TRIOSPHERE

TRIOSPHERE's 2010 sophomore studio album, "The Road Less Travelled", is supremely underrated. Fronted by the bass-wielding Ida Haukland, the Norwegians paired technically sound, bold and melodic riffing with Haukland's raspy, Doro Pesch and/or Leather Leone-styled vocals for a collection of songs that just cooked. It was power thrash conjoined with vocal hooks all over the place: "Driven", "Human Condition", "The Anger And The Silent Remorse", "The Watcher", et al. TRIOSPHERE followed it up four years later with the admirable "The Heart Of The Matter", which brings us to the here and now with "Oceans Above, Stars Below", the quartet's first studio album in 12 years.

Appropriately not diverting from their original premise, TRIOSPHERE lean back into the power thrash on "Of Tyrants", a number that would probably make the cut for the resurrected NEVERMORE. While NEVERMORE has the up-and-coming Berzan Önen, TRIOSPHERE has Haukland, who, seemingly, crafts memorable vocal lines at will. She's got a deep, big voice that carries over pretty much all of the riffs in the TRIOSPHERE arsenal, which is helpful considering the band doesn't fall prey to standard power metal and/or thrash metal riffing tropes. There's some degree of finesse and technicality to Marius Silver Bergesen and T.O. Byberg's playing (see: the adventurous tremolo hopping on "Monster's Ball" as well as "Orpheus' Bane"),yet, magically, Haukland always finds her way.

Her best moments arrive in the title track, a bright, near-AOR number with an uplifting chorus that has Haukland pushing her vocal limits. On "Shorelines", the band makes a rare detour into pure melodic rock territory that eases up on the heaviness of the album's other tracks for an immediate, if not shameless, attempt at sounding commercial — just because TRIOSPHERE could.

Haukland gets an additional chance to shine via the piano ballad, "Encore", while "Cadence Of Chaos" is a climactic finisher replete with yet another exuberant chorus that gives way to a field of harmonized guitars and guitar solo trade-offs from Bergesen and Byberg.

TRIOSPHERE has made a single trip across the pond to play the 2018 ProgPower festival in Atlanta. (Their set famously included a marriage proposal). It's an indication of the long road that undefinable, cross-sub-genre-hopping bands like TRIOSPHERE have to travel. However, the Norwegians have since hooked up with the heavy hitters at Frontiers Records, who, hopefully, will give the outfit the much needed and deserved boost for "Oceans Above, Stars Below". A band as good as TRIOSPHERE should never be this overlooked.