Photos of Trail of Dead at Lido in Berlin, Germany on October 17th, 2012
Photos of Trail of Dead at Fluxbau in Berlin, Germany on October 17th, 2012
Photos of Trail of Dead at Islington Academy in London, U.K. on April 19th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at O2 Academy in Birmingham, U.K. on April 18th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Garage in Glasgow, U.K. on April 17th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Academy 2 in Manchester, U.K. on April 16th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Electric Ballroom in London, U.K. on April 15th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Muftahalle in Munich, Germany on April 12th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Arena in Vienna, Austria on April 10th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Astra in Berlin, Germany on April 9th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at Ubel und Gefaehrlich in Hamburg, Germany on April 8th, 2011
Photos of Trail of Dead at 2008 Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX
Photos of Trail of Dead at CMJ 2007 in New York, NY
QRO’s review of Trail of Dead at Luna Lounge in Brooklyn, NY on August 2nd, 2007
Once upon a time, Austin’s …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead were going to become one of the saviors of alt-rock, or at least that’s what people thought. 2002 major label debut full-length Source Tags & Codes was given a ten out of ten by Pitchfork, and the group looked set to ride the same wave carrying The Strokes and others in this new millennium. But it didn’t happen, as follow-ups Worlds Apart and So Divided received criticism from fans & critics alike, and the band split with label Interscope in 2007. 2009’s The Century of Self (QRO review) was a return to style, if not greatness, reconnecting the band with their original fans. Tao of the Dead keeps that up by going even more epic – but the once-hailed act has been reduced to a good-for-an-epic-rock act.
From the soaring bombast instrumentation of opener “Introduction: Let’s Experiment”, Tao lets it be known that this is an epic record. It’s an epic of epic epicness (to steal a tagline from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – QRO soundtrack review), with the group constantly reaching for size if not depth, and the quiet moments only there to provide contrast to the bigger ones. It all is good for what it is, but is never anything more than that, and loses its power as the record goes on. In fact, the best moments are when the band (relatively) restrains their size throughout a song, for some better-sounding alt-rock in “The Wasteland” and “Ebb Away” (other epic titles for tracks include “Fall of the Empire” and “Weight of the Sun (or the Post-Modern Prometheus)”). Trail of Dead introduce some psych after “Ebb” in the penultimate “The Fairlight Pendant”, and continue that in the five-part, sixteen-and-a-half minute closer, “Strange News From Another Planet”.
“Strange News” is a sort of ‘second half’ of the record, being the only piece not in the key of D. But it is more of the same epicness of the rest of Tao of the Dead. …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have become another one of those once-promising bands that have become less ambitious as they’ve become more epic, but are more comfortable there and do it well for what it is.
MP3 Stream: “The Wasteland”
