TRIVIUM In The Court Of The Dragon | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Roadrunner Records on October 8th, 2021

Quick Background

Trivium is an American heavy metal band from Florida, formed in 1999. The band comprises vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy, guitarist Corey Beaulieu, bassist Paolo Gregoletto, and drummer Alex Bent. The band has sold over one million albums worldwide. After their second album Ascendancy from 2005, the band was seen as the "new Metallica". Trivium  has always powerfully combined modern metal/metalcore with traditional heavy metal. Since then the band has had some ups and downs but while still pretty big and important, they didn't exploded as many expected. Still Trivium  is an important band from the new wave of American heavy metal. 

In The Court Of The Dragon

In the Court of the Dragon is already their tenth studio album, it follows the very good What the Dead Men Say which was released just last year. Following the symphonic intro track X, the album features 10 proper metal tracks and the album totals 53 minutes. The title track follows the intro in one of the most direct ways a song can start, singing the chorus which starts with the track title. It's a very heavy track with a lot of harsh screams, but also a bridge with clean singing. It reminds me of Ascendency, oh and don't forget a heavy breakdown. Heafy's singing both harsh and clean has continued to improve. Overall, strong song. The high tempo "A Crisis Of Revelation" is another good song on the same lines. "Like A Sword Over Damocles" is heavy, groovy and features a catchy chorus that I was singing along after the first listen. 

"The Shadow Of The Abattoir" is one of the three longest songs on the album that go over the 7 minute mark. The slow tempo sections are a bit too soft for me but I do like the chorus and the heavy parts on the song. I also do appreciate their attempt to do something slightly different. Another long one with almost 8 minutes is "Fall Into Your Hands". The longest song on the album. It starts with focus on the drums which was a cool choice. I really enjoy how heavy the song gets and besides the drum focus, there's also some spotlight on the bass and an interesting melodic guitar solo. Overall, a very rounded and dynamic song. Then the album closes with the majestic "The Phalanx". What a great epic 7 minute delight!  When this song gets heavy it's one of the best moments on the entire album. 

Despite some small inconsistencies, the album flows very well and I don't see it as having any fillers. It's just a matter of taste that some songs didn't work for me. The production is good and musically all members continue to step up their game. While I like the album cover, it doesn't really match the music though.

The Picky Guy

The shortest and simplest songs on the album were the ones that I didn't care much for. They were just not interesting and quite safe. "Feast Of Fire" for example, while being an OK song, it brings me back to their attempts of getting more mainstream for example with the Vengeance Falls album. And that's not a good thing. 

Additionally, my small problem with the album as a whole is that it doesn't bring a lot compared to the other albums. OK, mostly nice songs, but the last 3 albums seem to all blend in together and not featuring a distinguishing characteristic. Well, at least that's happening at a high quality with some really good songs.  

Wrap Up Opinion 

Trivium delivered the third solid album in a row. It's slightly inferior to the previous one, but it is still a strong release. I liked specially when they kept the heaviness and in addition adventured to go to slightly more progressive territory with longer songs and some more dynamics. Overall a very good album, 83/100 and I am sure fans will appreciate this new effort. If you don't like Trivium though, In The Court Of The Dragon won't change anything for you.

SCORE: 83/100

Genre: Heavy Metal / Metalcore

Released by Roadrunner Records on October 8th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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KK'S PRIEST Sermons of the Sinner | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by EX1 Records on October 1st, 2021

Quick Background

Downing officially left Judas Priest on April 2011. In 2019 he performed Judas Priest classic songs live with former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens who had replaced Halford in the 90's and then also kicked out for Halford to return. In January 2020, Downing signed with Explorer1 Music Group to record new music. Downing assembled  Tim “Ripper” Owens, Hostile guitarist A.J. Mills, Voodoo Six bassist Tony Newton, and DeathRiders/Cage drummer Sean Elg to create Sermons Of The Sinner.

Sermons of the Sinner

KK’s Priest Sermons of the Sinner features 10 new songs, one being a short intro, and clocks in at 50 minutes. The one minute intro "Incarnation" gives away to the blasting "Hellfire Thunderbolt" which is basically an Accept song, and that's not a bad thing. It's a fast tempo straightforward traditional metal track. KK’s Priest sound like Judas Priest of course, but the interesting thing is that they also sound modern and so in a way it resembles more Primal Fear than old Judas Priest. It is kind of a funny paradox since Primal Fear themselves are a Judas Priest homage. Ripper Owes shows what he is known for with powerful vocals and going for the high notes. I have always appreciated his voice and I like the Jugulator album quite a lot. So vocal-wise the album works well. The title track is a nice call-back to Painkiller era. The fast tempo and super high pitched singing are the hallmarks of it. "Sacerdote y Diablo", despite some over repetition of the track title, is a high energy, groovy and fun song. It does remind me of Jugulator era. "Hail for the Priest" is a super melodic and yet heavy track, it's pure classic Priest sound. And talking about classic "Return of the Sentinel" is the sequel to the iconic song out of the Defenders of the Faith 1984 album. It's indeed a nice way to close the album and it's one of its best tracks. Obviously being familiar with some of the riffs and melodies as they are variations of the original, helps a lot. It is also a proggier version of the classic song, it goes to 9 minutes with some acoustic passages and tempo changes. To add to the comparisons, there's one thing that KK's Priest does better than Judas Priest, the bass. Much more interesting basslines and moments where the bass is high on the mix. Also the guitar solos are top notch throughout the album and the production typical clear modern metal.

The Picky Guy

The lyrics are just awful, I mean how old are those guys? These are lyrics from teenagers in the early 80's. I think "Wild and Free" lyrics probably came from their grandkids. The other thing is, I know that KK Downing is part of the birth of heavy metal, but there are so many clichés in this album that even if coming from him doesn't go down well. "Metal Through and Through" is pretty much Manowar's "Warriors Of The World United" but worse and longer, and "Brothers of the Road" is modern version of "Born to be Wild". And those are just two examples that bothered me the most. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

I'm totally down to listen to some of those tracks live while mixing them up with classic Judas Priest songs, specially if they bring back some songs never played by Halford and company anymore such as the Jugulator tracks. But other than that I am not sure I will be going back to this album very often. For those reasons it is still a good album, 77/100, but really borderline in the good category. It's fun though, so check it out for yourself. 

SCORE: 77/100

Genre: Heavy Metal

Released by EX1 Records on October 1st, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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RIVERS OF NIHIL The Work | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Metal Blade Records on September 24th, 2021

Quick Background

Rivers of Nihil is an American technical death metal / prog metal band from Reading, Pennsylvania. The Conscious Seed of Light was the first studio album released in 2013 via Metal Blade Records. Monarchy followed in 2015 and the excellent Where Owls Know My Name in 2018. It was one of my favorite albums of that year. With it the band introduced blends of jazz, alternative, acoustic, and electronica into their tech death metal foundation.

The Work

From the get go we can conclude that Rivers of Nihil doubled down on their more progressive path with the incorporation of even more genres and experimentations. After a few listens, mixed with their death metal roots, I hear Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Meshuggah, Industrial and even Shoegaze. In sum the Rivers of Nihil is becoming a peer to bands like Between the Buried and Me.

Honesty as a prog metal fan, The Work impressed me already after the first spins. The band was able to blend heaviness atmospheric sounds and melody while using the sax passages and acoustic elements to continue to expand their sound. The album is long, clocking in at 65 minutes and featuring 11 songs. But as it functions almost as a movie soundtrack with great flow and storyline, it doesn't feel like a long album. The variability and dynamics of the songs also help with the experience.

The album opener is a good summary of what's to come. Slow tempo clean passages in contrast with death metal explosions. The noisy last minute of "Dreaming Black Clockwork" reminds me a lot of Dream Theater's "Misunderstood" if played by Meshuggah...if that makes any sense. Just a fun easter egg, but the fact is that overall this is my favorite song of the album. It's super heavy, features a breakdown and a short atmospheric section in the middle. This dynamic gives the song a very much enjoyable explosion of energy with groove. "Clean" is another song with musical contrasts. It is specially interesting due to the incorporation of a synthesizer solo that is straight from the Pink Floyd's book. Followed by an awesome melodic guitar solo. The drum work here is also pretty cool and full of groove. It is a good way to precede "The Void from Which No Sound Escapes", the emotional aggressiveness of this song with the Sax solo and ups and downs is another Pink Floydian moment.  

The whole album is unique for the band, but I think specially two songs may not go down so well with death metal purists: "Wait" which is a trippy slow paced song with a bluesy rock solo and super melodic singing. "Maybe One Day" is based on acoustic guitar, beautiful melodies and an emotional guitar solo. No death metal here, but fantastic prog rock influences. In contrast to that, "MORE?" is  a straight up death metal song.  "Terrestria IV: Work" closes the album with almost 12 minutes of  epicness, I even think of Deafheaven, it's a great album closer to a great album. Also notice the drumming in this track. 

Overall the musicianship in The Work is top notch, I really liked the guitar work on this album, specially the melodic guitar solos as in "Episode" for example. All rounded by a modern clean production, a beautiful album cover and interesting lyrics. What else could I ask for?

The Picky Guy

I guess it's clear that I really liked this album and I have no complains, a bit too long but I don't see how to cut it down. Maybe "Tower 2" wasn't really needed? But I'm just splitting hairs here.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Rivers of Nihil is becoming one of my favorite modern prog metal bands. Last album was great and The Work  did it again and without repeating themselves. This album is unique and very different from previous album but building on what they have done before while expanding their sound. It's really a prog metal album and not death metal anymore. But the death metal aggressiveness is still very much present. So it still sounds like Rivers of Nihil. I'm giving it 87/100 a great album. It will be high on my 2021 list, no doubts.

SCORE: 87/100

Genre: Progressive Metal

Released by Metal Blade Records on September 24th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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