Trenches -- The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole

9/10

In late 2008, I felt myself at odds with heavy music trends...or at least the most popular heavy music trend: screamo (or "metalcore screamo"). Copycat riffs, copycat digitally-enhanced breakdowns, screamed verses, and high-pitched, very nasally sung, whiny vocals in the verses. I absolutely hated it. I started to have trouble finding any heavy music that I liked. Then came Trenches.
I don't even know how I came across the Jimmy Ryan-fronted band. Admittedly, I wasn't even a fan of Ryan's previous band, Haste the Day. I have no memory of what drove me to purchase one of the two copies of The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole that Best Buy had in stock the Tuesday the album came out. But boy, am I happy that I purchased it.
Trenches debut, and to this day, only full-length ablum, The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole, is not screamo. Its ten tracks are unique, lumbering, and heavy, without falling into easy categorization. A lot of slower heavy music falls under the "Doom" tag, but The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole is too propulsive and full of momentum for that. It also contains far too many aggressive moments to fall under any "Trance Metal" moniker. This music features long-developing, yet groovy basslines, beat-heavy, patient drumming, diverse, effects-friendly guitar that can go from spacey to downtuned, extreme heaviness, and a heavy music vocal clinic by Jimmy Ryan. Ryan's standard vocal is a Zao-esque, Captain Cobra snarling scream, but he shows himself capable of so much more throughout this album, exercising a tuneful, massively powerful bellow, some deeper scream tones, and even a sort of shouted spoken word at moments. There are even times that Ryan sings in a hushed tenor. It all miraculously works, and by my account, The Tide Will Shallow Us Whole should go down as one of the best heavy music vocal albums of the 00's. Thankfully, the music works too, as these songs on their own, and as a collection, are incredible. There's a strange, yet not overbearing or oppressive feeling of darkness throughout the album, conjuring deep, dark seas or black limitless space.
The Tide... begins with four average-length songs that showcase a sort of standard, cohesive Trenches sound, before the band liftoff with the meditative, winding "Pathways," a mindblower of a track. Things only get more astral from there, with the unbelievably good "Bittersweet." It's tough not to get chills when the vocals kick-in at "Bittersweet"'s two-minute mark. The song is just so perfectly constructed. 

The album then goes into a sort of riffy, post-climax chuggy meditation, with "Call It Correct," before featuring a couple of shorter tracks that have their own share of surprises. Indeed, the album is essentially perfect at this point, with the only mark against it the slight aimlessness of its closer, the 13-minute "Cornered." Up until that point, though, everything in the album works to a T, and feels effortless. So much resonates: at times, it's the heavy tastiness of the loping, magnificently huge riffs. At others, it's the cornucopia of more reflective moments. Sometimes, it's the subtle intricacy, yet mammoth heaviness of the rhythm section. Always, it is the stunning diversity and power of the vocals. The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole is a stone cold classic.
This album not only holds a special place for me in that it kicked me out of my heavy music funk, but it came in a year that felt more epic for me than almost any other. It was the soundtrack for times that felt hugely important in my life. It was released at a time when my wife and I were bounced out of our apartment for nearly a month by Hurricane Gustav, forced to wander around the South like vagabonds. A few weeks after we got back into our place, I had a dental surgery go awry, and was couch-ridden for two straight weeks of pain-pill-induced euphoria, where I think I may have watched the entirety of Angel's third season in one 24-hour period. I started a new job two weeks later. It was just a big year, and The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole came out right near the climax. For that, but even more, for its nearly unbelievably high quality, it will go down for me as one of the greatest heavy music releases of the 00's.


2008 Solid State Records
1. Calling 3:42 (featuring Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter)
2. Eyes Open 3:21
3. Sacrament 4:01
4. Trip The Landmine 4:09
5. Pathways 4:52
6. Bittersweet 7:14
7. Call It Correct 6:17
8. End 4:08
9. Ocean Currents 3:42
10. Cornered 13:32