Tribunal is Soren Mourne (bass, cello & vocals), Etienne Flinn (guitar & vocals), Jessica Yang (guitar), Dallas Alice (keys) and Julia Geaman (drums). This Vancouver, British Columbia-based band (founded in 2019), released their highly-acclaimed and publicly praised, 2023 debut The Weight Of Remembrance. The band now returns with their sophomore album, In Penitence and Ruin, released by 20 Buck Spin.

Track list:

01. Incarnadine
02. A Wound Unhealing
03. Angel of Mercy
04. The Sword of the Slain
05. Ruin
06. The Penitent
07. Armoured in Shadow
08. …And the Thorn-Choked Flowers Grow
09. Between the Sea and Stars

In Penitence and Ruin possesses a conceptual theme, with each song forming ‘a cycle that follows a guilty Penitent who cannot escape justice and punishment for what they’ve done’. In other words, it’s a conceptual piece of sorrowful music.

Apart from, more or less typical for the genre, heavy slogging doom riffs, my main attention was towards vocals. Thus, Soren Mourne has a clean, yet powerful, impassioned and dramatic voice – which blends nicely with more agonized, dark and growling vocals of Etienne Flinn. Apart from this vocal duality, one can hear numerous chilling keys, doleful/mournful strings and waving percussions. All these diverse elements that we can hear on In Penitence and Ruin result into the crushing piece of funeral, melancholic and punishing doom.

My favourite songs from In Penitence and Ruin are; the grand opening “Incarnadine” (listen below), with a beautiful interplay of cello and piano, before the lumbering riff and plodding drum take over. Another musical gem is a song named “Angel of Mercy”, mainly due to its hooky melody, thrilling atmosphere (in the opening moments of the song), grim vocals, jarring/striking riffs and pounding drums with subtle rhythm.

The only reason why it doesn’t get a higher score is the repetitive structure of almost every song, where I wish they was a bit more dynamics and changing tempos. On the other hand, every song featured is well crafted and with a convincing and mature performance.

This second album from this Canadian five-piece is very listenable, cohersive and mature piece of work that reminds of the early days of likes of Candlemass, Paradise Lost, Theater of Tragedy, After Forever, My Dying Bride, Draconian, our local (Danish) act Saturnus, and other mainly European doom/gothic/death bands.

For additional information on this sophomore album from Tribunal visit https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/in-penitence-and-ruin