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TRIBUNAL
In Penitence And Ruin

20 Buck Spin (2025)
Rating: 8/10

To the sound of creaking coffin lids, stormy nights and the chatter of bats from the belfry, majestic Gothic doom metal cult Tribunal issues its sophomore platter, In Penitence And Ruin.

I rated the Vancouver, British Columbia-based band’s 2023 debut The Weight Of Remembrance highly, so enamoured was I by its brooding suspenseful aches and bombastic sinister splendour. Now as a solid five-piece, Tribunal embarks on another grief-stricken journey daubed with rich aching strings and sombre chords which wash over the listener like the stale, musty air of an old manor house whose heartbeat is the tick of a grandfather clock and whose ancestral, antiquarian moans sigh in tandem with those creaking spiralling stairs

I’ve been exposed to the melancholic oozing of doom metal for decades and yet somehow Tribunal breathes new life into the genre without bringing anything surprising or even new. However, with this nine-song affair the clan explores the haunting relationship between Soren Mourne (vocals, bass and cello) and Etienne Flinn (vocals and guitar). Mourne brings the wistful ghostly moments in contrast to Flinn’s sombre growls of woe, but it’s a compelling duality which leads its audience down a misty pathway of both beauty and despair.

Throughout this epic design there is a sprawling blanket of the ghoulishly grandiose, but instead of occult cheese there is a genuine layer of despondency aired through a filter of forlorn fragility. As ‘Incarnadine’ opens this magnum opus one expects an undisturbed archive of dusty books to suddenly free its dormant spores. The interplay of cello and piano enables a sadness to creep in before the lumbering riff and plodding drum rise like an oaken behemoth from its slumber.

The sorrow is evident from the first chord until the last, each track a sprawling cloak of darkness, although in reality there’s a bit less weight this time round as Tribunal instead focuses on the Gothic side. That’s not to say this isn’t a heavy album, it still groans in the same gallery as My Dying Bride and old Paradise Lost, but the orchestrations seem to be the centre of attention throughout even though songs such as ‘A Wound Unhealing’ and ‘The Sword Of The Slain’ bring the expected heaviness.

What Tribunal are doing here is simply expanding their sound, experimenting with lighter shades, the benefit of this shift being Mourne’s vocals. She’s the star of the show here, one moment booming dark commands, the next her tones glide like a graveyard spectre caressing crooked tombstones with its vapours. In fact, such is her majesty I could easily live without the growls and rasps of Flinn, but his riffs alongside fellow axepert Jessica Yang are extraordinary monoliths.

‘Angel Of Mercy’ is a real gem musically, instantly providing a hooky melody in spite of its complete lack of pace. The same could also be said of the utterly mournful dirge that is ‘…And The Thorn-Choked Flowers Grow’ as again those chimes and whines moan with a morose grace.

There is no doubt that In Penitence And Ruin is a bigger soundscape to explore than the debut album; it aches like an early-to-mid 90s doom metal album, circa Novembers Doom while also nodding towards Swedish Goth clan Draconian. However, those of you expecting an eruption may have to settle for a solemn trickle as the strings swirl comfortably within the slow ooze of syrup. The end result is a hypnotic haze that is more tearful tease than theatrical tragedy in spite of the heaviness of the black velvet curtains which fall at the end.

Neil Arnold

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