If there was one band on Earth that receives the most criticism from metal fans, Florida’s Trivium would be at the top of the list. From their brash, arrogant aura in interviews to the declaration by every metal magazine on the planet that the band is “the next Metallica,” Trivium has had a hard time winning over die-hard metal heads. Their mix of metalcore and thrash metal has soured the viewpoints of a lot of people, and their turn towards Testament and Metallica worship on 2006’s The Crusade didn’t help matters.

However, 2008 is a whole new year, and Trivium stepped it up quite a bit with their fourth album, Shogun. Showcasing matured songwriting and an evolved sound that blends the harsh vocals and aggressive sound on Ascendency with the clean vocals and thrash metal tendencies of The Crusade, Shogun will impress even the most jaded of metal fans. From the unexpected turns on display in the opening track “Kirisute Gomen” to the twelve minute awe-inspiring title track, which evokes the spirit of Led Zeppelin, Opeth, and early Metallica, Trivium has improved almost every facet of their sound for the better.

With a clean production job done by Nick Raskulinecz of Foo Fighters and Rush fame, Shogun may be the album to finally win over metal fans. The guitar work is creative and technical, the rhythm section is tight as hell, and Heafy’s vocals are the best of his career. While they may never be the next Metallica, Trivium has forged their own sound, something a lot of people never thought they could do, and crafted an album that tops all their previous affairs.

Rating: 8.5
Label: Roadrunner
Website: www.trivium.org

By Dan Marsicano

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 7:49 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tony wrote:

people should start listening to trivium’s music before they criticize them as a copy cat band. On their first album, there was many elements of metalcore and some people did not like that. On their second album people said they sounded like Metallica. On Shogun I believe Trivium has truly found their unique sound and the people who never liked Trivium should listen to this album before they talk about Trivium again. I would put this album, Amon Amarth’s, and Bloodbath’s as the top metal albums of the year.

October 7th, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Mez wrote:

I was extremely impressed with this CD. Anyone who liked Trivium’s old stuff should at least somewhat enjoy this CD…I recommend at least a listen or two.

8/10

October 8th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

ASSGASM wrote:

you guys rate everything too high

October 9th, 2008 at 9:04 pm

DethOrgy wrote:

Never been a fan but after hearing this I’m considering giving there older stuff a second listening. Quality metal that is tame enough for newbs.

October 11th, 2008 at 4:11 am

Harper83087 wrote:

I loved Ascendency, Crusade was worth nothing more than the 8 bucks i paid for it…Shogun blows both of those out of the water and its the best of both worlds from Ascendency and Crusade. This is a great fuckin disc

October 14th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

Sean Pulatie wrote:

Trivium is great stuff. Their guitar work is just sick. I wish Heafy would scream a little more, like on Ascendancy and Ember To Inferno, but it’s still impressive stuff.

November 13th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

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