Travail

    Travail

    Fort Worth, Texas10 reviews across 4 releases

    hardcoremetalcorenu metalrapcore
    Discogs

    Travail was a Christian hardcore band from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, formed in 1996 around vocalist Matt Leslie. Its early records used tight groove riffs and scratchy vocals that sometimes bordered on rap, with lyrics that stated Christian belief directly rather than treating it as background. The 1998 debut Anchor of My Soul pushed the band toward rapcore while keeping a fast, heavy rhythmic attack; an initial pressing of 1,000 copies sold out. On the 1999 Split, a new guitarist and bassist accompanied thicker production, stronger vocals and more tightly structured songs. By Beautiful Loneliness in 2000, the sound leaned harder into down-tuned nu metal, hip-hop beats and Korn-style vocal mannerisms. The writing could be bluntly devotional or oddly literal: one song keeps returning to the image of a dead cat in a box, while another addresses the devil with a shovel.

    In 1999, the Split placed Travail on Pluto Records alongside the then-unknown Luti-Kriss, whose later development into Norma Jean gave the release an unexpected historical connection. Travail subsequently moved to Metro Vox and issued a heavily revised Beautiful Loneliness, adding four songs from the split; the album received a 2001 Dove Award nomination in the Hard Music Recorded Song category. Before the band could tour extensively behind the new release, Travail broke up in 2001. By 2018, former members had formed Southern Train Gypsy with Travis Knight, a newer group that moved toward southern rock and metalcore.

    4 releases reviewed