Trail of Dead still hold a unique piece of real estate in the music landscape. There is no other rock band that is equally fixated on the sounds of punk, noise, and prog rock and has the musical prowess, sense of subtly and pacing, and artistic integrity that Conrad, Jason and company do. Very little modern music has this kind of teeth, and it's extremely refreshing to hear the band regain the vigor and ferocity that fell of at points along the way. Where previous albums sounded a bit forced and uncomfortable at points, Tao of the Dead constantly engages. It succeeds magnificently because it is the band's most consistently huge, freewheeling and ornately detailed album, helped immensely by the fact that it is very evident that the band had a damn good time recording and producing the thing. Taking only about ten days to record, it is without a doubt the most impulsive feeling Trail of Dead album, songs lingering just long enough to make an impression and then morphing into something else.
An easy criticism to make of the album is that it is slight in the way of what we traditionally recognize as a standout song. On only a few occasions do we get a normal verse/chorus progression. More often the songs bleed seamlessly into one another like how the verse of The Spiral Jetty becomes the chorus of Weight of the Sun. Make no mistake, this album as a whole, is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts and is best enjoyed in order, the way the band intended. The sense of pacing and the dynamic ways in which the tracks meld into one another is awe inspiring. Trail of Dead have played with the idea of a reoccurring motif bridging across past albums (After the Laughter, Insatiable, Stand in Silence), but the way that Pure Radio Cosplay and Know Your Honor bookend both parts 1 and 2 of Tao of the Dead, respectively, is pure brilliance- a move that harkens back to the great concept albums of the 70's like 2112 and Dark Side of the Moon.
As far as production goes, one thing that the post-Source Tags and Codes albums were berated for was pulling away the heavy fog that had previously shrouded and romanticized the band's sound. As the hazy production and mystery of the band's debut faded, there was a definitive point when just enough of the underlying melodic nature of the band was obscured. That point was Source Tags and Codes. When Worlds Apart was released, it was notoriously panned by many critics. I believe that this has to do with this the fact that the remainder of the obscuring noise and chaos had been pulled away in favor of a focus on a more classic sense of songwriting and a cleaner, more simplistic sonic pallet. Tao of the Dead wisely re-instates a good deal of fervor and destruction that serve as the obscuring fog. Look no further than the blaring, screeching guitars at the climax of Cover the Days like a Tidal Wave and the out of tune chords at the end of Weight of the Sun. These are among my favorite Trail of Dead moments, where the music reaches a sort of point break where there can be no turning turning back but to abruptly crash into itself. A beautiful trainwreck.
All this being said, I'm still not sure that this album will really convert many nonbelievers as it may not be as apparent why this album is so great to someone who is not a long time listener. The thing about …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead is that they are obtuse, difficult to categorize, un-radio friendly, and overstuffed. And I love them for it. I honestly think that there is no other band in existence that can capture the same spirit of bombastic, artistic, rock grandeur and wide eyed wonder about the power of music. Here's my pick for best album of the decade.
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