Metal Reviews

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89% for Trivium! My how the times have changed, or Sir Goat has finally lost it!. Haven't sampled these boys since Shogun, so I'm interested to see how they've improved.

I really think they have! Songwriting especially. Lay it on me, but I thought this was one of the most enjoyable albums of its year.

I felt this album was significantly better than What the Dead Men Say, giving a band like Trivium 77/100 based on what I used to write about them is astonishing from me. The songwriting is less pop influenced here than on that album for sure, and it retains more heaviness. I'm not as thrilled with the lead guitar work as you are, while obviously proficient it doesn't strike me as anything earcatching other than maybe the dueling lead handoffs at the end of Thrown into the Fire or the instrumental section in the middle of Sin and the Sentence. What I did like was the obvious black metal influenced tremelo/blastbeats of Betrayer (most of the band is wearing Emperor shirts in that video!) and the breakdowns/thrashing of Sever the Hand, plus Beyond Oblivion which like you pointed out just works as a great single. Heafy is a very skilled singer, just not exactly in one of my favorite styles. Hopefully they course correct on their next album and pull back from the creeping pop influence from What Dead Men Say to unleash Alex Bent more like he was on this album because I agree he really gives them another dimension.