TRYSTE, an acronym for "To Rise You Seek The End" creates emotionally-laden heavy music. Blending Post-Metal with modern Shoegaze/Blackgaze and driven by a mix of stentorian clean vocals and shrill screaming, the Irish duo navigates contrasts between light and dark, from brutal to beautiful. The album has five songs, and the aptly titled "The Long Journey" is first. It opens with clean guitar tones that are tinged with sadness. Firmer tones follow, with tortured harsh vocals, and the tide turns from sadness to downright hopelessness. The clean vocals are dreamier, but still depressive. For me, the song feels like my life's journey, marked with feelings of regret and frustration at times. There are also hopeful moments, however, and the song is packed with so much emotion, it pours over the edges.

"Abandon" begins with beautiful piano notes that are also quite somber, and I picture the pianist playing outside with rain falling in the dark. Again, the clean vocals are dreamy, and with each passing note, the sound grows more desperate. There is just enough hope to keep you afloat and around for the ride. "Pipe Dream" is another smooth and gorgeous offering. The clean vocals soar above the horizon and disappear into the heavens above. The band calls their brand of music "emotionally heavy," but that is an understated description of what I hear. It literally pulses with feeling…each note a heartbeat. "Analysis/Paralysis" is a lovely offering that has a rich palate of colors and textures, and the combination of clean and harsh vocals sung together strengthens the bond. The clean vocals soar once again and send goosebumps down your spine, while the sting of the harsh vocals remind you of everything bad in your life.

"Vessel" is the final song that has positive, dreamy tones. It remains steady in this realm until just after the halfway mark, when an impossibly high vocal note segues into screams. The album is a place where clean, heavenly tones seduce you into calm just before the music rips your head off. They build enormous, plush soundscapes and glassy, delayed guitar lines that bloom into a devotional warmth. Vocals sit perfectly in the mix as if they were another instrument in a cathedral of sound. Those clean timbres are addictive: shimmering, rounded, and they invite surrender. The album has melancholy and longing in the cleans, visceral rage and dread in the harshness. It's a record for listeners who enjoy being soothed and then shaken awake. It nails that uneasy marriage that is seductive, punishing, and unforgettable.