Review by Vinny for Trivium - Struck Dead (2025)

Unexpectedly coming out on top of the current crop of feature releases is this three track EP from Trivium.  For no reason other than rampant elitism, I have avoided Trivium for most of their career.  Based on this EP, that could have been an even dumber decision than it first appears.  Notwithstanding that this is a very short format to base any long term opinions from, there is still plenty here to have kept me entertained over the six or seven listens I found myself giving Struck Dead in just one day!

It is clear that my view that Trivium are just another annoying metalcore band are incorrect.  Yes, there are elements of that style here, I cannot dispute that.  However, there are some serious grooves going on during the riffing on ‘Bury Me With My Screams’.  The cold, blunt and almost industrial chops of the title track are a bruising experience also.  Add into the mix the fiery leads and anthemic vocals and there is a lot to be pleased with.  Whilst I expected high energy levels to be on show, the EP goes much further, possessing an almost hardcore ferocity at times.

It is not an annoying overactive energy that I feared might haunt the release, there is a lot of maturity in these three tracks.  ‘Six Walls’ might be the weaker of the tracks on offer but it is by no means terrible.  After the intensity of the two first tracks I guess some balance was needed, even if those acoustic strings on the final track do mislead the listener into believing we will be needing on a power ballad.  Suffering a little in the arrangement stakes, ‘Six Walls’ feels like a b-side at best but still keeps those energy levels well primed for the whole EP duration.