No band breaks up forever. That adage tends to come up when you hear that a band has decided to reunite and release new music after some significant time away from the spotlight. For the French band The Old Dead Tree, this became a reality with the release of their 2023 song “Terrified,” a track that shoved forth a band back in top form, paving their way to back to prominence. With the release of their newest album Second Thoughts, they are still capable of making music that hits right in the heartstrings.
There is a lot happening on Second Thoughts, but the band manages to weave everything into a highly cohesive album. For context, while none of the songs on the album sound the same – none of them follow an overall musical theme – only six are interconnected to each other, splitting themselves into The Secret and The Hunt. However, outside of that, each song is an individual experience that showcases how fantastic the band is at set dressing and musicianship. The album starts with first track “Unpredictable,” a fitting start to a smorgasbord of musicality that the band plays very liberally with. While The Old Dead Tree has been described as a progressive death band, the music here combines elements of death-doom with a progressive styling that leads to incredibly melodic and deeply soulful songs that never overstay their welcome. Tracks like “I Wish I Could” and “Story of My Life” sound as if they were taken from a 100% gothic metal band’s arsenal, while “The Trap” sounds like something that would fit into a modern doom record with its heavy, plodding guitar usage and sinister, foreboding atmosphere. The Old Dead Tree excels at utilizing their entire musical arsenal to create catchy, memorable tracks that stick with you long after the album ends. It feels like an amalgamation of all the music I have enjoyed so far in 2024, but without the inherent messiness that can come from blending several influences at once.
Now, if you came for prog death, then the tracks “OK” and “The Worst Is Yet To Come” towards the end of the record are for you. These are the crowning jewels or, really, the core at the end of Second Thoughts. Sure, the rest of the album is fantastic but these are the tracks you come for when you want that death metal-esque sound in your prog. However, unlike the more melodic tones The Old Dead Tree have used throughout, both “OK” and “The Worst Is Yet To Come” are more straightforward and hard-sounding, as if reminding the listener that, despite their presentation, they are still prog death in their soul. They are also the most hard-hitting lyrically, as the songs play on the fact that someone is gambling for their continued existence, and they lost. The ending is bleak, but wasn’t it enjoyable?
Now, I want to briefly discuss the six interconnected songs that comprise both The Secret and The Hunt. On The Secret (“Better Off Dead” through “Luke”), a group of friends kill someone because they knew he would break a pact they made, and ultimately decided that this death was the best course of action. Meanwhile, on The Hunt (“Fresh Start through “The Trap”), those same friends have been on the run from the law, implying that they got caught because they became exhausted and were set up by someone else. While these tracks work within the context of the album as individual showcases of the band’s musicianship, the story being told is hard to parse without looking at the lyrics. In fact, if you are only paying attention to the music without context, what you hear are a series of tracks that work incredibly well together thematically, but no story being told. This may be the one weakness Second Thoughts has, but it’s poignant enough to be noticed.
All in all, Second Thoughts is a great album filled with enough hooks for new listeners to enjoy and appreciate, with an elaborate musical palette that fully shows how The Old Dead Tree has evolved as a band. Despite its runtime, the album goes by without skipping a step and it’s a great time from beginning to end. All I know is that this album, being released late into the year, has wrecked my planned EOY list, so this may not be the last time you will hear about it.
— Hera
Second Thoughts is available now on Season of Mist. For more information on The Old Dead Tree, visit their official Facebook and Instagram.
Leave a Reply