Trivium-The Sin and the Sentence (2017)

Post #384

Trivium are always one of my top favorite bands. They have continually challenged themselves with each album they've recorded, and keep shifting gears between aggression and toned down melodies. 2017's The Sin and the Sentence is no different. While their last album, Silence in the Snow, was the most melodic one they ever recorded, being practically devoid of the hardcore screams, this latest album brings them back, at least for a good percentage of the songs. The result is a truly balanced Trivium album that shows every strength the band has to offer. It is their most diverse release since 2011's In Waves (previously reviewed here).

The Sin and The Sentence opens with the title track, and it is a furious metalcore classic- it fades in only to launch into a driving riff with overlayed lead guitar, and Matt Heafy begins with his melodic vocals, but they are complemented by his furious screams at the bridges and choruses. Different passages of the song shift from hardcore screams to melodic singing, while the instruments teeter back and forth in the same fashion. Lastly I must compliment the lyrics. Matt Heafy is a brilliant lyricist in my opinion, and this song is packed with thought provoking lyrics such as: “I know the true monsters lie between the light and the shade.”

From there each song brings a new formula, or a new combination of their bag of tricks, so that each track is unique in its own right. By this stage of their career, Trivium have become such craftsmen of metal music that nearly every song is a work of metal mastery.

Their first single from the release was The Heart From Your Hate. This song was an instant favorite of mine when I first heard it, and it remains so today. It’s the kind of song I can’t hear without upping the volume a bit. I always like to think this song carries an anti-racism theme, and picture the lyrics as  challenge to anyone who hates, “What would it take to rip the heart from your hate?” Truly, in today’s times, there is no room for hate.

I cannot really find a song on this album I would not recommend. So bear this in mind with my following recommendations. By no means should you stop with these, but rather use them as a starting block with which to delve into the entire album. These may be my personal favorites, and the best of the best, but that is not to say the rest of the tracks are not great as well!

Recommended tracks:
-The Sin and the Sentence
-Beyond Oblivion
-The Heart from Your Hate (see official music video below)
-Sever the Hand
-Beauty in the Sorrow
-Thrown Into the Fire

Trivium in concert with Conniption and The Bloodline (1-21-16)

Post #324

Touring in support of their newest album, Silence in the Snow, Trivium made a stop in my neck of the woods in southeast Wisconsin and I got myself a ticket, in spite of it being on a week night. It has been far too long since I've managed to see Trivium live, plus this would be my first chance to see them as a headliner! They've put out 3 albums since I last saw them on Mayhem Fest in '09, so there would be plenty of new songs in their set, plus I also got a chance to see two other up and coming bands: Conniption and The Bloodline.

I had been following The Bloodline in recent months, since Mike Sylvester of Fist to the Sky joined their touring line-up, but Conniption were completely new to me. I had no idea what to expect. As soon as Conniption started playing I knew I was in for an awesome night of thrash and power metal. Conniption are from Milwaukee, WI, and they perform an intense brand of traditional metal or power metal- fast-tempo, power-riffs, numerous extended guitar solos, and a vocal style akin to Iron Maiden. One of the songs in their set was an instrumental, featuring multiple guitar solos- traded off between lead guitarist Bill House and vocalist/guitarist Michael Brigham. The two played competitively, razzing each other while the other was playing their lead... sort of the way that Sam Totman and Herman Li of DragonForce do. After their opening set, it was time for The Bloodline.

The Bloodline are a Chicago-based melodic metalcore band, and a perfect warm-up for the likes of Trivium. Their style fluctuates between melodic vocals, and hardcore screams in a well-balanced ratio. Vocalist Travis Neal had a commanding stage presence while singing either style. I was reminded of Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody, and it wasn't just their coincidental image of shaved heads, this dude can really sing... and scream. At every point where the song called for it, bassist Mike Sylvester was right there providing the backing vocals, also with both the melodic or hardcore style. Their brutal heaviness and intensity got the crowd energized and moshing ensued...

Next up was the band the whole venue had been waiting for with eager anticipation. Trivium- a band who in my opinion are the best to come along in thrash metal since the genre's beginnings in the mid-1980's. Trivium- whose music I regard as highly as I do Metallica's or Megadeth's. Trivium- a band who almost single-handedly restored my faith in metal's future when I first heard their song 'Entrance of the Conflagration' nearly 10 years ago...

Trivium took the stage as the classical music of 'Sn0fall' played as their intro. The crowd gave them an enthusiastic welcome, the release of their anticipation almost palpable... The band launched immediately into the title track of their new album, 'Silence in the Snow'. Power chords, thundering drums, and headbanging ensued almost immediately. After that they quickly mixed things up, playing a song from nearly every one of their albums in quick succession. They gave the crowd some of their older and well known hardcore classics like 'Rain' and 'Like Light to the Flies' from their landmark Ascendancy album, while ensuring each song was packed with potent energy, and they gave a kick-ass performance!

Matt Heafy was a perfect front-man: Keeping the crowd engaged, and entertained. He mixed some goofing off stage antics in with the expected venting-of-rage that Trivium's lyrical style lends itself to. For the first few minutes of their performance he stuck his tongue out for the crowd in a variety of manners, playing to the smartphones that were snapping pics every couple seconds. He struck several poses while his hands kept jamming out riff after riff. But he would let the crowd get too complacent either, asking us to keep the emotions high and loud even between songs. We in the audience were more than happy to oblige. We gave our all to show our support with screams, headbanging, moshing, and fist-pumping as often as possible.

The band as a whole was in top form on this wintry night. Bassist Paolo Gregoletto provides the melodic backing vocals, and Corey Beaulieu the hardcore backing vocals, while Matt switched back and forth with expert vocal control. Not to be overlooked is their brand new drummer, Paul Wandtke. Hired on by the band right at the start of this tour, replacing previous drummer Mat Madiro on short notice, he nailed all the drum parts like a pro. Heafy gave him a special nod right before he launched into 'Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr', the band's trademark song, and one with the most intense drum-intro I've ever heard.

Trivium left the stage but it was mere seconds later that chants of "TRI-VI-UM! TRI-VI-UM! TRI-VI-UM!" started up... And we kept it going for several minutes until another taped intro began to play. The crowd erupted in cheers with recognition of the track 'Capsizing the Sea', the intro to their 2011 album, In Waves. Matt Heafy again thanked us for being a great crowd, but also instructed us to sing the two-word chorus "In Waves" as loud as we could, and when the song kicked in, we did! I know I was screaming myself hoarse as the mosh-pit grew to encompass at least half the square footage of the entire venue. A fitting conclusion to a killer set-list by one of my favorite bands.

Here are the songs performed on this night. You should find they make an excellent playlist! You cna find the songs of each band downloadable through their websites, also listed below.

Setlist: CONNIPTION
-The Torrent
-Sonata #1 in b minor
-Kamikaze
-(Come On) King of the Road
-Let the Wolf Out

Setlist: THE BLOODLINE
-We Are One
-Divided
-Dead and Buried
-Midnight
-With Fire (Comes Absolution)
-Poisonous
-The Blackout

Setlist TRIVIUM
-Sn0fall (intro)
-Silence in the Snow
-Into the Mouth of Hell We March
-Strife
-Rain
-Tread the Floods
-Built to Fall
-Like Light to the Flies
-Insurrection
-Throes of Perdition
-Becoming the Dragon
-Down From the Sky
-Until the World Goes Cold
-Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
---encore---
-Capsizing the Sea (intro)
-IN WAVES

After the show I also took advantage of a meet - n - greet they offered for Trivium. Getting to hang with these guys after the show was a truly special honor. I headed to the balcony of the venue and waited a while until the band came out and made the rounds, taking a couple minutes to chat with each fan in the room, and sign their CD's or LP's too. They were very humble, very personable, and professional guys! I wish I had thought of some more meaningful stuff to talk with them about, but I was starstruck, and simply grateful for the opportunity to meet them and say a few words. You may recall that I missed a chance for a meet and greet when I attended Mayhem Fest, but this night made up for it.

Don't forget to follow each of these bands on facebook:
Trivium
Conniption
The Bloodline

My pics from the show...

Trivium-In Waves (Special Edition)

Post #275
Trivium have been one of my favorite bands of the last 5 years, and I recently collected their 2011 release, In Waves. Trivium's musical evolution has fluctuated a little from one album to the next, but always remained a very thrash-centric variety of the heavier side of the metalcore subgenre. In Waves is no different in the sense that it does not sound exactly like any of their previous albums, but still shows some similarities to each of them.

This album starts off with an interesting intro, 'Capsizing the Seas', that has some piano with a snare-drum background rhythm which builds in amplitude until it transitions to the title-track and finally Matt Heafy screams out, "IN WAVES!!!!!!!!" After the intro, the title track sets the tone for the album: brutal heaviness, and bludgeoning riffs. Heafy quickly adds his melodic voice at the bridge, singing "Do I end this now for world to see?" Seconds later he resumes his brutal hardcore screams. The song is sparse on lyrics, but abundant in Trivium's trade-mark formula of heavy thrash riffs tempered with screaming guitar solos and the slightest amount of melodic guitar segments.

The next track, 'Inception of the End', keeps the album flowing in the solid direction of powerful hardcore thrash. By this point if you're not banging your head you should have your head examined. The riffs just keep on coming: heavy, fast, and unique. Heafy continues to infuse melodies with his Hetfield-esque growled vocals.

'Dusk Dismantled' is next, and is also one of my favorite tracks, though for different reasons. This song is perhaps the heaviest number on In Waves. Here Heafy employs his hardcore vocal style to the extreme, it approaches guttural, death-metal screams in many instances. Corey Beaulieu adds his own hardcore screams in backing vocals, bringing the aggression level even higher.

'Drowning In Slow Motion' is one of the bonus tracks. Cleverly interspersed throughout the album, rather than just bunched together at the end, the bonus tracks make for a more continuous listening experience. This is another classic heavy Trivium song, with a balanced mix of hardcore and melodic vocals. Lead guitar riffs and solos again remind me of some of the best thrash metal ever.

Trivium really know how to fill the seams between melodic and hardcore metal. There are a couple songs that showcase their creative and melodic elements. 'Caustic Are the Ties That Bind', while still very heavy for the most part, does contain an extended melodic break down segment. Heafy sings some of the album's most meaningful lyrics here, reflecting the enigmatic state of human nature- trying to find one's path in life. A powerfully melodic guitar solo escalates the song back to a more intense level for it's conclusion.

'Of All These Yesterdays' is by far the most melodic song on this album, but it brings tragic, yet poetic closure to the album. Lyrics that are dark and reflective, a clean-guitar melody that haunts with its minor-key tonality. Before it fades into the next track, 'Leaving This World Behind', my favorite lyrics ensue: "With the end in sight, I cleanse what's left of light, press it against my head, and dream of the color red."

For the old-school thrash metal fans, they include a cover of Sepultura's 'Slave New World' from their masterpiece Chaos A.D. Heafy again proves his voice is among the best in metal today, doing justice to this classic thrash song.

In addition to the bonus tracks on the audio disc, the special edition release also includes a DVD with the music video for In Waves and live rehearsal footage of 8 songs. Four new songs and four classic Trivium songs are performed in-studio. You get close up views of Heafy as he screams and sings, Paulo strutting around the rehearsal space with his bass, Cory ripping some great guitar solos and providing the backing screamed vocals, and new drummer Nick Augusto blasting out the beats. It may be a page out of Metallica's book, as they included a DVD of rehearal footage of the entire St. Anger album when that came out, but it's still an insider's view of Trivium performing with all their energy. Any die-hard fan would love it.

Recommended Tracks from In Waves:
-In Waves
-Dusk Dismantled
-Watch the World Burn
-Built to Fall
-Drowning in Slow Motion
-A Grey So Dark
-Chaos Reigns
-Of All These Yesterdays

Live rehearsal tracks on the DVD:
-In Waves
-Black
-Built to Fall
-Watch the World Burn
-The Deceived
-Suffocating Sight
-Down From The Sky
-Ember to Inferno

Heavy Metal Madness-First Round Summary (Part 2)

Post #191
As February passed, and Winter gave way to an early spring, voting here at www.happyheadbanger.com continued for the bands in Heavy Metal Madness 2012... We saw more decisive victories, upsets and close contests in the second month of voting. Many favorites are one step closer to the coveted title of 'Best Heavy Metal Band' for this blog. Here's a break-down of the voting results for Round 1, Part 2!

Black Sabbath dominated The Who 36-10
Rush upset Aerosmith 30-17
Kiss beat Alice Cooper 29-16
Motley Crue bested Def Leppard 34-11
Nightwish had the biggest upset this month, knocking off Slipknot 29-23
Disturbed beat DragonForce 28-17
Killswitch Engage narrowly escaped Children of Bodom 25-18
and Avenged Sevenfold topped Trivium by the comfortable margin of 32-11...


Now for my recommended tracks for those bands that are now eliminated from this contest:
The Who-'Won't Get Fooled Again'
Aerosmith-'No Surprise'
Alice Cooper-'Poison'
Def Leppard-'Armageddon It'
Slipknot-'Snuff'
DragonForce-'Through the Fire and Flames'
Children of Bodom-'Needle 24/7'
Trivium-'A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation'

Keep checking in at this blog, and voting for your favorite bands! Tell your friends and fellow metal-heads to check out this competition too! The more votes we get, the more validity is attributed to the results!

MAYHEM FESTIVAL 2009 (Concert Review)

Post #81
I'm usually always on the look-out for Ozzfest each summer. It's a great package-deal, day-long indulgence of live heavy metal mayhem. However, when I found out that Sharron & Ozzy Osbourne had not planned an Ozzfest for '09 so that Ozzy could write and record a new album, I was bummed out. What was I to do to satiate my annual craving for an outdoor concert festival of chaos?!?

Luckily I soon discovered Mayhem Festival! This is another summer festival tour featuring several heavy metal bands that started last year. This year's line-up featured several newer bands that I've recently become a big fan of: Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium and All That Remains; as well as some bands I've been a long-time fan of: Killswitch Engage and Slayer! Needless to say I was hyped to get 2 lawn admission tickets as a birthday gift! I invited a friend of mine who had been with me to Ozzfest before, and he was game.

We took our time getting to the show, not really caring if we missed the 1st few bands, since all the artists we were interested in were pretty high on the bill. So when we arrived Behemoth was on stage. They were showering the crowd with their brand of death metal, ghostly white makeup covering their faces. They played some pretty heavy tunes, but before we even heard 2 songs they were finished.

Almost immediately after they concluded their set, All That Remains came onto another stage (for this fest there were 2 small stages, sponsored by Jagermeister & Hot Topic respectively). The dual stage set-up really helped the festival move along at a faster pace than I had ever seen at an Ozzfest. All That Remains really kicked the crowd's asses with their brand of melodic-metalcore from the east coast: blast-beat drumming, gutteral-screaming vocals mixed with strong melodic singing, heavy riffs and plenty of shredding guitar solos... This was my kind of metal! Although their set seemed pretty short, there was plenty more in store...

(Let me mention here that I am not especially into Death Metal. I do enjoy very heavy music and a bit of screaming vocals, but I have to have a bit of melody somewhere in the music. So don't be offended if I don't focus on all the bands at this festival.)

The next act was The Black Dahlia Murder. As is their trademark, they came on stage wearing suits with loosened neckties. They began assailing the audience with their screaming death-metal vocals and got right into their set.

Since neither my friend nor I are particular fans of all-out death metal, we took this opportunity to browse the various vendors at the venue. We checked out a good deal of music & memorabilia stands and made our way back in time to catch the end of Black Dahlia Murder and were prepared to get a good spot close to the stage for Trivium...

In recent months, Trivium have quickly become one of my favorite bands. As I've mentioned before they blend melodic vocals with metalcore-style screams, classic-thrash inspired riffs with a heavy use of intricate guitar solos, and tight rapid-fire double bass drumming. I can honestly say they were the main reason behind my desire to see this concert. I was really hyped to hear what they had in store for us.

Before the last echoes of The Black Dahlia Murder had even faded, Trivium's intro music began to play. It was "The End of Everything", and just like in my review of "Ascendancy", it set the tone for their set. Also just like Ascendancy they kicked off their part of the show with "Rain"! Mini mosh pits started up in a couple places. Matt Heafy directed the moshers, and encouraged much headbanging by example. I craved hearing each song, one after another.

It seemed they were finished almost before they got rolling, but they had given us a good mix of tunes, primarily from the albums Ascendancy and Shogun. Before their last number they announced they would be signing merchandise at the Roadrunner booth. Unfortunately I thought the line too long by the time I found it... a rare opportunity missed.

While Cannibal Corpse was on, we took the opportunity to migrate to the mainstage to get a good view from the lawn. Bullet for My Valentine would be the mainstage opener...

After getting situated with a good view of the stage we kicked back for a few while Cannibal Corpse's droning buzzsaw riffs and harsh vocals faded away in the background, and about 20 minutes later Bullet For My Valentine took the stage and wasted no time in delivering mosh-worthy music as they opened with "Waking The Demon".

Most of their set was also some of their heavier numbers. The peak of their set was probably "Tears Don't Fall", arguably their most well-known song. The lawn section developed an enthusiastic mosh-pit where the intensity of the mosh mirrored the intensity of the music. They closed their set with "Scream, Aim, Fire", the title-track from their newest album, and most recent hit.

Bullet for My Valentine were a perfect appetizer for the next band: Killswitch Engage. KsE are a band as well know for their sense of humor as they are for their thundrous style of melodic metalcore music. Their humorous attitude was immediately apparent when they came on stage and drummer Justin Foley tells us all, "Why don't you put this in your pipe and smoke it!" Not to be overshadowed, guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz wore a black cape over his otherwise-normal garb of t-shirt & shorts.


Being one of the most influential bands of the east-coast melodic metalcore scene, Killswitch had a strong following present in the crowd. The crowd was ready to honor these guys with enthusiastic moshing, and lucky for them, Adam & lead singer Howard Jones were ready to direct them. A few songs into the set Adam paused to scold the crowd, claiming he saw too many people standing still. He said, "This is 'Mayhem Fest' not 'May I Stand Around and Act Like a Pussy-Fest'!" That worked to energize the crowd for another couple songs. Then Jones took a few minutes to direct the lawn section to participate in what I can only describe as a 'Chinese Stand-Off' mosh pit...

If you've ever seen the movie "Big Trouble in Little China", then you know what I mean. There's a scene in the film where 2 china-town gangs have an all-out brawl in an alley. This mosh kick-off looked pretty much like that, minus the guns & blades, but just as intense. It was pure adrenaline personified! Then Killswitch proceeded to complete a great set of new songs mixed with their best known classics. If that wasn't enough we still had Slayer & Manson to look forward to.... and Slayer were up next!

The penultimate act of the night, Slayer were about to bring the entire festival to a new level of Mayhem! In the lull between sets, my buddy & I had edged our way up close to the front fence of the lawn section to get a better view of the last couple acts now that the sun had set....

With the stage set in darkness, an intro of static, feedback, and spoken dialog began to play while upon the black screen back-drop images of various Slayer logos began to turn in circles. I would later realize the intro was actually "Darkness of Christ" from their album God Hates Us All. As soon as the intro drew to a close, the band launched straight into "Disciple", and Slayer's clinic of old-school thrash metal was underway.

Early in their set they played one of their new songs from their upcoming album "World Painted Blood". The song was "Psychopathy Red". Thereafter the rest of their set focused on songs from their greatest albums from the mid-80's: "Reign in Blood", "South of Heaven", and "Seasons in the Abyss".

Although I was transfixed by their stage-set and pyrotechnics (which included a flame-spewing Slayer/pentagram logo), I did take a moment at one point to check the status of the mosh-pit behind me. I was curious if the crowd had run out of steam from moshing all day. That was certainly NOT the case, as the entire lawn seemed like a froth of moshing bodies. It was like watching a popcorn popper, except with human bodies!

Lastly the closing of Mayhem Fest was up to Marilyn Manson. Supporting their new album "The High End of Low", Manson took the stage and did their best to keep the crowd rolling. They opened up with "We're From America". Marilyn Manson himself was draped in an American flag and wearing a war helmet. Manson's music is stylistically quite different from many of the faster-tempo acts that had preceded them in this festival. It was clear to me that much of the crowd had had their fill after the speed & intensity of Slayer and began to head for the exits. The faithful that remained seemed more dedicated to the Marilyn Manson frame of mind: united together against the norm, against the grain, and against the status quo.

Though they did select a few songs from their new album, there were enough of their classics that I recognized that still made the show enjoyable, in spite of it seeming a little anti-climatic following the likes of Slayer. The tunes; "Dope Show", "Tourniquet", and "The Beautiful People" were included among others...

Overall, a fantastic day of Heavy-Metal indulgence!

Setlists (to the best of my recollection) for the acts I saw are as follows:

ALL THAT REMAINS
-This Calling
-Chiron
-Forever In Your Hands
-Whispers
-Six
-The Air That I Breathe
-Undone
-Two Weeks

TRIVIUM
-The End of Everything
-Rain
-When All Light Dies
-Down From the Sky
-Throes of Perdition
-Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
-Waking the Demon
-End of Days
-4 Words (To Choke Upon)
-No Control

-Her Voice Resides(?)
-Tears Don't Fall
-Hand of Blood
-Scream Aim Fire

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
-My Last Serenade
-Reckoning
-Fixation on the Darkness
-Light in a Darkened World
-A Bid Farewell
-My Curse
-Rose of Sharyn
-Starting Over
-The End of Heartache
-Holy Diver

SLAYER
-Darkness of Christ
-Disciple
-War Ensemble
-Jihad
-Psychopathy Red
-Born of Fire
-Mandatory Suicide
-Chemical Warfare
-Ghosts of War
-Dead Skin Mask
-Hell Awaits
-Angel of Death
-South of Heaven
-Raining Blood

MARILYN MANSON
-We're From America
-Disposable Teens
-Little Horn
-Irresponsible Hate Anthem
-Four Rusted Horses
-Arma... ...geddon
-Dope Show
-Rock is Dead
-Tourniquet
-Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)
-The Beautiful People

http://www.rockstarmayhemfest.com/mayhem/index.asp

Trivium-Ascendancy (Special Edition)

Post #65

I had many reasons to add Ascendancy, Trivium's second album, to my music collection besides the simple fact that they've become one of my new favorite bands. One, it was the album that first sparked praise from heavy metal veterans like Iron Maiden and Metallica. Two, I'll be seeing them this summer on Rock Star Energy Drink's Mayhem Festival! But probably the most influential reason I collected this album was that it was available in a special edition, with bonus tracks and a bonus DVD with videos and live performances!!!

With Ascendancy, "The End Of Everything" is only the beginning. It's a great mood-setting instrumental intro to the album... a subtle clean-guitar minor key progression overlayed with piano that nearly slips out of key in a semi-frantic rhythym. Just when the notes fall into place and reach their musical peak, the stage is set for "Rain".

"Rain" may be the heaviest song Trivium have written. It has a lot of 'crunch' in the guitar tones, like Metallica and Anthrax had back in their mid-80's prime. In fact, I'd probably say that Ascendany is the heaviest Trivium album of the 3 I've heard so far. Track after track, you're getting a good dose of classic thrash-guitar riffs. Heafy & Beaulieu enhance every song with their masterful guitar solos and duals.

This being the 3rd Trivium album I've added to my music collection, I still highly recommend it. Besides the guitar tones being very heavy, the vocal delivery on almost every song on this album is also very hard-core, as this album finds Matt Heafy employing metalcore screaming vocals in more abundance than on either The Crusade or Shogun. He still breaks into melodic singing segments in almost every song, but they are less common here than in Trivium's newer material. The one exception to this rule would be "Dying In Your Arms".

In sharp contrast to the rest of the album, "Dying In Your Arms" is very melodic, and perhaps the 'softest' song (at least as much as Trivium can write soft) in their entire recording history. Still, the song fits well on this album. It provides an essential element of Trivium's sound, and shows a different side of their potential, rounding out this album in fine fashion and begging Ascendancy to be called a masterpiece for such a young band.

As great as the album itself is, there's more good news for those of you willing to seek out the special edition as I did... The bonus material is well worth the couple extra dollars it may cost you. First; the album contains four bonus tracks, including Trivium's cover of Metallica's Master of Puppets, certainly a must-hear for any fan of either Trivium or Metallica (this is the perfect opportunity to hear exactly how close Heafy's voice is to Hetfield's!)

Second; this edition comes with a DVD of music videos AND live performances of each of the following songs: Like Light To The Flies, Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr, Dying In Your Arms, A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation, and Rain.

If you've enjoyed any of Trivium's other music, or liked any of my previous reviews or recommended tracks then go and find these too!
-Rain
-Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr
-Drowned And Torn Asunder
-Ascendancy
-Like Light To The Flies
-Dying In Your Arms
-Washing Away Me In The Tides
-Master Of Puppets

(Bonus material reviewed in Orange text)

Trivium- Shogun

Post #58
You may recall my post about Trivium's previous album, "The Crusade", and how impressed I was with it. Needless to say the quality of metal on that CD had my expectations set pretty high for their follow-up, "Shogun". Should I have worried about a potential letdown? Would they have set an example too tough to follow for themselves?

As high as my expectations were, "Shogun" really impressed me. Trivium have managed to take their music to a higher level yet again. On "Shogun", the songs seem to have even more focus than most of "The Crusade" did. This is most apparent on the epic, closing title-track. This album will assail your ears with the brutal, sonic cacophony of thrash/metalcore fusion that has become Trivium's trademark sound.

What may be the most significant point of this album (on a personal level) is the fact that it has changed my opinion of the metalcore sub-genre. I feel like "The Crusade" hooked me with how much it resembled classic/thrash metal, with Matt Heafy primarily using his mid range and melodic vocal style while his screaming was used sparingly. Now, as a new fan hearing "Shogun", Heafy embraces the metalcore-screams with a fresh vigor and crams it down listeners' throats, while still retaining enough melodic vocal elements to keep listeners like me (more fond of classic metal, and not really into metalcore) captivated by the songs on this album. I am tempted to say that Matt Heafy is like James Hetfield and Phil Anselmo rolled into one. It is an interesting mix of vocal styles, switching back and forth several times within songs, making the overall listening experience quite satisfying for most headbangers. There are some places throughout the album where Heafy layers several vocal tracks on top of each other, sometimes blending as many as 3 different vocal styles at once!

Finally I must mention that the technical skill of Matt Heafy's and Corey Beaulieu's guitar soloing has remained consistent as well, if not improved. I believe I mentioned my love for Trivium's guitar solos on my previous review, but it deserves reiterating here. Again Trivium's influence from the golden era of thrash metal is blatantly apparent in their soloing techniques. Beaulieu & Heafy trade off solos back and forth in artful tandem like many thrash metal guitarists before them. They make their guitars shred like the original thrashers used to... I'm reminded of albums like "Peace Sells", "Ride the Lightning", "Rust In Peace" just to give you a little hint of what to expect...

Now for my recommended tracks for Shogun:
-Kirisute Gomen
-Down From The Sky
-Into The Mouth Of Hell We March
-Insurrection
-Of Prometheus And The Crucifix
-Shogun (this epic track showcases a little bit of every side of Trivium's music; from dark, clean melodies to furious shred-fests, this song has it all...)

Trivium: The Crusade

Post #15
Trivium are a newer metal band that I took too long to discover. I kept hearing their name mentioned in magazine articles and interviews. Most notably, I read an interview with Iron Maiden, and they kept speaking very highly of Trivium. I made myself go to a Barnes & Noble store, and preview The Crusade on one of their listening stations. I was not dissapoinetd.

They aslo had a song on one of those sample CDs they now include in a lot of Metal magazines. The song was "Entrance of the Conflagration". Finally I had to give in and buy their newest CD, The Crusade. It was one of the best choices in music I've recently made.

These guys are pretty much classic heavy metal: Heavy riffs, plenty of guitar solos, and a good gravelly voice. I'll always consider James Hetfield of Metallica as the ideal metal singer. His voice is the standard I compare others to. Like Hetfield, Matthew Kiichi Heafy sings & plays guitar in this band. He is also the closest I've hear to Hetfield's voice in a long time. I think only John Bush of Anthrax comes closer. In fact, when I first heard the beginning of "Unrepentant", I did a double-take thinking I was listening to "Through the Never" from Metallica's Black Album.

All throughout The Crusade I was bludgeoned over the head with awesome song after awesome song. It is an aptly named CD, like a crusade to reclaim the glory of heavy metal. Right before the closing song, I was beginning to think what a shame it is that metal bands don't write instrumentals anymore. I was thinking that this band is good enough that they could probably write an awesome instrumental. Oh, well, I thought. Too bad it's not the mid-80's in the height of Thrash-metal anymore. Then "The Crusade" came on. I was banging my head with gusto, thinking this would make a great instrumental, if they just kept rolling with it, then braced myself for some lyrics (not that I'd be dissapointed, after all this guy's voice is really awesome for metal!) I kept waiting... The lyrics never came. Instead I was treated to an instrumental masterpiece over 8 minutes in length, the likes of which I hadn't heard since Metallica's "To Live is To Die", or "Orion".

I'm sure to add Trivium's other CDs to my collection before too long. I'll review them when I get to them, so keep checking back.. Now for my picks from The Crusade. I'll try not to recommend too many songs, but its hard to narrow it down when every song is so consistently good. Try these:
-Ignition
-Entrance of the Conflagration (the lyrics to this song read like an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
-Anthem (We Are The Fire)
-Tread the Floods
-The Crusade