Review Summary: A well balanced melting pot of all things Trivium. It really does take from the best bits of all their albums and blend them together in one brutally melodic (or melodically brutal) package.
For long time Trivium fans this album will be a welcome relief. All the talk from the band has revolved around this being the most 'Trivium' album they have done having sat down and figured out just who they are. Usually this is just PR speak, like when bands say their latest offering is the heaviest, fastest, most melodic,... etc, that they have ever done. In this case it really is true. Just a cursory listen to the lead track, The Sin and the Sentence, reveals the intensity, melody and 7-string guitar pummeling that you would expect from a Shogun + Vengeance Falls hybrid. Trivium do indeed seem like they are happy in their skin and pleased to get on and do just what they do. The album does encapsulate their whole career without feeling forced; all the elements have come together in one brutal package.
A couple of things set this album above a mere pastiche of their back catalog. The most vital is Alex Bent. His drumming is phenomenal! Not only has he got the musicality of Travis but the sheer aggression of Nick - and he is a more competent drummer than both. Just check out how easy the blast beats sound compared to how forced Nick made them sound on Shattering. The intricate, song orientated drumming brings back the Shogun days coupled with the heaviness of In Waves. Hopefully they can keep this line up together.
The second, and most prominent, is Matt's vocals. He has been on a well documented journey with his vocals over the years and this is reflected in the albums they have released. The full package is here. There are some truly outstanding melody lines - I know they'll take stick for it, but the singing on Endless Night and the pattern of the vocal, especially in the verses, really does make for a good song albeit the Dying in your Arms / World can't Tear us Apart type ballad of the album. And his screams are back, my god they are back.
The third is that they have learned to allow a Trivium song to be a Trivium song - their song writing has obviously been honed over the years and it shows. Most of the songs on this album are around 5 minutes and they all feel about right. There is no overblown sections or needless repetition - so it carries the leanness of In Waves - but it also allows for bridges, breakdowns and progress parts making the songs sound more complete. I do miss a Shogun epic though.
All in all, this is the most complete Trivium album since Shogun or Ascendancy and it will probably satisfy most Trivium fans to some degree.
