Review Summary: Let me start by saying, it has taken me 8 months to realize it, but this album barely deserves the rating im giving it. Time to go change my username.
After 6 years of strictly listening to metallica and iron maiden with little else thrown in, I was blown away when I first heard ascendancy. It took me a while to get used to the harsh vocals, but I learned to endure it. I began seeing trivium being hailed as "the next metallica" and seeing them tear it up touring with children of bodom made me really think this band was going big, really big.
Now, we get to The Crusade. Before the release of the album, Heafy had said the screaming was going to be dropped, I was quite excited at hearing this as the screaming was in my view the one downfall of ascendancy. I first heard the crusade, and was secretly horribly disapointed, there were no catch chorus's, and no songs that threw chills down my spine as I can remember the first time I heard ascendancy. And though the insult is overdone, this is basically master of puppets, plus about 20 bpm, written in 2007. Except master of puppets was obviously the definitive and classic thrash album (my opinion).
When reviewing the crusade, heafy would compare every song to another band when talking about them. "Anthen has a motley crue 80's vibe, tread the floods is megadeth style, I thought of rammstein writing the riff to And sadness will sear" Seriously Matt, write a trivium song, thats the problem with this album, THERE ARNT ANY TRIVIUM SONGS.
Ignition- The song opens up with a sloppy and almost confusing riff, going into a combination of annoying power chords. Heafy begins blaring his sub-par hetfieldesque vocals, and you know from the getgo that this album was not what you expected and waited for. However this is one of the few songs with a high point, as the chorus is quite catchy. The solo in this is emotionless, and it just has a "me play fast" attitude, nothing reminiscent of their "A gunshot to the head of trepidation" solo greatness.
Detonation- Next up is detonation, the first half of the song is bland and boring, the lyrics are poor and messily sung. The last 2 or so minutes starting with "and now the ground we called our home" is some solid trivium songwriting. The solo in this song is also just kind of saying "hey I learned to sweep pick, watch me do this!".
Entrance of the Conflagration- OOOOOOO AHHHH OOOO AHHH OOOO AHHH OOOO AHH. Please, you guys really cant have a song intro like this, your trying too hard. This is possibly the most metallica clone of a song, and the solo is entertaining, however still doesnt live up to anything from their prior works. No idea why this was released as a single.
Anthem (we are the fire)- This song is the motley crue, arena rock, crowd interacting song. The solos are good and maybe the best off the album, but matts (woahh, yeahhh) is just cheesy and annoying. A friend of mine who had never heard of trivium heard matts "yeahhh" and asked if this was the new metallica song.
Unrepentant- So I guess taking metallica's "through the never" and changing it up a bit is acceptable. Besides the intro this song is alright, its not a bad song like many others, but the vocals just really are weak and seem out of place and dont go with the music enough. My song reviews are starting to get repetitive, but theres not much else to say.
And Sadness Will Sear- Though some may disagree, I like this song quite a bit. Its different, and the verse is well writting as is the chorus and solo. The lyrical content is also probably the most powerful and touching off the album.
Becoming the Dragon- Sounds like a cheesy powermetal song, really its just a bad song with some of matts old screaming thrown in the middle, not much to say about this one.
To the Rats- Some good old true thrash, and this actually sounds mildly unique. The song starts off and you get into the verse and bang your head. Then you hear the lyrics to the chorus "Break every bone in your face, If you mess with my life" Just not really doing it for me, I think I laughed the first time I heard it.
This World Cant Tear us Apart- Writing a ballad is acceptable, and its pulled off here mildly well. I liked this song when I first heard it, and is a pretty well writting power ballad, its heavy and writtien on a 7 string, its not a great song, but it gets by without any bashing.
Tread the Floods- Finally a song I can say truely good things about. This song was written entirely (minus lyrics) by corey. The intro riff reminds me a bit of megadeth, and the verse riff is one of the best off the albums. The chorus has an all out double bass onslaught. The middle section and solo are also very well written, and seem like a true trivium song, not a "lets write a master of puppets" like many of the others.
Contempt Breeds Contamination- Heavy intro riff, another song played on a 7 string. The vocals are deep, and the song may be one of the darkest off the album, all and all a good song. However, yet again certain lyrics just dont fit the song, and the way matt sings them makes it worse.
The Rising- Hands down worst song off this album, not much else to say.
The Crusade- Clearly written for the sake of writing an instrumental, trivium isnt up for a song of this calibur yet, and they didnt pull it off. The song is just riff after riff, and it doesnt blend at all. Sorry trivium, but orion is untouchable.
Now im going to go ahead and say that Broken One and Vengance beat almost any song off this album, Broken One just may be the best thing to come out of the crusade recording session
Pros:
-Good guitarwork in parts
-You realized, you can finally stop beliving there will be a "next metallica"
-Bass is able to be heard more throughout album, helps the songs, but not enough.
Cons:
-Vocals
-Guitars
-Drums
-Songwriting
-Solos
-Im sure youve heard the cons enough already, this may be the most bashed album of the year. Deservadely so
Recomended Tracks:
-Tread the Floods
-Broken One
-And Sadness Will Sear
