Trivium - The Crusade (Album)
» Big Day Out 2007 - Princes Park South, VIC - January 28, 2007
With the amount of success they have garnered in the UK one could easily be forgiven for the mistake of thinking Trivium originated, and have their roots firmly planted, there. However, in the early stages of 2000 these four Floridians formed a band, a band that by all accounts has taken the metal music scene by the balls. And so it is with their third LP release that we see the name Trivium arising more and more upon our shores here in Australia. And with them being signed to Roadrunner Records, one of the biggest names in metal recording studios it is little wonder.
Soon to support Iron Maiden on their ‘World Stadium Tour’, Trivium are fast making a name for themselves in the metal industry. This has been helped greatly by the success of their second album ‘Ascendancy’ which was voted 2005 Album of the Year by Kerrang! 2006 sees the release of their new album The Crusade.
The similarity to the sound that is Metallica is unmistakable and there is an obvious influence from that band and other metal bands in Trivium’s music. 20-year-old lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy has this to say regarding musical diversity and the band’s latest offering. “To me, The Crusade is still Trivium. As a band, you can either release the same album again, keeping the same number of people interested and not really branch out, or you can evolve. I feel that The Crusade is the next logical step in our evolution. We took one big step between the first two albums, but this time we’ve taken about ten huge leaps forward.”
I can’t speak for the previous two albums but what I can say is that this latest offering certainly doesn’t live up to the barrage of positive reviews raining down upon it. But that is systematic of album reviews these days, where reviewers spew forth such over-the-top gratuities to define something which is more often than not mediocre or average. This album is fine if you are a metal-head, nothing exceptional mind you, but good all the same. You are dealt the usual blend of growling and sweetly melodious vocals mixed with frenzied guitar and pounding drums. I can see (or hear rather) talent but my tastes for metal have waned over the years.
In describing their albums’ meanings, Matt Heafy had this to say. “Every album title has been a statement about the band and where we were at that time. ‘Ember To Inferno’ meant that we went from a spark to something special. ‘Ascendancy’ was about the dream of domination and a gradual rise to success. The Crusade is literally what we’ve been doing for the past two years, crusading around the planet and getting our music out to everyone’.
Keep your ears pricked for ‘Detonation’ and the instrumental title track. I would give the entire album a score of 5 head-bangs out of 10. \m/
