Trivium
The Crusade


1.0
awful

Review

by Drunken Viking USER (20 Reviews)
October 9th, 2006 | 52 replies


Release Date: 2006 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Instead of taking the normal road of progressing musically and actually making listen able music, Trivium have put their love of '80s Metallica to use making a tribute album of sorts.

Trivium have, in recent years become one of the most popular and biggest bands in the face of metal. Their sophomore release Ascendancy was received with mostly positive reviews from the press. Hailed as "One of the greatest metal albums of all time", and "The best album of 2005". The year of 2006 has proved to be as fruitful as the last; recently Trivium have been opening for Iron Maiden in Europe, and are starting to tour again in America. With their final single from Ascendancy ([Dying In Your Arms) they gained even more fame from the mainstream crowd. Enough of that for now, onto their latest release The Crusade.

When I first saw this album I was actually hopeful, while Ascendancy was by no means a great album, it showed loads of potential. The song writing was below par, though it showed promise. When I got The Crusade and first sat down and heard Ignition, I was slightly disheartened. I was still a little hopeful, but after listening to the rest of the album I was very disappointed.

The Crusade is a massive step down from last year's Ascendancy. It seems as if they have taken their love for Metallica to a completely new level. The Crusade can almost be mistaken as a Metallica tribute album, or even worse a cover album. Instead of using last albums theme of just generic metalcore, they have decided to put in a ridiculous amount of Metallica influence along with that. Even Matt Heafy has modeled his singing voice after James Hetfield. Dropping the screaming that was a huge part of previous releases, this album is about 50% clean vocals, and the other 50% is his raspy scream. His vocals are still an improvement from before, but that's not to say that they aren't bad. His voice sounds very strained when he sings, I still doubt whether he has proper technique.

Onto the guitars, most of you I'm sure remember the above average playing that was showcased on Ascendancy, both Matt and Corey are both very technically adept. However, their song writing ability is still far from acceptable. The riffs sound recycled and reused; the solos while at first sound awesome and full of life start to become very dull and lifeless by the fourth track. They put in a lot of fills or mini-solos if you will. They seem as if they are merely trying to show of their chops, instead of putting substance into a song, something all of the tracks are in dire need of.

The bass is heard rather well in the mix, and huge improvement from it being almost absent before. Paulo is by no means a great bassist. His basslines are very cliche and fail to distinguish themselves as good, or for the most part even decent. Travis has really toned down his drumming as well. His fills are becoming more and more predictable, and less technical by the measure. Even he has adapted a more Metallica-esque approach to drumming. Instead of using interesting combinations, he just does easy and bland drumming. When he could really add to a song with beautiful fills, he decides to lay back and let the guitars wank for minutes on end.

Trivium have really traded a promising career that one may have been proud of, just to get a few seconds of fame, and a chance to talk to their idols. The fact is that instead of making themselves into decent musicians worthy of all this attention, they took the high road and just made a copy cat album of Metallica in hopes to make a quick buck. Their self proclaimed "ridiculously technical thrash metal" is really nothing more than Master of Puppets soaked in generic american metalcore. Predictable breakdowns and riffs, The Crusade is the equivalent of blasphemy in the music world.



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user ratings (2266)
2.7
average
other reviews of this album
1 of
  • Mikesn EMERITUS (2)
    ...

    ForcedIn (3)
    A not-quite-golden return to 'The Era of Thrash'....

    Altmer (2)
    Not the classic that it was hailed to be. This album stood the test of time rather poorly ...

    Shadows (1)
    Wait, what’s going on? Wasn’t Master of Puppets released in 1986? When did Metallica h...

  • SadlyMisinformed (3)
    Definitly not the masterpiece it was hyped as, but an enjoyable listen for the mainstream ...

    fuggenwaggles (2.5)
    Trivium has showed that they had potential on Ascendency. The Crusade show's that they kn...

    Locrian (1.5)
    A swing and a miss....

    wakeupdead (4)
    ...

  • bfmv15 (3)
    All in all Trivium's new sound is pretty good, this album gives you a mix of trivium's old...

    Kronzo (3)
    Trivium has managed to make a solid release here with some wild solos. But some "expirime...

    Trivium (2)
    Let me start by saying, it has taken me 8 months to realize it, but this album barely dese...



Comments:Add a Comment 
Drunken Viking
October 10th 2006


1023 Comments


Now my review looks like shit compared to SF's.

ToWhatEnd
October 10th 2006


3173 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Aww well I'll leave a comment, I enjoyed the review but yes you are up against harsh competition. Don't worry was still wonderfully written and I still dig your avatar :thumb:

Drunken Viking
October 10th 2006


1023 Comments


I've been waiting for so long for a comment, I thought it was that bad at first. :lol:

Tarantino's Tarantulas
October 10th 2006


819 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Decent review, Viking, although its definitely overSHADOWed by the other review (excuse appalling pun).



Im a fan of Ascendency and what Ive heard off this (Detonation, Anthem, Conflagration) ranges from average to terrible. Conflagration is the strongest and even it isnt particularly amazing. I still love their solos (Anthem's is great, just in the middle of an aweful song designed to get them more publicity).

SCREAM!
October 10th 2006


15755 Comments


I didn't think the singles were that bad but i haven't heard the whole thing yet. Good review. I'll vote.

Shattered_Future
October 10th 2006


1632 Comments


Pity you submitted a review when Ben submitted one. :lol:

Good job anyways though.

metallicaman8
October 10th 2006


4677 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

Shadows review>Your review



Still good, though.

Shadows
Moderator
October 10th 2006


2530 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off

Come now people, this review isn't bad at all. His opinion and mine are virtually identical. I spent probably too much time on it, editing it nearly a dozen times. It came out looking massive and I had the advantage of posting mine before anyone else. Don't let all of that discredit the other two reviews, they're both quite excellent. Sweet work Viking, you and I share views on Trivium.

Mikesn
Emeritus
October 10th 2006


3707 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0



Come now people, this review isn't bad at all. His opinion and mine are virtually identical. I spent probably too much time on it, editing it nearly a dozen times. It came out looking massive and I had the advantage of posting mine before anyone else. Don't let all of that discredit the other two reviews, they're both quite excellent.



123

Great reviews all around.

Nepenthe
October 10th 2006


62 Comments


Thank God you're still not doing biased reviews...

Other than two songs, this album sounds nothing like Master Of Puppets.

Drunken Viking
October 10th 2006


1023 Comments


[QUOTE=]Thank God you're still not doing biased reviews...[/QUOTE]
I hope you're being sarcastic, if not gtfo.

Nepenthe
October 10th 2006


62 Comments


It was an equal blend of sarcasm and commentary.

Bfhurricane
October 10th 2006


6284 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Good review. I love Trivium and I'd hate to see them go down in flames like everyone else in their reviews is saying, i have yet to listen to this

Volta
October 12th 2006


54 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I can see what's going to happen. People will always hate Trivium for their latest releases, for example last year people were saying "Ascendacy sucks, Ember is sooo much better" now people are going to say "The Crusade sucks, Ascendacy is their best!"



People are never happy with change and this is a prime example of such an instance.



Steerpike
October 12th 2006


1861 Comments


Or maybe we just plain don't like Trivium.

Volta
October 12th 2006


54 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

There has always been a fair amount of discussion and hate thrown at Trivium, so I'm just going to chill then and ignore it all. I like their music, that's my personal opinion, and I stand by that. I agree some of the riffs seem way stolen and I really don't like the complete change of vocal style, but I think they can succeed in the future.

Volta
October 12th 2006


54 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I'm really a sucker for 80's style riffs, like Motley Crue and Ozzy, that could be a big factor as to why I like this album so much lolThis Message Edited On 10.12.06

Motleyguy
October 18th 2006


118 Comments


Good review, I completely agree, I couldn't have said it better myself, this album is complete trash, and Trivium is a boring, generic and unoriginal band. The only track on this whole album that stands out to me is And Sadness Will Sear.

LifeInABox
November 13th 2006


3709 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

this album, no, this band sucks

Yimmypalooza
January 3rd 2007


81 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

I'd like to see someone write a bad review of this album without mentioning Metallica or James Hetfield. It seems to me like thats the basis for every review so what's different about any of them?



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