The gothic metal of Tribulation is proof that mood can be just as devastating as the almighty riff. Formed in 2005, the Swedes spent a decade churning out thrashy death metal before reinventing themselves for 2015’s The Children of the Night. Suffocating heaviness and careening tempos give way to blackened growls, mystical imagery and classic metal ornamentation submerged in foreboding atmosphere. The record quickly became essential listening for the growing number of headbangers reconnecting with heavy metal’s roots in the occult and doom-informed psychedelia. On subsequent releases like 2018’s Down Below and 2021’s Where the Gloom Becomes Sound, Tribulation delve even deeper into gothic metal’s abyss while also leaving behind a trail of classic rock hooks. The result is a sound that’s both ominous and infectious.