After the Florida four piece Trivium released their album Ascendancy, people have seem to forgotten that this album even exists. It has received almost no flack from the metal media, and even Trivium themselves barely play any of their songs from it live. There is only one word to describe this album, Epic. From start to finish this album delivers a sound unlike any other metal band out there today. trivium so uniquely combines intense thrash metal with mind blowing melodic choruses and great solos. Whether you like this band or not, you cannot deny their talent especially considering their age. At the time of this album there were only 3 members; Matt Heafy(Vocals/guitars), Brent Young(bass), and Travis Smith (drums). Matt Heafy combines amazing solos and fast guitar riffing with beautiful melodic melodies. The bass can be heard surprisingly well compared to the lack of bass in most metal albums today. Travis Smith also supplies incredibly fast blast drumming and double bass kicking throughout the album. Although many reviewers consider this album repetitive and mediocre, this album is completely opposite. The songs are as follows:
1) Inception the Bleeding Skies- This album opener is an instrumental that seems to be very ominous, like something terrible is one the way, very creepy but also very short. 3/5
2) Pillars of Serpents- Starts off with a slow pummeling heavy beat then goes into an insanely fast riff as singer Matt Heafy screams "I'm Alive! I'm Alive!"
This song continues with an intense, in your face riffing and some extreme drumming by Smith throughout. The clean chorus comes late in the song, along with a nice solo. That is one thing Trivium do better than any band today, they bring emotion into their solos even though they can shred very well. 4/5
3) If I Could Collapse the Masses- This song begins with a simple riff that picks up speed until the opening lyrics. Heafy switches effortlessly between heavy screaming and light clean singing throughout the song. The solo is a little short for me, but still good. 4/5
4) Fugue (A Revelation)- This starts off with a sweet riff that continues through Heafy's opening scream. He once again, manages to switch his singing voice continuously throughout the song and throws in a great sounding solo. Another thing about this album is the production, it is excellent, even though German label Lifeforce that produced the album is considerably small and little known.
5/5
5) Requiem-One of my personal fav's of the album. Starts off very fast then throughout the verses the riff is so simple, yet so great. The chorus is also very melodic and seems very thought out, this band definitely put a lot of time into their songs. The breakdown at the end of the song is one of my favorites as Heafy yells "If the world ended today would you suffer?" 5/5
6) Ember To Inferno-This song pretty much sums up the albums feel and shows what the band have to offer. A fast tremolo picking verse (as many of them are) followed up with a melodic and epic sounding chorus. Once again this chorus is very simple but so unique. Great harmonized middle solo and great ending solo behind the chorus. 5/5
7) Ashes- This song is a break from all the metal insanity and gives the listener some relax time. Very weird sounding much like Inception and little louder than the metal songs. 3/5
8) To Burn the Eye- This songs starts off with an almost happy metal riff then goes into an intense verse. Then another happy sounding riff except for the fact they lyrics over the top of it are "Burn in your own Hell." Another epic sounding chorus and a very fast solo. The songs ends on a unique harmonized riff that takes you into the next song. 4/5
9) Falling to Grey- This is another one of my favorites, it seems so experimental and different from the other songs. Instead of a fast verse, the guitar is just simple, held out notes with a sick double bass kicking riff in the back complements of Smith. I mean, this guy can play some drums, and has such fast feet. the chorus is very slow but the most interesting part of the song is the solo. It starts off very slow and dreamlike then speeds up for very short periods and goes into another verse. 5/5
10) My Hatred- This song is simply OK. it has a similar verse riff but a cool sounding light chorus. The breakdown and solo is one of my favorites from the album though. You can tell it isn't written by your everyday musician. 4/5
11) When All light Dies- Easily one of the most creative and best songs I've ever heard. It starts off with a slow octave riff, that reminds me of demons rising. It goes into a fast verse and a good chorus a few times then a short but sweet solo. The end of the song is so great. It very melodic and sounds like the world coming to an end. It leads perfectly into A View. 5/5
12) A View of Burning Empires-Though short this is one of the greatest instrumentals and album closers I have ever heard simply because the name fits its so well. It sounds like what you would hear as you watched everything burn to the ground. It sounds so beautiful and epic and caps off the album brilliantly. 5/5
I have the extended version which also contains on of my fav Trivium songs "Blinding Tears Will Break The Skies" the older version of "The Deceived" and "Demon" off their EP.
Pros
Great riffing
Great change from screaming to singing throughout
Unique solos
Well placed instrumentals
THE LYRICS: This album contains some of the best songwriting I've seen in a while. Not only are the instruments great, but Heafy is a great songwriter. the album itself tells a story, where as each song talks about subjects like changing the world, the effects of drugs, freedoms, and child abuse. It is nothing like most of today's ***ty lyrics about girl problems and other crap like that.
Cons
Some would say very repetitive sounding with similar verses and choruses
Heafys voice is not as honed in as it is in Ascendancy but you must remember he was only 16 when this album was made.
I would definitely recommend this album to any metal fans this is by far my favorite album I have bought in the past few years.
