What do you get when you cross In Flames with Shadows Fall and throw in a dash of Iced Earth and Megadeth? Trivium might be your answer. This trio from Florida have been gaining a lot of press in the scene recently. After listening to their album, I am baffled as to why they are not signed. The band is a tight unit and has well written songs.

Starting off with “To Burn the Eye,” guitar wizardry and frantic double bass work are the norm. Matt Heafy handles the guitar with amazing precision and his vocals are in line and up to par with Brian Fair. Aside from the traditional death and thrash influences, some subtle blues influences can be detected as evidenced in the chord progression. “Requiem” shows off the voice of Heafy and more excellent power riffing. The band is very tight. All the beats are crisp and sharp. The solos are amazing as well. You think you are listening to some undiscovered gem from 1984 and then the amazing drum work comes back to shock you into the present. “Requiem” has a verse sounding very melodic and shadows of Jesper Stromblad can be heard. The bass is on target and perfectly holds the songs during the solos.

“Sworn” is probably my favorite track on the album. Travis Smith is a wizard behind the kit providing punishing double bass and the perfect patterns and fills to progress the song along. Heafy’s voice isn’t as strong on this track and I wonder what some clean vocals might sound like here but that is not enough to detract from this masterpiece. The riff again is one that hearkens back to the day when Metal meant something other than reverse baseball caps and rapping. It is no surprise that they’ve won several battle of the bands contests and have been featured on such distinguished sites as SwedishMetal.net despite not being swedish. The solo on “Sworn” reminds me of some of Mustaine’s early work while the background provides killer thrashing. “My Hatred” is another gem of performance.

The most striking thing about this album is the production. Normally demos are really rough or have all the money put into one or two songs. This album has seven flawlessly produced songs. Trivium has a passion for playing metal and it shows as evidenced by the amount of time and money that was put into this recording. For a mere $8 you can purchase this cd from www.trivium.org It’s a good value and I think we’ll be hearing from these three men again when they are signed.