Tristania ‎"World Of Glass" CD

"World of Glass", "World of Glass"... How can I start explaining the greatness of this Tristania album? I can only get one word: PERFECT!!! The album has honestly earned the title of "The God album of gothic metal", although it's clearly a gothic-doom album. Something like this is rarely seen through the years, and when it arrives, it can't be missed!
The album is entirely filled with a heavy atmosphere of despair that'll make anyone who listens to it to lose its breath at all! Also, the "Tristania style" is showed in it: all the songs (except for the bonus track, "The Modern End") last more than 5 minutes, and even more than 6. That's why the album only has nine songs (ten if we include the bonus track); if it had more, it would have become a little tedious.
This album is another physical proof that harsh doom-style male vocals and slow and melodic female vocals & choirs are one of the best couples in music, like a darker version of "The Beauty and The Beast". Even without Morten Veland, the vocal couple sounds great!
The cover artwork is also interesting, and it fits perfectly with the title of the album. It shows Vibeke Stene's face in a mirror world, and it looks awesome! The best album of gothic metal ever demands one of the best cover artworks in gothic metal ever.
The album opens with an almost 7-minute song that includes the entire essence of the album, and I'm talking about "The Shining Path". "The Shining Path" is also one of the best songs of the album.
Through the album, we can find a balance between fast and aggressive songs and dark ballads, maybe because the fast songs are covered by a melodic atmosphere, and the dark ballads include harsh vocals. Do you know how often this situation can be found in the gothic metal and doom metal genres? A very few times! And do you know how much talent does a band need to create this balance? Tons if it!
But this is nothing compared to the main song of the album, the song that a lot of bands would've killed for composing. The best gothic ballad of all time: "Deadlocked". Vibeke's voice as the lead vocals and a verse that combines choir and harsh vocals, a delicate harmony that fits perfectly to the lyrics.
Most of the songs are outstanding, but the ones that I like the most (and that I highly recommend) are four: "The Shining Path", "Deadlocked", "World of Glass" and "Crushed Dreams". The bonus track, "The Modern End", is good too (I don't know why it wasn't included on the regular version).
CONCLUSION: This album is the God of all gothic metal albums! It contains a harmony that is difficult to create and/or find in this world. We all will miss master Morten Veland, but it seems that Tristania can move along in order to keep on creating good music!

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