Twelve Tribes – The Rebirth of Tragedy
Author: Aidan Gray
The 2 words that best sum up Twelve Tribes’ “The Rebirth of Tragedy” would be ‘false hope’. Eager anticipation arose after hearing their two downloadable tracks – ‘Venus Complex’ and ‘Translation of Fixes’ – but after listening to the entire disc for a few songs, it became increasingly clear that the remaining 8 tracks would not be living up that same hype. The main problem is as follows: Parts of this 10 songer end up being just too stale, adding a sort of “Didn’t I just hear that?” element to the listeners experience. A concrete effort from frontman Adam Jackson, who has great vocal capacity, definitely adds a lot to the groups Ferret debut, but unfortunately it doesn’t save this release from any fingers reaching for that ‘EJECT’ button. However, his complementary backup set of pipes, Kevin Schindel, who also mans all the guitar work must not be forgotten though, for the two’s off and on vocal combinations do make them a severe threat to other bands that reside in their scene. Howard Jones must have definitely taught them something!
The most fustrating part of listening to Twelve Tribes’ album has to be the guitar work. After a while it ends up being just so repetitive! There are the odd bits that are ear-catching (A minute and a half into ‘Backburner’, a minute and 15 into ‘Luma’, etc.), but there are no outstanding solo’s, no unique change ups, no guitar differences – It’s just a churning mix of dull down-tuned 6 strings, the lower end of which really seem to be the only ones getting any sort of use what so ever throughout the majority of the album.
Top tracks are ‘Venus Complex’, ‘Translation of Fixes’, and ‘Godshaped War’. The 3rd of which shows the capabilities of skinsman Shane Shook, but for those who are absorbed in the likes of the band that Twelve Tribes’ manager fronts (Killswitch Engage), “The Rebirth of Tragedy” is a very self explanatory title.
Don’t write these guys off just yet though – With major tours coming up, a chance to shine live, and a chance to come back with another [hopefully] more diverse release – I’m sure we could all be seeing a little bit more of Twelve Tribes in our day to day musical endeavors.
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