And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
The Secret of Elena's Tomb (EP) (2003)

review by: Dustin Pangonis
Date: 4/8/03

Let me get something out in the open right away, so it's not big secret: I am an enormous fan of And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Their 2002 release "Source Tags and Codes" was far and away the best thing I heard that year, and also makes my top albums of all-time list. I listened to their new EP, "The Secret of Elena's Tomb", while wearing a Trail of Dead t-shirt. I have been falling asleep to their "Madonna" album for weeks. It's clear I expect great things from this band. Whether you interpert that as meaning I'll love whatever they attach their name to or will judge them harshly for any misstep is your call.

Now, onto the music. "The Secret of Elena's Tomb" is a five-song EP coming on the heels of their third full-length, which pretty much perfected their epic indie rock sound. The EP serves as a way to appetize fans waiting for more Trail of Dead, and maybe give a glimpse into where the new album is going to go.

The first track, "Mach Schau", opens the way many Trail of Dead songs do, with a few clean guitar melodies and a cascading drum roll, building up power until the band hits the pummeling chorus: "We gave the plot a twist/We blew the past a kiss/We turned it upside down" lead singer Conrad Keely shouts. The song backs off to the original guitar melody and has a few overlapping spoken word vocal parts. We build up again, and hit a fiery outro chant of the song's title. So far, the song is nice enough but doesn't add anything new to the fold. It's a reminder of everything you love about the band's sound, right down to the static-filled segue to the next track.

"All St. Day" offers more of the same, boasting another powerful chorus and squealing guitar breakdown. So far, so good, but the EP kind of feels like a place to collect the weaker cuts from the last album. Of course, just when you're starting to wonder about where the EP is going, the surprises start. "Crowning Of A Heart" starts off as a dead ringer for STC's opener "It Was There That I Saw You", but instead of exploding into a wall of sound, two clean guitar melodies intertwine, and a soft vocal line hits. Then a beautiful vocal bridge comes in, somewhat recalling STC's album-titled closer, but showing off the band's new willingness to craft a softer song without a noisy bridge or huge distortion crescendo. The elegance of the song shows one of the new directions the band could take with their next release, and is easily the highlight of the EP.

"Counting Off The Days" is another huge surprise, opening up with acoustic guitars and a heartfelt/corny [depending on your stance in these matters] vocal melody that's pushing the song into emo territory. The string bridge is another questionable move, and will probably be one of the biggest head-turners on the album, but that probably has more to do with the song being unexpected and uncharacteristic for the band than being a bad tune. The song once again shows the band expanding their sound and looking for new directions to explore. Still, if there's an easy target on the disc, it's this song.

The album closer, "Intelligence", is maybe the biggest shocker of all. It starts off with an awkward guitar part under a dramatic half-spoken vocal part, which combine to suggest the band's earlier, less refined songs. Then something happens. A programmed drumbeat starts to kick in out of nowhere. With the delivery of the lyric "...and it's 1977", the clean guitar melody disappears, and a burst of noise comes in the right speaker. A bassline kicks in, and suddenly we've got a dance song. While more of a collaboration [programmed/co-written by non-band member Tylor Jacobson] than a full Trail of Dead song, it's another new approach. The song also features the noisiest moment on the album, when distortion and squealing hit loud enough to take over all the pathways for sound, burying everything else. The noise fades out, and the song comes to a close after another minute of the groove.

As the EP finishes, it's unclear where Trail of Dead will go next. Their trademark sound hasn't quite been exhausted yet, but the group also shows that they have many tricks up their sleeves. The first listen, which dropps bombshells like an emo ballad and a dance track, is very exciting, and once the novelty is gone it's clear the experiments are usually successful ones and broaden the band's options. It's hard to tell which ideas the band will keep refining for the next album, but if this EP is any indication, the results will be outstanding.