampling over bombed buildings and greying split bodies.
I think the most enjoyable and effective elements are the looped marches and beer songs, that open up both Those Who Do Not Remember… and Europe Is Dead it seems all the hope, mock cheerfulness and military grace is knocked out of them as they loop on and on. The reputation giving them new awkward and disturbed shapes. The first two albums Those Who Do Not Remember… and Europe Is Dead seem to follow a similar patten in their constructions as mention both start with looped old music before going into a worn torn and war weary mix of styles, but it’s always kept very dense and controlled in it’s atmospheric sound picture.
The last disk Testament recorded in 2003, does step a bit away from the format of the first two disk and it somehow feels more upbeat, there’s more colour and hope here, where as the first two seem focused more on shades of grey, filth and fear. Testament seems to echo a new hope and chance of peace. It does start once more with looped 40’s drinking type music, but instead of stretching it out, it stops after a minute or two. Before falling into a wonderfully spirit raising neo folk strum and claming winds almost ambience of floating synth work, along with an a American speaker talking about world peace. Also it feels everything is somehow cleaner and not smear in various grimy and bodily fluids. The drums shine cleaner, the ambience drifts more euphoric. Though that’s not to say there not doomy shades here, it’s just feels like the end is near even in the grim passagers.
All three albums display a real depth of mood setting and tension building, all working well together to illustration the eternal straggle of propaganda and war and the possibility of hope. If you enjoy any of the mentioned genre's, or just enjoy atmospheric & well thought out music, you really need to pick this up before they've all gone- to find out more and buy direct go here.