In case you've been under a rock for the past 20 years or you are just new to Metal, Trivium is an American heavy metal band from Florida founded by Matt Heafy (lead vocals, rhythm guitar). They released their debut album Ember to Inferno in 2003. But it was 2005's Ascendancy that received critical acclaim and has been featured in several "best of" lists. It also marked the first Trivium album with guitarist Corey Beaulieu and bassist Paolo Gregoletto who have been Heafy's partners to this day. On the other hand, it's been a revolving door for drummers since the departure of founding member Travis Smith in 2009. But now the band seem to have settled with Alex Bent who already recorded The Sin and the Sentence (2017).
In the early 2000's Trivium was seen as the "next Metallica" but while very successful (over one million albums sold and a 2019 Grammy for the song "Betrayer") that was an obvious exaggeration. To their credit, Matt, Corey and Paolo never settled for a simplistic sound and refused to repeat themselves. All eight albums have been quite different from each other exploring different metal genres and styles such as metalcore, thrash metal, traditional metal and even power metal. Unfortunately the quality hasn't been consistent. All in all, those experiments and ups-and-downs have slowed the band's to growth. I personally came to know Trivium because they play summer festivals very often. I have seen them live 9 times (7 in festivals)! I really like their music but more on a "best of" manner rather than whole albums. With that said, obviously Ascendancy is brilliant and the latest album was very good. So let's see what they are bringing to us 3 years later.
Trivium's ninth studio album, What the Dead Men Say, was released on April 24, 2020. I won't make any suspense, this is Trivium's best album since Ascendancy. It could've been a self titled disc because it captures the essence of the band. All the previous albums and experiences led them to this point and the best of each previous eight albums are concisely put together here. The album is not long and every song has its place, no fat to be cut. Additionally the most impressive quality is that the different sounds and styles are merged into one cohesive identity and not a song by song display of styles. In many ways I believe Trivium found their sound. No formulas, no pre-conceptions, just four guys making the music they love.
The 2-min instrumental "IX" effectively opens the album with a guitar based build-up seamlessly leading into the single and title track. This song already makes a statement as it starts with great drum fills and guitars riffs. Then Matt screams "go" on the best Tomas Lindberg's style. The title track heavy, fast paced but also catchy. And the bridge and instrumental interlude are just great, they give some progressiveness to a under 5 minutes long song. "The Catastrophist" which was the first single is a six and half minute roller-coaster with fantastic melodies, but boy it gets heavy in the middle section! Technically What the Dead Men Say is also a step up for Trivium, the guitarwork is the best they ever produced. Matt continues to perfect his singing and I'm sure the vast majority of fans got goosebumps listening to the most aggressive screams we have heard in long time. I mean my favorite song "Amongst The Shadows And The Stones" is heavy as hell and could easily be part of Ascendancy. The rhythmic session with Alex and Paolo do a great job laying the underlying foundation and still get some moments to shine for example the bass on "Scattering The Ashes" and drums on "Catastrophist". Now I do have one small problem with the album, ans this is me being picky, but the song "Scattering The Ashes" is a bit too soft and the singing during the chorus kind of annoys me (e.g. So toniiiiiiighttttt ). But the rest of the song is not too bad. The rest of the album maintains the same quality and trademarks already discussed. Those 47 minutes fly by with a well crafted flow and production wise it ticks like a clock.
Nine albums in, Trivium has put it all together and created a masterpiece of modern metal. What The Dead Men Say transcends genres and perfectly combines the different sounds the band has explored over the last 20 years. It's the heaviest album they've made in more than a decade but it's also melodic progressive and diverse. As I said, in many ways I believe Trivium found their sound. No formulas, no pre-conceptions, just four guys making the music they love. And I expect many of us also will.
SCORE: 87/100
Genre: Thrash Metalcore
Released by Roadrunner Records on April 24th, 2020
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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad
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