Album Reviews : Trivium – Shogun

Trivium have always been at the forefront creating and ever expanding the multidimensional layers of the new wave of American heavy metal with each of their releases. Their latest impression into the metal scene “Shogun“, sees the band evolve furthermore from past releases and clearly shows them trying bold news things. The album is heavily based on ancient Japanese culture and mythology, but also incorporating a hint of Greek mythology for good measure. Matt Heafy‘s strong sense of Japanese culture is quite clearly intertwined into the mix, and brings a strong sense of pride to the music.

This sense of pride and power is quite clearly seen, and heard in their first single entitled, “Kirsute Gomen“. This roughly translates a samurai code which states that if a lower moral acts in anyway to dishonor a samurai, that samurai has the duty to remove their head with one fowl swoop of their blade. The definition of the word commands strength and power, and quite clearly will transcend into the listener, giving him or her a sense of pride and power when listening to the song.

One thing I was quite shocked with, was the delivery of the songs over all on the album. Many people have blatantly stated that past Trivium releases are some what of a direct rip off of early Metallica material due to the reminiscent vocal styling of James Hetfield, which Matt Heafy has been known to synchronize quite well.

To tell you the truth though, I’ve only heard  a few of Trivium‘s past songs and did hear a slight comparison to James Hetfield‘s vocals when Heafy sung, but would not start an argument as to say they totally ripped off Metallica. In a sense they are just humbled to have Metallica as inspiration, and are just incorporating their style into the mix in their own unique blend, but can be seen by some as direct rip off of someone else material. The new album has gone for a more hardcore approach, bringing out a mixture of both soft and heavy vocal ranges, something of which Heafy is more suited too. The band as a whole, has improved both in its way of playing and its sense of structure to each song, yet there are moments when the album feels alittle dry in comparison to riffs which seem to be recycled through out the entire album.

Production of the album is quite impressive, infusing chunky riffs with finely tuned drums to give the album a well structured sound. Vocals range from hard hitting, to almost melodic in a sense, showcasing Heafy‘s true potential as a lead singer. One song of which is “Shogun“, a 12 minute epic anthem which truly shows the bands potential as a closely knit band with a well structured base of musicianship. The album flows quite well and has a decent amount of songs to keep any Trivium fan happy. Furthermore on the limited edition release of the album,  there are two bonus tracks by Trivium which are very melodic, yet also infuse the familiar sounds of true hardcore music with Heafy‘s forceful vocals on the assault.

Also included on the limited edition release is a cover song. The track, “Iron Maiden” which was also available on Kerrang’s Maiden tribute album, entitled “Maiden Heaven – A Tribute to Iron Maiden” is a well suited song for Trivium and brings a new level of youthfulness to the song by incorporating Heafy‘s ever familiar raspy and hardcore vocal range into the mix.

One thing which got me the most about the album was the artwork within the booklet. Each page within the booklet represents each song on the album and gives the listener the chance to conjure up their own interpretation of each song.

Each song has a strong story behind it, but infusing the means to explain the lyrics in the listeners own interpretation is quite unique and gives a sense open mindedness to each song. There are no limits to the songs, they can be uses in either a positive or negative way by the listener which is something very unique in metal today since a lot of the music is heavily one sided.

To be honest I’ve never been a huge fan of Trivium, yet this new release has been slowly growing on me ever since I got it. It may not be the best release of the year in my eyes, but it does showcases the bands ever growing majority and stance in the metal world today, mainly with the younger generation. This album is a soundtrack for the youth, it represents a solid tale of which any youth can understand, but still enforces the listeners to think for themselves and get the most out of each song in their way.

This album may not acquire to everyone’s taste, but it does offer some solid riffage and aggressive vocals to get the blood pumping. In all honesty I was never a fan of the band, but this album is slowly changing my perception on the bands musicianship. 7/10

Band: Trivium
Album: Shogun
Year: 2008
Genre: Hardcore, Thrash, Metal
Label: RoadRunner Records
Origin: Florida, USA
www.myspace.com/trivium

Track listing:
1. Kirisute Gomen
2. Torn Between Scylly and Charybdis
3. Down From The Sky
4. Into The Mouth Of Hell We March
5. Throes Of Perdition
6. Insurrection
7. The Calamity
8. He Who Spawned The Furies
9. Of Prometheus And The Crucifix
10. Like Callisto To A Star In Heaven
11. Shogun
12. Poison, The Knife or the Noose [*]
13. Upon the Shores [*]
14.Iron Maiden [*]

[*] Bonus Tracks: only available on limited edition