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'Ember to Inferno' was raw and I loved it. But that changed.After a few listens, I have become religious in my views that 'Shogun' is the greatest album put out in the past 10 years. But that's just me. They are one of the bands that took me away from my old punk rock roots and threw me into the hardcore and metal scene.I've yet to hear a bad Trivium album. I've been a long-time fan of Trivium. 5 stars is simply not enough for this amazing album. I was kind of blah. On my way home from the CD store, I played thru a few songs and didn't get knocked off my feet like I did with 'Ascendancy' or say 'Man, this is going to be a good CD' like I did with 'The Crusade'.
I'm not a huge fan of many other genres, but in my own little world of punk and metal and hardcore, I can honestly say no other album out has made an impression on me like this one.Check out 'Into the Mouth of Hell We March', 'Throes of Perdition', and 'Shogun' if you haven't yet. 'Crusade', in my opinion, was better than the first two albums. 'Ember to Inferno' was one of the first metal albums I ever purchased. Call me crazy. 'Ascendancy' was absolutely amazing and blew me away when I first heard it. I don't know if it was the melodic vocals or the more fine-tuned guitar playing and solos, but I loved (and still have in my CD cycle) 'The Crusade'.At first, I was skeptical of 'Shogun'. The whole album meshes well and has an awesome vibe, I guess you could say, thru-out. I doubt they can top this one, but I'm anxiously awaiting the next Trivium release.
This album is nothing short of amazing. I'll give credit where credit is due, Metallica help lay the foundation for contemporary artists. Some people say that Trivium can never compare to Metallica. Well that is simply misfortune of bad timing. But on a strictly level playing field, Trivium has every bit of talent if not more than Metallica. This CD is a culminating maturation of all the talent this band has to offer.
I was blown away by this track and figured it would be the one decent track on the album but then the tracks went by and still I was interested, I take back anything negative I may have said in the past about these guys and humbly ask an apology."The Calamity" and the lengthy and solo ridden closer "Shogun" would be two other tracks that stood out the most for me. His 'clean' tone fits their style much better and accents the melodic sense the album holds from beginning to end. By far one of the best openers I have heard in a long while, from the tranquil acoustic beginning to the pummeling bride and the catchy chorus this song has it all. Shogun is far from being the most amazing album to come out over the course the past couple years, but it is Trivium's strongest showing yet.Right off the bat comes (in my opinion) the albums best track with the addictive "Kirisute Gomen". Trivium have long been a band criticized by a good portion of the metal world as being Metallica fan boys trying to be rock stars. I hope my review was at least interesting and helped you in purchasing this album. However the vocals are the best yet and am glad he is moving more away from the growling/yelling because truth be told he isn't very good at it. They are still a bit repetitive and can come off as a bit unemotional and lack any real structure.
This album only marks the beginning of possibly a whole new Trivium that more of the metal community may be able to respect. Now if you are a fan of Trivium's duel guitar breakdown/soloing style then the closer is going to be a wet dream for you, with three of the best solo's the band has yet to perform. I myself don't think that, I could tell these guys had talent but I felt each release was simply held back, now it seems my instinct may have been correct. Rounding it out I feel Trivium still has a solid future ahead of them. "The Calamity" simply because this song is by far some of the most mature all around song structure I have heard from these guys to date. Trivium still seems to have a difficult time with lyrics though they are better on Shogun compared to previous releases. This album is a prime example of a band evolving and bettering themselves as a whole and thus I give it five stars. One of the best releases of 2008.
This album definately features Matt's best vocal performance yet. Definately an epic beast to say the least. "Shogun" is simply thus far, the best album that Trivium have put out, no questions asked, as well as one of the best metal cd's of 2008. Track two "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis" features more awesome riffs and solos, and two great, chilling bass solos by Paulo as I mentioned earlier. The lyrics are absolutely brilliant and amazing, and definately some of the best lyrics that Trivium have written with some songs dealing with ancient Japanese and Greek mythology, and also themes based on the stories of Prometheus's punishment, (Of Prometheus and the Crucifix), sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis (Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis), Chronus eating his children (He Who Spawned the Furies), and the nymph Callisto (Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven) are present as well. This album is just loaded with guitar solos left and right, and if you're a guitar solo junkie like myself, then you'll definately enjoy this album. Paulo Gregoletto's bass is also great, and he even plays a couple of bass solos on track two "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis", and of course Travis Smith's drumming is fast, hammering and merciless, and he also does an outstanding job on the double bass.
I loved that albums as well. I've been listening to Trivium ever since I first got their 2005 release "Ascendancy" back in 2005 of course, and it instantly became one of my favorite metal albums. Matt's vocals are outstanding, the chorus is very melodic and addicting, and the solos are just wicked and fantastic. There is certainly no doubt that "Shogun" is by far Trivium's most mature and best album to date. Track one "Kirisute Gomen" is a brilliant opener and one of my favorite songs, which starts off shortly with some acoustic guitars which are quickly followed by panning drums, and some smooth electric guitars, and after when you hear Matt sing the opening line "HE WHO WALKS THE FIRE BREATHES", the song unleashes a barrage of insane, thrashing drums and drilling, machine gun riffing that will make you go crazy. "Down from the Sky" is another fantastic number that starts off very anthemy, before kicking into a catchy, moshing drum beat, with some catchy pumping riffs, and the melodic sung chorus is excellent as well. This album really has such and interesting balance with each song going between heavy, and then melodic, and then back to heavy. The riffs are just thrashy, chunky, crushing, and downright heavy, and the solos are blazing, blistering, ripping, and insane.
Matt Heafy does such an outstanding job with his vocals, switching constantly, and yes I DO mean constantly from melodic singing to the no holds barred screaming and growling in almost an instant. Now, for the band's latest album 2008's "Shogun", Trivium have brought back the in your face metalcore-ish screaming and growling vocals that were present on "Ascendancy" and combine them with the intense thrashiness and melodic singing of "The Crusade" all in one heavy, blistering, yet melodic and thrashing epic metal album with seriously mindblowing results. Another favorite song on here, track six "Insurrection" is another blistering thrashfest that is highlighted by lightning fast riffage, blazing double bass drumming from Travis, as well as fast, aggressive Hetfield-esque singing from Matt, and there's also an ultra-brutal death metal break during the middle part, and some more great soloing after that. My personal favorite song on here is track four "Into the Mouth of Hell We March" which is an awesome melodic thrasher that lyrically tells an awesome story about a shipwreck (please read the lyrics for that song). The lyrical theme of this song is the tyranny of World War II leaders, and the act of cruelty dealt to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when two American atomic bombs were dropped on them.
The guitarwork by both Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu is just amazing throughout. Every song on "Shogun" is long, epic, and of course amazing with most song clocking in at 5 minutes or more and several clocking in at nearly 5 minutes, and the last song which is the title track of course at nearly 12 minutes long. Some songs on here are thrashy, some are progressive, and while some others are downright melodic. Their 2006 follow-up "The Crusade" was a more thrashier, faster, blistering outing that featured more melodic singing and less screaming. Track five "Throes of Perdition" is another highight on here that features an awesomely heavy main riff along with some more nice soloing, and a nice radio-friendly chorus, and not to mention that the vibe of this song is very groovy and pulsing, and is guaranteed to get your pulse going like nuts.
This song also features repeative and constant clean and screaming/growling vocals from Matt, along with some great verses and two outstanding melodic sung choruses (the first one is very addicting), as well as more amazing guitarwork including some addicting harmonized melodies, and a blistering and blazing solo section at 3:41 with some fast thrashing drums backing it up. "Of Prometheus and the Crucifix" is another killer melodic thrasher that features fast, hellish machine gun-like riffage, tight, punishing drumwork, more fiery, blistering solos, and another superb melodic sung chorus. Track ten "Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven" has more thrashy, pummeling riffs and hefty, stampeding drums, and excellent vocals from Matt, and another blazing solo to boot. Everything on this album I mean, from the album's brilliant production, to the awesomely outstanding lyrics and songwriting, to the beyond amazing musicianship, this album has truly everything that will make the devoted metalhead happy.
For this album, Trivium have hired Nick Raskulinecz to produce the album, and his production is just brilliant, while Colin Richardson handles the mixing duties. The song starts off anthemy just like "Down from the Sky" did, only to quickly kick into a heavy and crunchy yet melodic and catchy headbaging mid tempo pace until the 4:00 mark, the song breaks into an acoustic passage, and then later at 4:40, Matt breaks into a ballad-style melodic singing voice that is reminiscent of James Hetfield, that is until later the song builds up heavier momentum, and near the 8 minute mark, the song thrusts into a barrage of violent thrasing riffage, thundering, pummeling drumwork, harsh screaming/growling vocals, and there's also some vicious, firing solos that are included in this part as well. Travis is easily one of my favorite metal drummers today, and he just slays totally throughout this album. Let's take a look at some of my favorites on here.
The 11+ minute title track "Shogun" is the crown jewel of this album as well as the longest song that Trivium have written thus far, and it's a very creative and progressive song as well. Highly Recommended.
Again I am a sucker for the clean vocals, gosh growling just gets so old, but this track repeatedly alternates between both, again with a clean chorus that you find your self singing for hours. could spawn such quality metal music. I'm so impressed that our little county here in Fla. The song moves quickly toward an epic anthemy feel, if I were making predictions I would say this track foretells the direction this band will head. Highlights: Down from the Sky-The clean vocal portion of the chorus (with a hint of metalcore) sticks with you and you are singing it for hours, almost like the more radio-friendly songs. In fact for a couple of moments at the opening I think I'm listening to James Hetfield.
They managed to write songs that are jammed pack with changes from riff/riff/growl/sing/solo/break/again. But yeah for them touring with Slipknot-can't wait.So why buy this CD-well that's simple, dense, pummeling, riffs circling intricately around guitar solos and clean and growling vocals all set in front of a somewhat melodic outer-worldly sound. and so on at an almost dizzying speed. I would almost describe their metal style as somewhat symbolic of the new millennium, extremely fast and exhaustingly energetic and even taking elements from many other styles including some gaming influences. Metal heads must be delighted by this very Metallica-like work by the kids from Central Florida. I have yet to pick up their second release-Ascendancy, but the professional reviews are so stellar, that I will buy it very very soon. Reviewers are saying that Shogun is even more ambitious and several metal blogs are considering this Shogun as one of the top albums of 2008 even though it fell short of many of the final lists.
Don't let the anthemy opening fool you, this track gets raw with a dark growling menacing breakdown that is sure to please any mosher. Throes of Perdition-Right from the opening riffs you can feel the pulsing vibe provided by this track. That cross-over effect is ever so slightly present in Shogun. I only regret not seeing them while they were playing local clubs. This is that track that you remember when you wake up in the morning and think, gosh I have to get Trivium on right away.
I really appreciate the more rhythm bound metal sound that has just a hint of metalcore and some other styles. Just enough so metal-heads won't freak out, and the rest of us metal fans can bop to the catchy beats. I'm a huge fan of groove thrash (Five Finger Death Punch) and this track really hits the spot.Shogun-Title track always deserves a mention, the Metallica influences seem very evident to me here. It's inevitable that a group this talented will not remain contented with standard metal growls and dark vacant tones
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