I’ve seen some reviewers saying that 2023 hasn’t been a great year for music, but I think they are restricting themselves too much. Sometimes, you have to step out of your comfort zone; you have to try something new and even provocative. I recommend trying out the new Troller album, Drain. Released on May 26th through Relapse Records, this is music that elicits different emotions and reactions than many other genres.
Troller come to us from Austin, Texas. The band exists in many worlds and genres, I feel, and even the names they give feel strangely appropriate. The band includes Amber Star-Goers on vocals and bass, Adam Jones on synth and programming, and Justin Star- Goers on guitar and engineering.
What genre is this? I think darkwave is the primary label that would be given to it, but their music is tinged with so many other sounds. They are heavy and there are lots of distorted guitars, but they are also mainly electronic overall. They have pop elements, use synth explicitly and liberally, utilize analog electronics, and feature sounds from industrial, witch house, gothic, and shoegaze. I even hear some cosmic drone ideas in a few tracks. The band is the definition of hypnotic, mysterious, and compelling.
Let me explore that further. Amber’s vocals are ethereal, yet dark; otherworldly, yet grounded in the dirt, rocks, and magma of this world. The bass and guitar work on this record are fuzzy, vibrating, and impactful in nature. The atmosphere can vary from track to track, but it mostly feels seductive, alluring, and even a bit wicked, so to speak. The music feels like it visits places and sensations that few other musicians would dare; and for some reason, Drain feels like the perfect name for this experience.
The album has eight tracks, and they are all great. I would say that the second half is where it really finds its groove, though. I do love the opening track “Victim”; it is different than the rest because Amber doesn’t have any vocals here, and its longer runtime allows for a slow burning evolution, complete with dark guitars, ritualistic male vocals, and a shadowy sense of scale. I love it. “Lust in Us” has some great synth work and a catchy chorus, though I think “Into Dust” has even better synth, which sounds quite searing and filthy, and an even catchier chorus. I like “Out Back”, too, which is the floating single, though it is probably my least favorite overall.
The second half is so strong. “Lictor” begins with a nice, spacious beat and bright synth; I love how it bounces along, almost like synth pop. The title track comes next, and it progresses as layer after layer of sound is introduced. I love the dark cinema of its final minutes. “Rat Nest” is darker and its synth sounds like glimmering twilight and solitude; the sound is highly effective. The closer, “Gore”, is one of my favorites. It has a lumbering bass groove and a convincing and sacred chorus that has wormed its way into my mind. I love it so much.
Troller have my attention with this burning, flickering, spacious album. It feels haunted and sensual, but also towering, like a dimly-lit cavern of emotion and texture. The more I listen to it, the more I feel lost in its hallways of sound and trenches of tone. The more I hear it, the more impressed and succumbed I feel. It’s a great album that only gets stronger with time.
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The PROG Mind 