…AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD > The Century of Self

Living up to their epic 2002 major-label debut Source Tags & Codes proved tricky for Austin’s …Trail of Dead, who stumbled trying to regain the right balance of muscle and grandeur, but the songs flow freely and forcefully on The Century of Self, a foam-mouthed effort that more than absolves the band’s scattered failures.Label: JUSTICE
[Rating: Four Stars]

Living up to their epic 2002 major-label debut Source Tags & Codes proved tricky for Austin’s …Trail of Dead, who stumbled trying to regain the right balance of muscle and grandeur, but the songs flow freely and forcefully on The Century of Self, a foam-mouthed effort that more than absolves the band’s scattered failures. No ambitious gambles or gaudy excesses this time out, just oversized everything: leaden pianos, crashing guitars, chest-beating drums and sing-along rally cries. These are cheap thrills so perfectly executed that they cease to be cheap, and they’re richly fleshed out with gorgeous tangents that never slow the album’s breathless momentum.