1. THE FEVERISH ALLIANCE

Ronny: The opener was one of the first songs completed for the album and to me it really sums up what Trail of Tears is all about, past and present. It contains all the necessary elements that makes a good Trail song: a natural drive, atmosphere, melody, lots of punch, strong vocals and a really catchy chorus. One of my favourites on the album.

2. ONCE KISSED BY THE SERPENT (TWICE BITTEN BY TRUTH)

Ronny: Being one of the most aggressive songs on the album, it oozes of fury and frustration. The vocals are like a "spit in your face" approach and it`s soaked in tension and anger. Lyrically it deals with betrayal and the fact that people you thought to be friends turn out to speak with splitted tongues (hence the serpent reference).

Cathrine: The lyrics also deal with the consequences of those people`s decisions and how they can affect others.

3. BLOODSTAINED ENDURANCE

Ronny: The opening riff sounds pretty rock`n`roll influenced, though played by a metal band. Very groovy. Cathrine comes diving in and the song loosens up a bit before exploding into the pre-chorus part with extreme vocals. When Cathrine comes in on the chorus again the song is lifted to a whole new level, and she sings with a tremendous amount of power. An oral bitch-slap is what I call this part!
 

4. TRIUMPHANT GLEAM

Ronny: The song contains a lot of atmosphere and pop hooks and has one of the strongest choruses of the album but of course we had to make it mean and dark, haha! The extreme vocals are very sinister and adds for a very big contrast, bigger than usual I would say. I really like the orchestrations and programming too and the song could easily become a live performance "outsider".

5. IN THE VALLEY OF ASHES

Cathrine: I wrote my parts for the song in a time when I had to go through a bunch of old problems, and face certain facts that I didn`t necessarely felt comfortable with. Things that had a deep impact on me during my childhood, that has later shaped me into who I am today.

Ronny: It`s the most personal song for me on the album, basically about starting over. It`s a celebration of overcoming obstacles.

6. A STORM AT WILL

Ronny: Bjørn Erik wrote this song by himself and it`s the only song on the album that can`t be labeled a group effort in my opinion. Basically a very strong ballad with powerful lyrics and very diverse vocal execution from Cathrine.
 

Ronny Thorsen

7. TAKE AIM, RECLAIM, PREVAIL

Ronny: High octane up-tempo track with lots of energy, strong choirs and punch-in-the-face vocals. Mostly a fast-driven song, it contains a beautiful break down part in the middle with a more laid back programming and nice guitar solo before exploding into the chorus again. A future live favourite I guess!

8. THE DESPERATION CORRIDORS

Cathrine: This one is about my fight with myself to overcome all negative things that had an impact on me and to not accept the limits that came with it...I realized that even though things can go pretty wrong, you always have to keep moving, keep trying and not get stuck in the moment when things are bad. I have also learned that things can go pretty right and it is not good to use a bad experience as an exuse for not daring to try.

9. FAREWELL TO SANITY

Cathrine: For many years and still to this day I have struggled hard with anguish..Worries and concerns became such a big part of my life, I couldn`t sleep or eat. I felt so bad, and it came to a point when I had to get help for this. I felt so many bad things were taking over my life, and the person I really am dissapeared more every day. This fight I had inside for years, finally became the inspiration to write this lyric.

Cathrine Paulsen

10. DEAD END GAZE

Ronny: Lyrically it`s about not letting negativity eat you up from the inside but rather twist it into your own advantage. It is really a heavy song that I think will work great live, it has a lot of "live-friendly" parts ;)

11. FAITH COMES KNOCKING

Ronny: Ah, our little personal psycho circus ;) . This was the last song that we completed and it was finished by me and Cathrine in the studio. We took the insanity full out on this one, lyrically it is about split personality and the spoken part in the end is a person talking to herself. The gun-shot unleashes the madness and the choir parts in combination with the orchestrations and extreme effects make this a truly frightening listen.