Review Summary: Am I the only one disappointed?
Trivium was one of my favorite bands and "Shogun" will likely go down as one of my favorite albums, but their new album is so overwhelmingly boring in comparison to some of the most bland metal bands out there. When I heard there was a new Trivium single I was one of the most exited people in town about it, and after hearing "Shattering the Skies Above" I was expecting great things. Great things were not heard when I hear their single In Waves. When the album came out I was in a neutral bias since they made one good song and one awful one but the album was heavily influenced by "In Waves" rather than "Shattering the Skies Above", thus making me a sad panda. After reading other reviews (all of which positive) I thought to my self "Is it just me who thinks this album was Trivium's biggest fail (yes, even worse than The Crusade)" then I asked my friends who have all been big Trivium fans and they agreed that the album was unoriginal and is a waste of $15.
The riffs in their new album are very reminiscent of Ascendancy, which might explain the good reviews from the album. I don't mind bands using a repetitive sound if its a good one (Metallica has been doing it for every song), but it seems like they took the worst aspects of their riffs and made 15 or so songs (no I'm not going to count, that's your job). For example, Built to Fall sounds a hell of a lot like a lazy version of Rain. The melodies are pretty impressive for certain parts of the album but in others it sounds like they weren't trying at all. No where demonstrated this more than the solos which before always made my face melt but these ones reminded me of a high school garage band. The drumming isn't Trivium's fault entirely so I wont hold it against them but I will say this: Travis Smith is to Micheal Angelo as Nick Agusto is to your ordinary hipster.
Lyrically, they have never been strong and In Waves demonstrates that with all of there songs, so instead Ill review MKH's singing in this album. This may not be lyrics either but almost all of the song names are ironic(Caustic are the ties that bind, Capsizing the Sea, Built to fall, Ensnare the sun, Inception of the End..). His singing in this album was worse than it was in The Crusade, not because he can't sing (because he can really well) but because the singing didn't harmonize the chorus. On the other hand his screaming in the album was actually pretty damn good and I enjoyed Dusk Dismantled for that.
All in all the riffing was average and uninteresting, the drumming was awful, the lyrics haven't been worse, the singing just didn't fit in like the fat kid in school(unless your American) but on the bright side there's some sick screaming in this album.
Songs on this album I would recommend:
Dusk Dismantled
Watch the World Burn
Black
Ensnare the Sun
Shattering the Skies Above
I like the following bands If you like Trivium
