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Trivium
is very young band from Florida, and I must admit that they have never
really caught my attention before, mainly because their first couples of
albums (‘Ember to Inferno’ from 2003 & ‘Ascendancy’ from
2005) were more in the emo- & metal core direction, which really
isn't my cup of tea. I have always considered them to be "just
another over-hyped emo-core band". And even though this album is
one the most anticipated albums among metal fans this year, my own
expectations for this their 3rd album entitled 'The Crusade' weren't
that high, but was I in for a big surprise!
Gone
are the modern guitar sounds and aggressive growling from their first 2
albums and what remains is a fucking brilliant thrash metal album. An
album, which fans of their old style, might have some troubles getting
used to... but for a huge thrash metal fan like me this is just like a
wet dream come true...
They sure wear their influences on their sleeves - from the desert near
Phoenix: Sacred Reich ("Detonation"), to L.A.: Megadeth
("Unrepentant") and Mötley Crüe - "Anthem (We are the
Fire)", which is a cool hybrid between those 2 bands, sounds
strange, I know! and all the way to the capital of thrash metal: San
Francisco: Death Angel, Testament, Forbidden, Vio-Lence and the almighty
Metallica.
Trivium has always been compared to Metallica, mainly due to 20
year old guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy's James Hetfield-like vocals (Yeah
he is that young!). And he does sound very, very similar to James, and
they are heavily inspired by Metallica.
But if you take into consideration what kind of metal Metallica is
releasing these days is that really such a bad thing to have a young and
promising metal band releasing an album heavily inspired by some of the
best Bay Area bands ever. If the result ends up being perhaps the best
pure old school thrash metal album for the past 10 years?
I think not - 'The Crusade' is a refreshing and awesome metal
album, which I consider a very strong contender for Album of the Year.
An album that fans of good old school thrash metal will cherish and
worship, just like we did back in the days...
'The
Crusade' is packed with striking metal music; from the first
seconds of "Ignition" to the last seconds of the brilliant
instrumental title track. One highlight chases another and Trivium
takes no prisoners on their quest for metal domination. My favorite
stops on the album are: "Ignition", "Detonation",
"Unrepentant", "And Sadness will sear", "Tread
the Floods" and the title track. But there really isn't a song that
falls short - almost an hour of pure listening pleasure... divided into
13 awesome metal tunes.
I have been listening to this album intensively for the
past week now, and I simply love everything about it, and can only
recommend it to everyone, whose heart bleeds for metal.
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