Countless bands have gotten the trajectory wrong. Too many haven't figured out the musical calculus. More than is fair have veered off the proverbial map never to be heard of again. And they've all suffered greatly from it. Not Tribulation. From 2009's The Horror to 2013's The Formulas of Death, the Swedes secretly figured out how to refactor death metal's tenets to their favor. No more were Tribulation merely the product of their influences but rather something more, a step beyond wanton barbarity and the unharnessed fire of youth. Likewise, the venture between 2015's The Children of the Night--a breakout moment for the Stockholmites--and new album Down Below is a yet another step into the unknown, where shadowy creatures glare with eyes ablaze and howl with white fangs bared. The years between and miles traveled could've forced the Swedes off their fiendish path, but they stayed true. From its obsidian core to its fluttering expanses, Down Below is a triumph of darkness and death. Or, very much Tribulation.