Review Summary: Trivium may either be loved or hated by the metal community. Some may see them as immature while others adore them to the point of obsessiveness.
Whether you like or hate Trivium no-one can deny Shogun is a big album for Trivium and Trivium's fans.
Disputes aside this album is a step in the right direction, a return to old, particularly the return of Heafy's screaming vocal lines, however this is not simply an Ascendancy:Take Two, development is shown and the songs are actually pretty good.
From start to finish listeners can enjoy a quality metal effort from Trivium. It's Trivium but with more experience and better song-writing styles. With Shogun, stand-outs include Down From The Sky, Throes Of Perdition and the elevin minute title track Shogun. These highlighted tracks are a great example of Trivium's from thier previous efforts as they give the listeners with a hard-hitting, fast-paced well executed riffs and strong lyrics that at times are catchy. Fans will really enjoy how heavy this album is compared to The Crusade, and the technicality of this album will attract thier guitar-based fans. There are songs on Shogun that people will find themselves singing along to.
As Trivium are very much a guitar-based band who sight influences such as Metallica and Iron Maiden and there is alot that guitarists in general will be able to appreciate. Shogun's riffs are both catchy and heavy (and also technical) and the guitar solos will give a greater interest for the guitar enthusiasts. Trivium's instrument based fans will have plenty to keep them interested.
Many tracks on Shogun show great potential to thier future developments of the band, but the question is where do they go from here? Commercially, this is a big album for Trivium and sales were relatively high, the recording process shows that tracks are built part by part and the production is also high quality. Shoguns thrash-like metal sound attracts many listeners, especially those who have previously listened to older metal groups such as Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden and Pantera displaying their major influences on a single album.
The dynamics used in tracks such as the opening track Kirisute Gomen identify a more experienced song-writing style, building into riffs and fading out of songs, this shows that Trivium are doing things differently from thier previous albums.
The bonus tracks of the Shogun album are also quality tracks including the Iron Maiden cover where Trivium have inserted thier own style into the track including thier screams and double-bass drum kicks.
For Trivium, Shogun shows a step in the right direction, and is one of thier better albums and a better display of thier creative talents.
Highlights Include:
Down From The Sky
Kirisute Gomen
Shogun
