Triosphere is a Norwegian progressive/power metal band that has gotten a little bit of play among fans of the genre, but isn’t actually super well known or discussed widely. Released on AFM, the band’s second full length The Road Less Travelled is a surprisingly interesting and fresh sounding power metal record in a genre filled with tired, tired, tired bands playing tired, tired, tired music. Instead, the band seems to have carved out a fairly unique place, partially due to the androgynous vocals of Ida Haukland. This isn’t an insult to her by any means, it’s just that I couldn’t tell if this was a male vocalist or a female vocalist and she’s one of the few female vocalists in power metal that I’ve ever heard that really do metal voice convincingly, instead of donning a dress and pretending she’s a diva. To the contrary, with solid backing from a band that can go between Dream Theater-flavored solos and Dragonforce-flavored blasts, she nails the presence the album needs to be convincing and unique at the same time.
