THE COLD LIGHT OF DARKNESS

This album would be an ambitious undertaking for an established band, let alone a debut. This is the first album by Tr3nity, a four-piece from the UK, and they have started their career with a concept album that is dealing with the hard subject of child abuse and neglect, and the consequences of that. The character, Cathy, gets involved in the drug scene and has children of her own and promises to get herself sorted out but attempts suicide before finding a final solution. Lyrically this is a very strong album, although I did find that I got more out of the album by reading the story that was provided with it (perhaps some of that could have gone into the booklet?), but that is available on the excellent web site at www.tr3nity.com.

The music combines elements of Pendragon with Pink Floyd and can be extremely dramatic and powerful indeed (such as at the end of "Into The Dark"), while the interplay between keyboards and guitar on "Which Way?" is impressive. The music can be very uplifting at times, which initially caused me to have an issue with the album as a whole. How can a subject as dark as this have music that is powerful and bright? But if this were a drone, a drudge to listen to, would anyone play it? The answer to that is no, and Tr3nity have managed to combine the dark storyline with music that is interesting and lyrics that are compelling. Chris Campbell's vocals are very clear, and fit the music well, which can be dramatic yet quiet, atmospheric yet in your face (listen to the epic 'The Exposure Suite' and hear the 'Wish You Were Here' influences shine through).

This is an album that has to be played a great deal, so that the layers of the onion can be peeled away. There are great depths and emotions that come with this work and on the basis of this the band have a great future ahead of them.

Originally appeared in Feedback #69, Aug 02