Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews

For nearly 20 years, All That Remains has worked real hard to engrave their name into the hearts of metalheads. And it all started right after vocalist Phil Labonte left metal titans Shadows Fall and rose like a phoenix to make his own band. After their 2002 melodeath debut album, their next 6 albums show them slowly moving out of melodeath to a metalcore sound that is original but sounds like a hybrid of Hatebreed and The Devil Wears Prada, and throwing in some hard rock/heavy metal elements that end up making them sound like a mix of Story of the Year and Five Finger Death Punch. The hard rock/heavy metal elements are perhaps the most prominent in this album. You know what it is? This is Madness! With an unstoppable crazy train of beautiful heaviness faster than Leonidas can say "THIS IS SPARTA!!!"

The band's 2017 album Madness has production done by Grammy-winning producer Howard Benson, known for his huge heavy production range from Brazilian metal legends Sepultura to the first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. That might be a good explanation for this album's influences ranging back and forth from extreme metal to pop rock. The band consisting of Phil Labonte (vocals), Oli Herbert and Mike Martin (both guitars), Aaron Patrick (new guy on the bass), and Jason Costa (drums) have produced an eclectic offering of songs with reflective music and lyrics that they like to write and are prepared for the incoming criticism it might cause.

Madness begins with one of its heaviest tracks, "Safe House", filled with punishing bass and thrashing drums and a taunting chorus. Atmospheric keyboards make this song sound like something Rob Zombie would use for a horror flick, and there is a drilling dueling guitar solo before a slower sludgy final chorus. The title track is a heavy groove song that was a good choice for a single. The political lyrics are somewhat repetitive, but the rest of the song is pure heavy metal madness!! The immense sonic sound of "Nothing I Can Do" a thrashy metalcore song that stands out with pulsating bass and drums, along with layered vocal harmonies in an infectious chorus.

Then things seem to curve around with "If I'm Honest" with a more of alternative/country/Christian rock sound that has Creed ballad vibes. Not bad, but unexpected. This soft ballad is a nice break from the band's more extreme nature. We now return to the heavy sound of pulverizing bass and infectious drumming with "Halo", an atmospheric addictive anthem for those who want to live their own life and not be told what next move to make. Things get louder with the next song "Louder", an overpowering track that motivates you to not let anything overpower who you are.

The emotional, more tender "River City" starts off acoustic before kicking in with layering harmonies and pulsating rhythms. "Open Grave" has some hard-hitting growls and catchy melodies. Back to the tender side again, "Far From Home" is another catchy alternative/country/Christian rock ballad, a better song for the faint of heart. "Trust and Believe" has some more heavy bass-lines and growling vocals. During the intro and part of the first verse, I thought it was their first album Behind Silence and Solitude because of the melodeath riffs, growling vocals, and (drop?) B tuning, but then I thought, "No, this is Madness, not Silence and Solitude! Gotta remember that." Then there's the bizarre acoustic ballad "Back to You" filled with strings and bells. "Never Sorry" is another one of the album's heaviest tracks, mixing synth and growls. And finally, a cover of "The Thunder Rolls" by country singer Garth Brooks, with soaring guitar work and Labonte singing some beautiful ethereal vocals together with Diamante Azzura.

Madness is a good album, but not very awesome due to the album being the farthest from their original metalcore roots. It has some more thrashy elements that go well with the band's heavier side, including crushing bass and pulsating drums, yet throwing in some infectious catchy choruses and atmospheric melodies that make the band sound like radio-friendly Skillet-like Christian hard rock. While not at all the band's best album, it sure has some of their greater moments!

Favorites: "Safe House", "Madness", "Nothing I Can Do", "Halo", "Louder", "River City", "Trust and Believe", "Never Sorry", "The Thunder Rolls"

I've already mentioned in my last review that A War You Cannot Win is a good album, despite many people thinking it's just terrible emo trash. Well this album, The Order of Things is another one from the band that I still enjoy but some people really hate it. The album shows the band once again moving more toward hard rock/heavy metal while still having some metalcore songs. It's not as awesome as the previous few albums, but there's still some great stuff!

The band, consisting of vocalist Philip Labonte, guitarists Oli Herbert and Mike Martin, bassist/backing vocalist Jeanne Sagan, and drummer Jason Costa, continue standing strong with their seventh album, released in 2015. Josh Wilbur has helped the band with the album production and some lyrical contributions.

The album starts well with "This Probably Won't End Well", beginning with a piano intro (Who performed that... Labonte?), then the heavy guitars kick in at ease. Things grow heavier with "No Knock", an impressive deathcore-styled song with nailing epic hooks. I have to admit, that song shows the band doing a far better job than their old melodeath material. "Divide" is more of a Skillet-like hard rock/heavy metal song with a catchy melody. That's probably one of the first songs where Sagan's backing vocals are prominent, singing together with Labonte in the chorus. "The Greatest Generation" is a great catchy metal song with pounding rhythms, heavy riffs, fast melodies, an easy to sing along chorus. "For You" is a ballad starting with acoustic melody, leading into a slow verse, a deep bridge, and beautiful with Labonte and Sagan singing through heartbreak and heaviness.

In "A Reason for Me to Fight", the thunder rolls (you'll understand that reference in their next album) with double kicking drums and shredding guitars. "Victory Lap" is another heavy rock/alt-metal anthem with easier instrumentation. It's actually the song that got me into this band, thanks to my brother who also likes this band (he likes metalcore as well but when it's closer to his usual hard rock/alt-metal taste). "Pernicious" has some powerful melodic energy with shredding guitars and vocals alternating between Labonte's shouting and singing and Sagan's vocals. "Bite My Tongue" has clearer guitars than drums with a clearer electric guitar jam.

"Fiat Empire" has big slower verses and thoughtful louder choruses. "Tru-Kvlt-Metal" makes you want to face palm over the oddly spelled title. The track itself is cool with all this metal aggression, but the momentum is a little lost and out of place. This song would work better in their earlier albums, not this one. But this is still a great song with their brutal metalcore sound and is one of the album's heaviest songs. At 7 minutes, "Criticism and Self-Realization" is the longest song on the album and probably the longest song ever by the band. This seems more like a two-part suite. The first part is fast and heavy, but at around the 5-minute mark, the song fades out into a mellow piano outro, bringing the album to a calm end.

Besides a few minor flaws and the album not having as much metalcore as their previous albums, The Order of Things is still pretty solid. A good surprising nature that will probably surprise you too. Not everyone might like this album, but to some people like me, it's a rather nice album to enjoy!

Favorites: "The Greatest Generation", "Victory Lap", "Tru-Kvlt-Metal"

After 5 albums in which the first half of the total amount is melodeath and the second half if metalcore/heavy metal, it became time for All That Remains to move to a more mainstream sound. I still somewhat enjoy this album because not all the heaviness is lost, but a lot of you metalheads are probably gonna say "What the hedge, man?!?! That album is just mainstream garbage!!! Is it the first album you owned, newbie?!" Well I've listened to metal for many years, and I don't see anything horribly wrong with this album, so sludge it haters!! Go find something worth disrespecting!

Sorry about that, but I can see that so many metalheads aren't so into this album. I'm sure my review itself has a little more percentage than all 5 Metal Archives reviews for this album combined (total: 82%). But this album gives All That Remains a polarizing increase in success. Critics would criticize this album even more harshly, but this new style would be embraced by legions of new fans. With a mix of metalcore, mainstream heavy metal and hard rock, A War You Cannot Win is the band’s most melodic effort.

The album has a great heavy start with thrash-driving metalcore openers "Down Thru the Ages" and "You Can't Fill My Shadow", before smoothly shifting to the arena rock inspired anthem "Stand Up". "A Call to All Non-Believers" has darker riffs but lack of the usual shredding solos.

"Asking Too Much" is a very melodic and memorable radio hit. There's a 20-second "Intro" that is just a small acoustic melody. Seems pointless, but it perfectly leads into the furious "Just Moments in Time". The ballad "What If I Was Nothing?" has a similar vibe to Five Finger Death Punch ballads.

There's some nice drumming on "Sing for Liberty", but the track doesn't totally stand out, but things turn back around smoothly with the melodic "Not Fading". However, some momentum is lost when the acoustic instrumental "Calculating Loneliness" comes in. That might work as a good outro, except there's only more song left, the title track. Here the tempo really cranks up and there's even a breakdown. A killer way to close the album.

A War You Cannot Win is another album with polished production, containing catchy mainstream singles along packed with aggression and heaviness to satisfy metalheads. This is a successful album, and while not as great as the last few albums, is really not an album worth hating. But I guess some good things aren't always appreciated....

Favorites: "Down Through the Ages", "Stand Up", "Asking Too Much", "Just Moments in Time", "Not Fading", "A War You Cannot Win"

All That Remains albums #3, #4, and #5 are what I consider the "perfect transition trilogy". The first 2 albums are just melodeath, while the sixth album and beyond are mostly hard rock coated metalcore. And the 3 albums in the middle are what make a perfect transition from their original sound to what they've become later: The Fall of Ideals (metalcore with some melodeath elements), Overcome (metalcore with a melodic heavy metal twist), and For We Are Many (metalcore with a little more melodic heavy metal/hard rock). Yes, this is the last part of the perfect transition trilogy, For We Are Many, my second favorite All That Remains album (still behind Overcome)!

For We Are Many contains most of what Overcome has, including harsh vocals in verses, clean singing in choruses, tight hitting rhythms in drums and bass, graveling guitar leads and solos, and catchy infectious melodies. But there are some twists and turns in this album. Some songs return to the heavier side of All That Remains, while others still use the mainstream songwriting formula that infected Overcome, and these heavier songs have more in store for merciless (or in my case, merciful) metalheads like me. There are mostly fast songs with jolting rhythms and rapid riffs, and the aggression is dialed up to please some fans of the heavier All That Remains material.

The album opens with "Now Let Them Tremble", an intro that foreshadows the heaviness with sawing guitars and a hammering beat, while Phil Labonte howls the name of the intro. Then the title track comes in with nostalgic Gothenburg chords and deep guttural vocals, bringing back memories from their melodeath past. "The Last Time" is probably the best song of the album and my second favorite by the band, behind "Two Weeks" from Overcome. It really brings their metal sound despite mostly clean vocals and the repetitive chorus. "Some of the People, All of the Time" is basically the evil twin of the "Time" duo, with staccato rhythms, pulsating riffs, one of the many screaming guitar solos of the album, and a big death metal-like breakdown with abyssal gutturals, bringing the song to a brutal end.

The band won't go quietly on this song, "Won't Go Quietly" (convenient name, right?) Guitarist Oli Herbert unleashes a decent solo in the middle that is not at all quiet, but the strange outro is a little out of place, but does not affect the rest of the album. Shining better in aggression is another aptly named track "Aggressive Opposition", with the vocals becoming more like battle cries with work well despite the lyrics being out of character. The song is a little more vocal-focused, as other band members like bassist Jeanne Sagan have more increasing reliance than effort.

"From the Outside" sounds more like a metalcore song that could fit well in The Fall of Ideals. "Dead Wrong" makes another backward turn through history with some melodeath: Fast pummeling drumming, sawing guitar leads, deep resonant bass, and evil sounding death growls. Dissonant yet pleasing! At least there's some clean signing to fit well with the howling and growling. "Faithless" is another particularly outstanding song with some killer shredding. Thundering drumming and merciless pounding rolls in on "Hold On" that once again balances heaviness with melody. "Keepers of Fellow Man" has stronger potential, despite a wordy refrain. The closing track "The Waiting One" is quite a change of pace for both this album and the band. It is probably their first almost entirely clean-sung power ballad with occasional acoustic guitars and Labonte's clean vocals, but there's still some intensity during the solo.

In a nutshell, both fans of Overcome and fans of the first 3 All That Remains fans will both find what they like in a more equal balance, and the album delivers a satisfying brutal force of aggression. The album is basically a metalcore/heavy metal album with occasional melodeath throwbacks that continue displaying the All That Remains trademark of catchy choruses and hammering verses. Awesome, but for me, not as awesome as Overcome! But beware, the hard rock apocalypse will come next album....

Favorites: "For We Are Many", "The Last Time", "Some of the People, All of the Time", "Aggressive Opposition", "Faithless", "Keepers of Fellow Man", "The Waiting One"

I know I said that I love The Fall of Ideals as much as other metalheads in my last review, but that isn't my absolute favorite All That Remains album. It's this one, Overcome! That's my #1! For me, The Fall of Ideals is #3 and For We Are Many is #2. I know a lot of All That Remains fans don't like this album as much as The Fall of Ideals, but you remember my older brother that I mentioned in my first forum thread? Yeah, he also listens to metalcore that is close to his alt-rock/metal taste, so he's more into the more recent All That Remains material, and that's how I became interested in that band. Both Overcome and For We Are Many are my favorites because they sit right between the band's earlier metalcore albums and their recent alt-metal/metalcore albums. So there!

This is the band's fourth album, and here they start to showcase a more mature and commercially better sound. While the band has moved almost completely away from their old melodeath sound, they still keep the metalcore but with a melodic heavy metal twist. The band moved away from producer Adam Dutkiewicz (from Killswitch Engage) and hired Jason Suecof (who produced albums by bands like Trivium, God Forbid, and August Burns Red) to produce this album, and I believe it was Suecof who convinced the band to go for this at the time never before heard sound. Also, this is the band's first album in D-flat tuning.

The album opens with "Before the Damned", a perfect blend of metalcore and melodic heavy metal. Their transition from intense to melodic has been made so easy. Guitarist Oli Herbert unleashes some killer riffs and new dude on the drums Jason Costa begins showcasing his drumming skills that make the band remind the band why he is the right guy for this job. Vocalist Phil Labonte would keep his range for the rest of the album. "Two Weeks" is one of the band's first songs to discard most of their metalcore sound, but I still love it anyway! This is the band's best track on the album, probably the band's best one in general. Dueling guitars, deep bass, relentless drumming, this song has it all. Next up is "Undone" where Labonte continues his deep screams and guttural grunts while still singing cleanly. Guitarists Oli Herbert and Mike Martin have a guitar face-off in the background (Iron Maiden would be proud). Then Herbert let rips a shining solo along with Costa having his double bass drum kicks.

"Forever in Your Hands" may be too mainstream for some heavier metalcore fans but it has a sweet solo toward the end. In "Chiron", the song starts off with a classic intro, then Labonte delivers some of his hardest vocals to date transiting back and forth from death metal gutturals/screams to melodic metal clean vocals at ease. Bassist Jeanne Sagan sets a heavy undertone here. "Days Without" continues the balance between heaviness and melody. "A Song for the Hopeless" is a unique song, opening with acoustic guitar and clean singing, then suddenly, aggressive bass and screaming. Then it keeps switching back and forth.

"Do Not Obey" is another song that gives the band some pride. Labonte continues using his trademark vocals, together with a harmonic catchy chorus that is worth a sing along. Returning to the band's signature sound of their previous album, "Relinquish" is heavier with sick solos and lack of clean vocals. The title track is another heavy and technical song but also melodic and catchy. Then the album ends with a song that should've worked as a radio single, a cover of "Believe in Nothing" by Nevermore, another awesome band, in which the two bands would later, recently have another thing in common, one of the members sadly leaving this world (RIP All That Remains guitarist Oli Herbert 1973-2018 and Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane 1961-2017, two fallen heroes). Anyway, Labonte shows a lot of depth and range in his clean singing in this song.

All That Remains has proved that they can make music that is more melodic while still keeping the heaviness. There's some progress and maturity right there! The band has made some catchy riffs and irresistible hooks while still keeping their trademark metalcore sound. Seriously, I suggest that some of you All That Remains fans just cut the criticism and enjoy and appreciate the perfection of this album, an album with the band's ability to go where no metalcore band has gone before!

Favorites (all of them, but for real...): "Before the Damned", "Too Weeks", "Chiron", "Do Not Obey", "Relinquish"

After the first 2 albums have a melodeath sound with small evolving elements of metalcore, All That Remains decided to go fully metalcore with their third album The Fall of Ideals, released in 2006. This is honestly a little similar to Shadows Fall's move to thrash metalcore on their third album The Art of Balance, except All That Remains never really played thrash. The new sound of metalcore is highly enjoyable and fits very well with the band, and that caused the band to reach a higher peak of fame and begin departing from their old melodeath sound. This is the kind of style All That Remains fans really want!

I said this before but I'm currently a huge fan of metalcore. I mean, sure they sound generic, unoriginal, and too much like one another. But some bands, like All That Remains, really mix up the genre with elements from other well-fitting metal genres, like in this album where it's mostly metalcore with some melodeath twists. That's also what other metalcore bands like God Forbid and Bleeding Through are doing, which is why I like them as well. Some people might think this is another bland generic metalcore album, but hey, that's their own opinion. I, among other people, love this album and consider it a metal gem. A metal onyx!

Let's start this album with a scream, literally! "This Calling" starts with a high menacing metalcore but close to black metal scream from Phil Labonte over chugging metalcore riffs. After a killer verse, the catchy chorus comes in, then another scream to continue the same path. After the second chorus, the duel guitars keep playing a melodic riff until a breakdown with Labonte's screaming. And finally, a pretty short guitar solo and the final chorus before the closing outro. "Not Alone" starts off with melodeath/metalcore riffs along with Labonte's screaming verse, then another catchy chorus with clean singing. Then it repeats the same formula in a structure similar to the previous track. After the second chorus, both guitarists play an impressive In Flames inspired solo. After some more chugging riffs and drums, the chorus plays one more time along with more duel guitars. "It Dwells in Me", again begins with melodic riffs and simple drum riffs together with Labonte's screams, followed by yet another catchy chorus. Guitars play some melodeath riffs, then another well-played but not too complex solo. After that, there's a metalcore breakdown with Labonte screaming. Then finally, the final chorus plays and the song ends with some more death growls and metalcore vocals.

"We Stand" starts off with melodeath riffs, then a verse with some more of Labonte's screaming/shouting vocals. Then another catchy chorus comes in. There's a bit of spoken word here that's slightly better. After the second chorus, there's a melodeath breakdown, followed by the most technical solo so far. Then after another breakdown and another chorus, the song ends. "Whispers (I Hear You)" is a slightly different track with an acoustic intro before blasting into a metalcore/melodeath verse. Then there's probably my favorite chorus in the album with amazing clean vocals. The second chorus leads into a breakdown and a solo, before the song's last repeat. "The Weak Willed" is totally different because it is almost a pure melodeath over 4-minute song that flashbacks to the band's first album Behind Silence and Solitude. Starting off with death metal style riffs and drumming, Phil Labonte delivers some menacing death growls and high screams. The chorus has just metalcore screams/shouts. Some melodic riffs appear than it's back to the death metal riffs and drumming. Then the song ends with Labonte's clean vocals and a slow soft outro.

"Six" should've been the sixth track of the album because of its name, but that doesn't matter too much. It's another death metal influenced song starting off with lightning fast melodeath riffs and blast beats. Then we have more of the breakdowns and clean/shouting vocals. Then in the middle, the song slows down with melodic riffs, a simple drum beat, and a short solo, before the song repeats the intro one more time. The next track "Becoming the Catalyst" starts with a death growl, fast melodeath riffs, and a simple drum beat. Still the same path as the first few songs (fast riffs and drumming, catchy chorus and solos, etc.). "The Air That I Breathe" is a very recognizable track that once again breaks the formula with a lot of different things, including the key signature being B minor instead of D and/or G, and a swift solo in the intro. Other than that, the riffs are still slightly the same but the lead melodies are more harmonic. The furious last two tracks, "Empty Inside" and "Indictment" has some drumming switch from ultra-fast to slower and vice versa with some change in tempo, plus some (quoted from the lyrics of "Empty Inside") "six-string slaughter!!"

All in all, this is a great album, one of the best albums by All That Remains! Call it generic if you want, but this is almost a perfect metalcore album. It's probably one of the best, most groundbreaking albums in metalcore. But in the entire heavy metal world? Not so much, but it's very enjoyable to any metal fan, especially fans of metalcore and/or melodic death metal. You will certainly enjoy it!

Favorites: "This Calling", "Not Alone", "We Stand", "The Weak Willed", "Six", "The Air That I Breathe"

In early 2000, All That Remains recorded their melodeath first album, Behind Silence and Solitude (not released until 2002). Then over 3 years later, in late 2003, the band began recording another album, and while it's still mostly melodeath, some parts foreshadow the metalcore sound that would dominate some of their later albums, including D tuning, clear production, breakdowns, and clean vocals. This Darkened Heart, released in 2004, is basically an album with melodeath and metalcore mixed together!

This album has both similarities and differences compared to the band's first album. The tone has been change to be a little brighter, with the guitars tuned up to D tuning. Behind Silence and Solitude was played in B tuning, which again I'm not sure about because of the DROP B tuning in their recent heavy/metalcore albums. There's even some improvement to the production, handled by Adam Dutkiewicz from Killswitch Engage, making this album sound much less murky. There are also metalcore breakdowns in most songs that fit well, along with vocalist Phil Labonte using lower growls, medium-range screams, and higher shrieks, and for the first time, clean vocals.

The opening track "And Death in My Arms" begins with an acoustic intro before the awesome extreme action kicks in. "The Deepest Gray" has a double-edge sword in vocals with one edge being the rough grunts and screams and the other edge being the melodic clean vocals. Labonte's clean vocals come in during the chorus at the same time as low grunts and high screams.

"Vicious Betrayal" has a more speed-oriented flow with outstanding guitar riffs. Labonte's higher screaming halfway through really mixes things up a bit, along with a better guitar solo that the last track. "I Die in Degrees" is heavier with mostly heavy guitar riffs, then there's a slower, more melodic section with emotional solos. A nice balance of heavy and melodic. "Focus Shall Not Fail" is the progressive 6-minute epic of the album. The song starts with a slow intro then builds up speed with some growling and screaming verses along with nicely done clean vocals in the chorus. Yeah, clean vocals!! Then it segues to "Regret Not", which despite being an instrumental, is actually one of the album's better songs, starting and ending acoustically, with a raging guitar section in between.

This kind of riff structure continues in "Passion", not the best but still good. It has a little more of Labonte's clean vocals and a steady solo. "For Salvation" sounds dark, with Labonte continuing his harsh vocals in the speedy verses while delivering some more outstanding clean singing in the chorus. "Tattered On My Sleeve" has a groove/death metal intro, but Labonte's screaming makes the sound stay stable. Interestingly, the guitar really matches the vocals. Then there's an acoustic twist halfway through. A little unexpected and confusing, but the good short guitar solo really makes up for it. Then some more emotional clean singing and melodic instrumental work. The title track has some sharp slow groove elements with powerful palm-muted guitars and bass along with hellbent harsh vocals throughout. It really sounds good and not at all repetitive, despite its short length. A fitting way to close the album!

Overall, This Darkness Heart is musically a midway point between the melodeath Behind Silence and Solitude and the metalcore Fall of Ideals, and it keeps the best qualities the former while introducing the greatness of the latter. This is probably the band's best album to not reach 5 full stars. Both melodeath listeners and fans of metalcore and the band since Overcome may want to check it out. But after This Darkened Heart, the band's darkened side would almost never see the light of day again....

Favorites: And Death In My Arms, I Die In Degrees, Focus Shall Not Fail, For Salvation, Tattered On My Sleeve

All right, I got the Shadows Fall reviews out of the way. So now let's go to their spin-off band, All That Remains! LOL, "spin-off"... I know that's an odd thing to call an associated act, but I don't know what else to call it. I'm sure some of you already know which one of the founding members was originally in Shadows Fall. That's right, the vocalist Phil Labonte! Now that he's out of Shadows Fall, he has more freedom to focus full-time on his own band, All That Remains, another band in my favorites list.

The album is more of a melodeath album with barely any metalcore. You can still recognize the band's signature sound within the simple yet delicate riffing. The production is a bit low, though it gives the album some hollow ambience. I guess that's what you would expect in a debut album recorded in 2000. But the release year? Not 2000. Not 2001! But 2002!! Somehow it took two years to release the album after recording. No idea why, but probably label issues. The album is not really charting or single-spawning but it should please the underground fans. While some songs are longer than in their later albums, the album is a little shorter than those album (under 40 minutes).

The album opens in a great start with two of my favorite tracks on the album, the title track and "From These Wounds". "Follow" is another good one, but Labonte's death growls sound breathy similar to his growls in his album with Shadows Fall, Somber Eyes to the Sky. The guitar solo at the end of the song by the late guitar wizard Oli Herbert, while not the speedy shredding used on later albums, sounds more classical and inspired by Gothenburg legends At the Gates album Slaughter of the Soul.

The tracks that really stand out are "Clarity" and "Erase". They're more experimental (NOT in an avant-garde prog way) that much of the band's later material and best represent the band's powerful musical prowess. However, the songs are lyrically sort of bland and vague, but Labonte's guttural harsh vocals help make them worth the money spent of this album. This should've been what made the band end up in big fame, but their rise to fame isn't until a couple albums later, which is fine with me.

The last 3 songs, "Shading", "Home to Me", and "One Belief" are mostly pure melodeath greatness, especially the last one. All of which fit well in the crushing low tuning of B tuning. Wait, is it really B tuning?? I think it sounds more like DROP B tuning, because that's what they used in their latest heavy metal/metalcore albums Madness and Victim of the New Disease. I don't know, but if you guys know, please put your source in the comments below.

The album is not as accessible as their later works, but it is still a rewarding album to get your hands on, release intense emotion and energy. If you feel like getting a solid melodeath album, this one will never disappoint you. Another melodeath beginning for a metalcore band....

Favorites: Behind Silence and Solitude, From These Wounds, Clarity, Erase, Home to Me, One Belief

It's been almost 7 years as of this review since God Forbid split up, and most of their albums still live on as pieces of metalcore history, especially IV: Constitution of Treason, which is absolutely brilliant metal right there that none of their other albums can surpass. And the album after that, Earthsblood display the band's highest progressive point of talent. Seriously, nothing else by God Forbid can be as awesome as those two albums...except for one final album, Equilibrium (not to be confused with the German epic folk metal band). This is another God Forbid album you'll never regret!

Equilibrium is an album that you can find and pick up on the web or buy at your local music store, and when you start playing it, you realize that's an emerald gem from a band you've been missing out all this time. The album can kick your a**, f***ing snap your neck with its headbanging riffs, and wrench your gut with extreme and emotional vocals. How the f***ing h*ell can Byron Davis' vocals be any better and more suitable?! Both God Forbid and fellow NWOAHM band Shadows Fall have a couple things in common; an irreplaceable lead vocalist, and they shared one of their last tours before splitting up or going on hiatus. The guitars have beautiful solos that range from heavy and strong to soft and intricate. The drumming never goes over the top while never going quiet, and you would keep finger-tapping to the beat song after song.

Starting in a positive note, "Don’t Tell Me What to Dream" kicks off with a Meshuggah-like riff as Byron Davis shouts that command, "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DREAM!!!" The song's defiant breakdown rhythms are unbreakable with the help of drummer Corey Pierce and bassist John "Beeker" Outcalt. Byron Davis does some new experiments with his voice in "My Rebirth" such as the King Diamond-like high shriek in the first verse. Guitarists Doc Coyle and, replacing his brother Dallas, Matt Wicklund crank up the catchy riffs, crispy breakdowns, and soaring leads, all tuned below the standard E (drop C tuning). The title of "A Few Good Men" reminds you of that movie where Jack Nicholson yells "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!" The song itself is a good thrasher. "Scraping the Walls" is probably the closest you would get to a God Forbid power ballad in the verses. The chorus is an epic layered blast that slams you to a brick wall, screaming for live crowd participation.

The insane lyrical attitude continues in "Conquer", sounding like Byron Davis is screaming for his life as he's being dragged into the asylum of hell. The title track begins with beautiful clean guitar/synth before continuing the heaviness with heavenly guitar and drums. It almost reminds of the melodic Darkest Hour at the time! The insane attitude comes in again in "Overcome". That song, along with the haunting "Cornered", spread synths through a bit of the song, especially the pre-chorus.

The vocals in the beginning of "This is Who I Am" sounds a little forced by the clean guitar arpeggio. The rest of his clean vocal performance is fantastic, dominating his shouting vocals more than ever while still intertwining with them. The main riffs of "Move On" return to the band's classic thrashy metalcore. "Pages" shows the epic heavy climax of some of the last pages of one of the last chapters of the last volume of the God Forbid discography. Then the second-to-last chapter, "Awakening" is a throwaway instrumental that's barely part of the story. The djent riffs there are pretty decent, followed by a cool shredding lead, all reminiscent of The Contortionist, but then it ends abruptly, causing that track to be an unnecessary detraction from the overall theme. Then the final volume really ends with the final chapter, "Where We Come From". The band's classic thrash-metalcore riffing shows how much they miss Dallas Coyle's time in the band and honor his songwriting influences. That kinda ignores Wicklund's contributed creativity, but still, there's no better way to say farewell than to avenge a departed member.

Equilibrium has the most amount of songs in a God Forbid album, 13! They're probably like, "Scr*w superstition", am I right? And none of them disappoint! God Forbid really went out in a bang with one of the best farewell albums I've heard in a long time. Well done, God Forbid!! Thank you for this music, your last chance to create....

Favorites: "Don’t Tell Me What to Dream", "Scraping the Walls", "Equilibrium", "This is Who I Am", "Pages", "Where We Come From"

While this is the second-to-last God Forbid album, this is their last one with one of the Coyle brothers, rhythm guitarist/clean vocalist Dallas Coyle, but he and his bandmates still outdid themselves in one more album before he left. Throughout the band's activity, they've been a metalcore band that started too musically tight but later evolved into excellent heavy metal on their previous album IV: Constitution Of Treason. That's a terrific concept album, but this album Earthsblood is more unique though not too perfect. The familiar elements of metalcore, melodeath, thrash, and progressive metal are combined into another modern masterpiece!

So how exactly would this hybrid be described? It's definitely modern metal with hardcore influences, downtuned guitars (to drop A, rather than D and drop C tunings from other albums), and vocal interplay between harsh shouts and melodic cleans. Earthsblood shows that while God Forbid are not as famous and peers like Shadows Fall, they're more ambitious. The band's mission to blend all of their influences in their cauldron might've proven to be a recipe for disaster, it's still an accomplished miracle.

The first couple minutes of this album makes you think this is a Dimmu Borgir, starting with the orchestral intro "The Discovery". Then "The Rain" sounds briefly like strong dark early Dimmu Borgir-like black metal, but it's when the downtuned riffs and Byron Davis' introspective vocals come in when you realize this is God Forbid, not Dimmu Borgir. The mid-song break is a little startling but has brilliant buildup in tension. "Empire Of The Gun" has dramatic guitar dueling melodies and a nice incredible clean chorus, in perfect contrast with the heavy riffs and hardcore verses. That should be a successful radio single! The more familiar heaviness sounds great in "War of Attrition", sounding like the more typical God Forbid from 5 years prior.

The progressive ambition in "The New Clear" is just nuclear, sounding nothing like the typical God Forbid, with the subdued vibes of Opeth and Amorphis in the late 90s. "Shallow" is a vicious thrasher. The melodic "Walk Alone" sounds closer to traditional heavy metal that is rare to find in the 21st century.

"Bat the Angels" sounds like a more progressive outtake from their previous album IV: Constitution of Treason, especially the return to Drop C tuning, dramatic ambient breaks, and political samples in the outro. But that song ain't as progressive as the final two! The title track and "Gaia (The Vultures)" are the two longest songs of the album and by the band at 9 and 7 minutes, respectively. They have more traditional progressive dynamics than ever before, alternating between the band's usual thick heavy riffs and different atmospheric passages. And they both have superb standout moments! What makes the title track stand out is the epic-sounding acoustic intro. "Gaia (The Vultures)" is known for the moody vocal harmonies done by one man with one note. A great final punch!

After releasing Earthsblood, God Forbid started falling apart with the subsequent departure of Dallas Coyle and their split-up shortly after one more great but underwhelming album a few years later. Maybe it was because they've maxed out their limits with this album, and their next one Equilibrium has confirmed the end of the road. All I know is how excellent Earthsblood is. Older metal fans don't really care for this band as much as Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, and think they're they selling out from those two bands, but how their music is supposed to sound like doesn't matter. What matters is the spontaneous surprises God Forbid has stored, and Earthsblood has it all!

Favorites: "Empire of the Gun", "The New Clear", "Bat the Angels", "Earthsblood", "Gaia (The Vultures)"

Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, Unearth, and Killswitch Engage are all known as founders of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal that have exploded into fame thanks to MTV2 Headbangers Ball. However, God Forbid have never achieved as much as success as their peers and end up missing the tour that would bring them to fame.

God Forbid wouldn't give up or waste anymore time though, so they recorded an album more superior than previous albums and taking them to almost the same level as their NWOAHM peers. IV: Constitution of Treason is a discovery for a new young metalheads with all the band's brilliant talents and compelling songwriting. It is a concept album about falling civilization, and I'm writing this review when my country's about to be locked down due to coronavirus, so the timing couldn't be better than this!

This album has 3 multi-song articles, "Twilight of Civilization", "In the Darkest Hour, There Was One" and "Devolution". Beginning and enhancing the "Twilight of Civilization" is "The End of The World", beginning with an epic acoustic rising to electric intro as a sign of everyone first hearing of a deadly virus that's spreading all over the world. As the actual heaviness begins, everyone outside panics and begins running to their respective homes, unaware that the virus has caught up with most of them. Then it's on to the strongest track of the album, the headbanging "Chains of Humanity", binding together extreme Megadeth-like riffing with an intense yet melodic chorus. The "STRENGTH! BEYOND STRENGTH!!" bridge with Byron Davis’ shouting really gives the song more commanding force, as the government begins planning their ultimate motive to stop this plague of injustice, but it never succeeds. "Into the Wasteland" is also crushing and heavy with a ripping solo by Jason Suecof, producer of this album and some Trivium albums, great soundtrack for when the virus infects and kills almost everyone in their homes.

"Lonely Dead" begins "In the Darkest Hour, There Was One" with headbanging riffs for a minute followed by a catchy lead. The lyrics serve good metaphors for this part of the scenario where after the virus apocalypse, the remaining living people mourning all of the dead victims. Byron Davis continues his screaming while the Coyle brothers sing cleanly in the chorus while doing some great guitar work. Pretty cool post-solo riff! And that catchy lead riff returns again at the 4 and a half minute mark. Satisfying! The pretty piano outro was played by the Coyle brothers' dad Kevin Coyle. Those brothers really got their music talents from their Dad, did they? There's more vicious attack in "Divinity" with a hammering riff that pounds their peers hard with more unforgiving vocals. "Under This Flag" continues the pummeling riffing. The chorus is basically just a breakdown that shouldn't be taken farther. Then it slows down with a new repeated riff. It's not the best transition but it's OK because of Byron's solid vocals. Then the chorus breakdown and the slower post-chorus returns again. Then all this next slow eerie section has is solitary guitar and vocals that rise in tension, with the guitars at some parts of the section becoming massive and the vocals return to screaming. Predictably repetitive, but works for me! "To the Fallen Hero" is an anthem with crushing guitar tones and a sing-along chorus that tributes to the fallen government who tried their best to stop the virus but were overpowered by the virus and were infected and killed, leading to the downfall of the entire country and later the world.

"Welcome to the Apocalypse" begins the "Devolution". It's a slow depressive ballad that reflects the somber scenario where the sole survivors look at the aftermath of the apocalypse and don't know what they can do now. Towards the end, there's a political narration. The best song here is the title track, having the right heaviness for the riffs and the right attitude for the vocals. At this point, seeing no point in moving on through this barren world, the remaining survivors decided to fight each other to the death until one man remains. "Crucify Your Beliefs" keeps going from the previous track with a content feeling. After all the other survivors killed themselves in that fight to the death, the last remaining man on Earth wanders around the abandoned city. Feeling lonely and losing all hope for life to ever go on, he climbs the stairs up to the roof of a skyscraper and jumps off to his death. During the piano outro, we visualize one last look of the Earth, now abandoned and lifeless, all due to that deadly virus.

Every song has staggering attention and detail, and very minimal flaws. I wish metalcore bands would put as much effort as God Forbid did in this album, so the genre can be respected more. While metal bands nowadays wanna keep relieving the 80s, God Forbid delivers an album that never has any happy ballads and instead focuses on heavy songs based on society's downfall. It's rare to find this much talent and integrity. IV: Constitution of Treason is another timeless classic that would be mentioned for many years even when the world collapses in the coronavirus, but we certainly will never let the virus take control. Do your part to keep the world safe, and also enjoy this album!

Favorites: "The End of The World", "Into the Wasteland", "Lonely Dead", "To The Fallen Hero", "Constitution of Treason"

Before I've even heard of this band God Forbid, the only song I knew with the title "Gone Forever" is a song by one of my alt-rock/post-grunge-loving brother's favorite bands Three Days Grace, and when I heard that song when I was much younger, long before I started listening to actual metal, I thought, "Mm, good song." Little did I know, over 5 years later, I would be listening to another song and album titled by "Gone Forever" that I think it's way better!

First off, that cover artwork by the legendary Travis Smith is really impressive, showing an eagle in apocalyptic background ruins. 3 years after the melodeath-metalcore Determination, God Forbid came back with their third album Gone Forever with a higher style range of classic thrash influences added to their hardcore.

"Force-Fed" opens the album with thrashy melodeath riffs until the destructive screaming from vocalist Byron Davis comes in. This track shows God Forbid's melodic sense inspired by Killswitch Engage, while the heavier mosh-like parts with more of Byron's screaming really kicks a**. There's also some hymn-like clean singing. And in the end, there's a true heavy metal guitar solo! The second track "Antihero" is one of my favorite songs from this band. Melodic guitar leads cuts through my eardrums to the point of breaking them until it makes way for shattering mid-tempo moshing riffs with sweet angry vocals. Then it's back to the Arch Enemy-like melodeath/thrash mayhem! The clean singing is more prominent in the chorus of "Better Days", taken from its eponymous EP released a year earlier. That song has such an upbeat riff.

"Precious Lie" also has a somber clean chorus surrounding heavier verses, but that makes the song a little too predictable. At least the short solo is nicely unique. "Washed-Our-World" has more predictable clean vocals, but once again there's good riffs and a well-done solo. That song can be a bit draggy due to its length, but it still has some good stuff. "Living Nightmare" starts with a Trivium-like opening riff. The song goes on decently until an awful breakdown at the end of the second third of the song which gets wiped away by awesome solos and an amazing melodic thrash ending.

"Soul Engraved" is a killer song with catchy riffs. What really helps it stand out is the clean chorus by guest member Thomas Cummings, later known as Bad Wolves vocalist Tommy Vext, and Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis performing an awesome shredding solo which unfortunately fades out when it's still great. The title track is another awesome song with a good soloing. "Judge The Blood" has a great piano intro, good riffs, melodic solos, clean vocals, and invading breakdowns, all in a decent dish.

HOLY COW!! What an outstanding album! Gone Forever is an aggressive mix of thrash, melodeath, and hardcore you just gotta get. And it's a nice pump-up before the even better IV: Constitution of Treason. GO GET IT!

Favorites: "Antihero", "Better Days", "Living Nightmare", "Soul Engraved", "Gone Forever"

So after God Forbid released their first album Reject the Sickness which is so unknown that barely anyone has listened to it, and even then it sounds so poor quality and the instrumentation and vocals are so messed up that it deserves to stay unknown, did this band give up? No way! They did their second attempt in making an album and the end result is Determination, an album much better than the cruddy debut, though a few details would be better fixed.

God Forbid made an album that I would consider their real debut. They knew much better what they've been doing and handled their metal with care, from beautiful to crushing, from melodic to dissonant. Their solos and breakdowns rule the metalcore world in anger.

I love the intro, "Dawn of the Millennia". It's a good flowing pump-up to what's coming next. Then "Nothing" gives you a p*ssed flying kick in the face! Byron Davis' furious vocals alongside the pummeling music really shows you what a solid album Determination is gonna be. If you thought that song is heavy and dissonant, listen to the next one "Broken Promise". It's so f***ing heavy, combining the more brutal influences from chaotic extreme metalcore bands like Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan. You can very well hear those influences in the great breakdowns, along with the overall intense chaos. "Divide My Destiny" is more melodic while staying heavy, here delivering different influences from Gothenburg melodeath bands like At the Gates and In Flames.

Both of those metalcore and melodeath influences are mixed in "Network". After a transition from the previous track and a clean intro, the brutal dissonance starts again, then they add in melodic riffs and solos. More of this style switching continues beautifully in this album, especially in the wicked next track "Wicked", which mixes metalcore rhythms with melodeath leads. The second half of the album heads into full melodeath territory while keeping some metalcore elements, starting with "Determination Part 1". The best song here is "Determination Part 2", which even though the vocals are more spoken than growled, the nice little acoustic intro highlights the band's melody.

Returning to their decent venture through heaviness is "Go Your Own Way", which is OK but there are so many ideas in here that don't fit well together and end up being overplayed too hard. That song does its best when they have their fast thrash feel because the drums keep the fills down to give the riffing necessary space for the listener's attention. The general problem in the instrumental "God's Last Gift" is, while it returns to the earlier metalcore instrumentation, it would work better with more powerful drumming and the usual vocals, but that would make this song sound too much like Mastodon at that time. "A Reflection of the Past" is kinda like the acoustic outro for "God's Last Gift", though it probably shouldn't have been separated into its own track. "Dead Words on Deaf Ears" is the 6-minute closer of the album and probably the band's farthest away from metalcore into melodeath. Great ending! Thank you, God Forbid, for not fading it out halfway through.

If you're a fan of pummeling melodic metalcore, this is a good album for you. God Forbid can punch you hard with brutal breakdowns then massage your ears with beautiful solos, all in a natural flow. The songs are in perfect order, as if they're an entire musical concept. Once you listen to this whole thing, you know how determined this band is....

Favorites: "Nothing", "Broken Promise", "Wicked", "Determination Part 2", "Dead Words on Deaf Ears"

God Forbid is one of three metal bands with "God" in their moniker that began to rise in the late 90s and continued through the new millennium, alongside one of my nu-metal-loving brother's favorite bands Godsmack and one of my favorite post-thrash bands Lamb of God. I like God Forbid the best out of the 3, but they're the least known. Despite their great attempt to make impressive metalcore, their first release Reject the Sickness is their least known album and will probably stay that f***ing way.

Something God Forbid has that's different from bands that play melodic metalcore (Killswitch Engage) or progressive metalcore (the early Between the Buried and Me) is the thrash and hardcore influences while sprinkling some Gothenburg spice inspired by The Haunted and In Flames. Another different thing about God Forbid compared to the more recent metalcore bands is keeping away from the clean emo singing. I love this classic kind of metalcore, so why not this album? Vocalist Byron Davis' attempt in heaving death growls are a h*ll of a poor impression. Guitars are way chunkier than peanut butter, occasionally scattering generic lead harmonies.

While I won't go into too much detail in the songs because of their sh*ttiness, "N2" has some horrid dissonant harmonies you wanna stay away from if you don't want your eardrums to break. One harrowing thing is the amount of breakdowns. I like breakdowns, but does there have to be over a hundred of them!? Plus, a breakdown in the beginning of a song? YOU'VE DONE NOTHING YET!!! Thank greatness this album is so short, just a half-hour of agony with barely any speed or creativity. The lyrics are terrible too, just about romance and loathing. With that short length and poor quality, this album is more of a demo than an actual studio album. The only song that sounds good is "The Century Fades" but it fades out after just one minute and 20 seconds!! WHAT THE SH*T!!? They killed an opportunity to have a potentially decent full song!

But what really levels up the score to 3 stars is the rhythm part of the lineup. The bassist does a great job sounding audible and the drummer has impressive skills, so it sounds like they saved this album from being a full stinker like that g****mn Exterminator album. Well I suppose the more emo-ish metalcore bands like Atreyu and Poison the Well have more overrated sadness and anger. Reject the Sickness is actually just the one mold of the band's discography bread. I enjoy their later albums that are "progressive modern thrash" kind of metalcore. So unless you want a brain tumor, reject the sickness of Reject the Sickness and move on to the rest of the God Forbid discography....

Favorites: "The Century Fades" (if it was a full song instead of FADING IT OUT AFTER JUST A MINUTE, FOR F***'S SAKE!!)

Just when you thought the screaming is gone, it's back! Since losing his screaming voice, Matt Heafy started taking actual voice lessons, and eventually in 2016 he regained his power to scream, now easier and more powerful than ever in his entire Trivium career. This also gave the band the opportunity to bring back their beloved original thrash-metalcore sound, along with some songs still in the classic heavy metal category.

The Sin and the Sentence is a diverse combination pretty much most of the good Trivium had in their previous albums. Once again, the album has the clean singing from every Trivium album, as well as the returning harsh vocals from most Trivium albums, absent mostly in The Crusade and gone entirely in Silence in the Snow. It also marks the return of thrashy riffs used in a common basis, similar to the band's first 4 albums, especially The Crusade and Shogun. Now that I think about it, The Sin and the Sentence can sort of be Shogun 2.0. Basically, this Trivium album has the most metal ingredients stirred together in a long time.

The title track begins with a 30-second build-up intro that was removed in the digital version, before heading straight to the song itself, which, along with "Beyond Oblivion", brings back a lot about Trivium you've missed; searing screaming vocals, greatly fired-up guitar solos, and blazing blast beats. "Beyond Oblivion" has probably the best chorus on the album. "Other Worlds" and "The Heart From Your Hate" are a couple mid-tempo songs with only clean singing that aren't totally the best, but the latter song is a nice anthem to sing along to.

"Betrayer" and "The Wretchedness Inside" are two more furiously astonishing tracks that once again bring back the aggression from their earlier material. However, "The Wretchedness Inside" has some Slipknot-esque vocals right before the breakdown in the middle which doesn't fit too well with the album. "Endless Night" has some hardcore riffs but it is actually a ballad-ish song instead of metalcore. "Sever the Hand" really kicks things up to high gear and has a darker thrash metal-influenced sound.

"Beauty in the Sorrow" is another mid-tempo song but still has a good balance between heaviness and melody. Then for the first time in a long time, the band delivers us a 7-minute epic, The Revanchist, which has more progressive elements than many of the other songs in the album. Not exactly "Shogun" (the song), but I'll take it! What a solid and interesting piece that is. But wait, there's still one more song left for this album, the chaotic closer "Thrown Into the Fire". Heafy showcases a lot of his screaming potential with not as many clean vocals as the previous songs. The song has an epic aggressive chorus and some flaming high-pitched progressive guitar solos which, to be honest, sound almost like part of the chorus from "The Root of All Evil" by Dream Theater.

We now have an album that is one of Trivium's finest hours (literally almost an hour). It's in around the same level as Shogun, but doesn't really top the two best Trivium albums, Ascendancy and In Waves. Once again, with the return of Heafy's harsh vocals and the band's heavier side, their signature thrash-metalcore sound is back. I don't know what their upcoming Trivium album would be like once it comes out in 2020, but I can't wait for what comes next!

Favorites: The Sin and the Sentence, Beyond Oblivion, The Heart From the Hate, Betrayer, Endless Night, The Revanchist, Thrown Into the Fire

If you're ever a metalcore/death metal screamer/growler, let me give you some advice: Scream properly. Unfortunately, Matt Heafy did not listen to that advice, and as a result, ended up blowing his voice during a performance. That's what resulted in this album not having any harsh vocals and becoming more of a classic heavy metal album with Heafy doing entirely clean singing in an attempt to sound like Dio, Lemmy, or Midnight (3 fallen guardians of heavy metal). I think it was good that I explained the whole reason so that fans of the band's thrash-metalcore sound wouldn't be like, "What the fridge?! That sounds nothing like Trivium! Who died and made this a Trivium album?" And yes, I might have overreacted a little about this album at the end of my previous review. At least some songs in this album are still nice, I mean the band is still writing good songs and they have to keep up that streak, right?

Some songs here are still consistent, and even with Heafy's vocal limits at the time, this kind of vocal usage helped the band have a more unified sound that much of their past material. They still managed to make Silence in the Snow a punchy album with riffs as heavy as in their previous albums. Any fan of the band's thrash-metalcore sound can undermine this album, but the music still has the potential to really packing some punches.

The album begins with "Snøfall", an orchestral intro orchestrated and composed by Ihsahn, who is best known for being the vocalist/guitarist of Norwegian symphonic black metal band Emperor (the only other reason for me to hear of Ihsahn is because of his guest vocals in a few songs by progressive metal band Leprous). Then in comes the opening highlights, "Silence in the Snow" and "Blind Leading the Blind", both casting a great surge of immediacy and riffing. "Dead and Gone" sees Heafy unleashing his inner Shadows (M. Shadows) in an amazingly gritty but still clean vocal performance.

The songs that are good but the vocals are too subdued, especially in the choruses, due to absolutely no screams, include "The Ghost That's Haunting You" and "Pull Me Into the Void", which don't quite have the anthem vibe you might expect. Same goes for the plodding "Until the World Goes Cold" and "Rise Above the Tides", the latter song being faster but I still think works better with some screams.

Things heat up better with "The Thing That's Killing Me", which has greater uptempo energy and guitar work despite no screams, and "Beneath The Sun", a mid-tempo driving surge with strong but clean vocals. "Breathe in the Flames" is an uneven closer, but what better way is there to end this album?

Ultimately, Silence is the Snow is not really an album that would have higher points than other Trivium albums, but it still has good consistent quality and vital inspiration to be unique and enjoyable even with poorly limited skills. Even without their true sound, it's nice to hear Trivium still have what it takes and keep stepping forward. But this doesn't mean the end of screaming, something better and more powerful will come next time....

Favorites: Silence in the Snow, Blind Leading the Blind, The Thing That's Killing Me, Beneath the Sun

In Waves was (and still is) an absolutely awesome album, but Vengeance Falls? Well, it's another great album but not as high-level as In Waves. I still like this one, it has the same sound but many of its elements were reduced a little, making way for some more thrash. This album is probably just half Crusade, half In Waves.

Trivium had been bringing in more progressive ideas in the previous couple albums. The progressive reign still belongs to the great unbreakable magnum opus Shogun, but In Waves, still my #1 favorite album, has the band's high peak of metalcore with some slight progressive elements. However, like I said, Vengeance Falls sees the band tone down on many of those elements and once again add a bit more thrash. The album may be different, while still a throwback to their earlier albums. The instrumental interludes and mid-song passages are gone, with more of the simple classic song formula being used. David Draiman, vocalist of one of my brother's favorite bands Disturbed, produced the album, much to some Trivium fans' dismay, and helped the band stick to those basics. Despite the vocal melodies being a little annoying, the songs are still very solid and a few of them fit well with the formula.

The furious opener "Brave This Storm", is a great and catchy song, but the Disturbed formula has been too stabilized in the verses. The extreme title track and the memorable anthem "Strife" are two of the best songs in the album, with the latter song combining a small bit of the Disturbed formula with the band's signature thrash elements. "No Way to Heal" showcases the band's strong potential with the simple yet powerful formula mixed with a fair amount of rhythm changes for maximum effect.

"To Believe" is not the best track but still enjoyable. It has one of the more apparent examples of the Disturbed formula that makes the verses actually sound like a Disturbed song. "At the End of This War" and "Through Blood and Dirt and Bone" contains worthwhile clean vocals while still keeping some screaming, with Matt Heafy's voice growing and becoming more powerful.

The last 3 songs; "Villainy Thrives", "Incineration: the Broken World", and "Wake (The End is Nigh)" are what I consider the epic trilogy of the album. They are longer than the previous songs in the album with the latter two each reaching nearly 6 minutes. They break out of the Disturbed formula. The clean vocals and screams are back to their equal balance. The key signature varies with more than just D-flat minor. And they maintain their signature thrash-metalcore sound. Those 3 songs really bring this album to a pleasantly heavy end.

Despite the whole "Disturbed formula" thing, and the controversy caused by it, some songs in here really hit the spot despite some long-time fans not approving of them. David Draiman's involvement in production may throw some Trivium fans off, and the Disturbed influences might be some great flaws, but Trivium is still far better than Disturbed, though I respect my brother's interest in Disturbed. The album still has a cool sound and sweet guitar tone. I'm sure some of you would enjoy some of this album's highlights as much as their earlier material despite the Disturbed influences pulling harder on the strings of the band (get it?). But you know what you should direct your complaints to?! The band's next album Silence in the Snow! That album has an entirely different sound so unlike Trivium! More about that in the next review....

Favorites: "Brave This Storm", "Strife", "No Way To Heal", "Through Blood And Dirt And Bone", "Incineration: The Broken World"

You know why I chose In Waves as my favorite Trivium album? Well during my original epic power metal taste a few years ago, I found the music video for the song "In Waves" on TV, then about a year later, the friend I told you about in my first forum thread introduced me to a heavier modern side of metal starting with this band. This album reminds me of how much I owe my friend for bringing my metal taste to a new era. But I can't simply say that this is my favorite album for my own personal reasons, that's so shallow! Fortunately, there's a lot of awesome stuff in this album that makes this Trivium album my ultimate favorite.

After the melodic thrash The Crusade and the progressive thrash metalcore Shogun, In Waves marks the band's return to the metalcore roots of their Ember to Inferno and Ascendancy. This is also their first album with drummer Nick Augusto, who replaced original drummer Travis Smith (not to be confused with heavy metal cover artist Travis Smith). Augusto has brought the drumming in Trivium to higher, faster levels. Instead of all songs having a balance between singing and screaming, a few songs have only screaming while a few other songs have just singing with very little screaming. I love both vocal styles and that's a new and less boring strategy (not that it was ever boring).

"Capsizing the Sea" is an atmospheric and well chosen intro, getting listeners pumped up for what comes next. The first actual song, the title track, is my favorite one from this album. It starts off with an Ascendancy-like metalcore breakdown with Matt Heafy repeatedly screaming the name of the song, then it leads to a melodic Crusade-like chorus. There's also a complicated solo in the middle, but other than that, the riffs are simple yet catchy. That's what I like!

“Inception Of The End” is a metalcore song, beginning the speedy shredding and going beyond their promised energy. The lyrics have a lot of epic singing and awesome screaming that already brought them to fame. Augusto really puts out more depth in his drumming than a regular everyday drummer, bolting through never-played-by-the-band-before blast beats. All that alone establishes Augusto as the perfect drummer for this album and the next one. "Dusk Dismantled" continues the heavy path, this time even more furious, darker, and containing only screaming.

The track “Watch The World Burn” branches out beyond their usual sound of thrash metalcore. It still keeps that style but it's more progressive track. The song has pretty much everything from heavy riffs and a progressive bridge with epic singing and screaming vocals to a melodic thrash chorus. Once again, songs like "Black" and "Built to Fall" have mainly clean singing with just a small amount of screaming. However, "A Skyline's Severance" is a polar opposite, only containing screaming, but is another song that hearkens back to the early days of Ascendancy. The build up goes from soft to fast and heavy in no time flat, before going straight into the first verse. Heafy's screaming is deeper than before, getting to the point of growling. The guitar work and drumming is really standing out to their very best. Halfway through, the tempo switches gear and things get more powerful with aggressive guitars and verses, and epic outstanding solos. "Built to Fall" is an awesome epic song that is still a good choice for a single.

"Caustic Are the Ties That Bind" Is another epic song and the only one in the standard edition to not be in the drop D-flat tuning the band used throughout the album, or at least the only one not in the D-flat minor key. The band once again tries something new with a softer uplifting bridge and solo after the powerful verses and chorus. "Forsake Not the Dream" once again unleashes the heavy drums and powerful guitars. It's a little inconsistent and repetitive, but still a better song nonetheless. "Chaos Reigns" is another strictly screaming song that still reminds me of old-school Trivium.

After all that chaos from previous songs, "Of All Those Yesterdays" is a calm and little more progressive half-ballad where they were able to develop a slightly melancholic atmosphere. Then the song fades into "Leaving This World Behind", a dark ambient outro with the same melody as the post-solo bridge in "Dusk Dismantled". Heafy shouts a politician/preacher-like speech and repeatedly says "I’m leaving this world behind, making up for all our crimes" with his voice rising up to screaming, then the outro intensely builds up before coming to a sudden stop. That abrupt ending left me bothered and confused but doesn't affect the rest of the album. If you have the special edition, you get to hear some bonus tracks put throughout the album, including the acoustic-folk interlude "Ensnare the Sun", really good songs "Drowning In Slow Motion" and "A Grey So Dark", and drop-D-infused kick-A tracks "Shattering The Skies Above" and Sepultura cover "Slave New World".

After hearing this album, I now see what an awesome astonishing album it is, and it's nice to once again hear the band's original metalcore sound along with a small bit of their epic progressive side. This album has surely brought in new fans and kept longtime fans. Anyone listening to metal for the first time? I highly suggest starting with this album. Trust me, you'll like it. Trivium, you da best!

Favorites: In Waves, Inception of the End, Dusk Dismantled, Watch the World Burn, A Skyline's Severance, Built to Fall, Forsake Not the Dream

Back in late 2007, when Trivium announced that they began working on their fourth album, I bet a lot of fans of their original metalcore sound were thinking, "Let me guess, another cleanly-sung thrash album? If that's what it is, I'll quit anything to do with that band." But many months have passed and Heafy hinted at the style having "more thrash influences, more screaming." Then those metalcore fans were like, "More screaming?! That sounds like the Trivium I knew!" And when the fourth album Shogun came out, it marked the return of the band's thrash-metalcore sound and their metalcore fan-base!

That's right, this album combines the thrash metal sound of The Crusade with the metalcore of Ember to Inferno and Ascendancy. That's three album styles in one! I like The Crusade but was not really into it. I think a lot of people felt the same way about The Crusade or just outright hated it, thinking it was way too thrashy. But guess what? With Shogun, you can pretty much hear all the different metal styles used by Trivium melded together in a load of diversity.

"Kirisute Gomen" (which is Japanese for "authorization to cut and leave") is a pretty effective way to begin this album. It begins with an acoustic Japanese guitar intro that is the same melody as the chorus for the epic title track, which I'll talk about later in the review. Then a gong is hit, followed by taiko drums kicking in, and I was amazed by the guitar build-up leading to the song itself drilling in some killer thrashy verses with vocals alternating between clean and growling (for the first time used in a common basis since Ascendancy), and a memorable chorus.

"Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis" is probably one of the more progressive songs of the album with super complex riffs and solos and awesome technical drumming. Heafy once again showcases his improving clean and growling vocals here. "Down From the Sky" has slightly easier riffs and lyrics that focus on more political and modern war-like themes.

"Into the Mouth of Hell We March" is another good song with great verses and catchy chorus, but the harmonized melodies are too reminiscent of Iron Maiden. "Throes of Perdition" has nice heavy main riff that is once again as progressive as Dream Theater with a catchy chorus. This would work well as a radio single, if it wasn't too intense at some parts. "Insurrection" and "The Calamity" have the melodic vocals and thrashy guitar playing from The Crusade while still keeping some sinister metalcore screams and breakdowns.

Together with the aforementioned "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis", "He Who Spawned the Furies," "Of Prometheus and the Crucifix," and "Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven" each have different themes regarding Greek Mythology. "He Who Spawned the Furies" is about Cronos eating his children, cutting off the privates of his father Uranus, and creating the Furies. That's a pretty graphic topic, a little too much for me, but fits well with the tech-death breakdown in the middle of the song. "Of Prometheus and the Crucifix" is another thrash hit that references Prometheus' daily torment and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. "Like Callisto to a Star and Heaven" has some weak and heavy parts and is written in the perspective of Callisto, the nymph who transforms into Ursa Major.

The title track is the longest Trivium ever made at 12 minutes, though the outro is shortened a little in the special edition. It is the most epic and progressive song of the album, pretty much partly inspired by Dream Theater. The guitar work in the verses is a little sludgy, but once again contains some battling contrasts between clean vocals and screams, and the chorus is as well-done as steak. Then after a few minutes of soft vocals and soloing, the song builds up to an epic climax featuring lightning fast soloing, chaotic drums, and Heafy's vocals become more powerful than ever before. Then it's back to the chorus followed by the repetitive yet still nice outro. Here's how I would describe the song in an epic fantasy tale: 0:00-3:54 - A knight goes on a huge journey to track down an evil overlord and his army threatening to destroy the land. The knight fights some monsters on the way. 3:54-7:13 - The knight reaches the overlord's lair and goes around finding some allies willing to form an army for the knight. 7:13-7:43 - The knight and his assembled army are ready to fight the overlord's army. 7:43-9:40 - An epic battle commences between the two armies and between the knight and the overlord. 9:40-end - The overlord and his army are defeated, the knight's army wins in victory, peace is restored, and the knight heads off into the unknown.

Now back to the album, Shogun is one of the best and most diverse Trivium efforts to date, ranging from dark and heavy to modern and melodic. Right when Trivium's heavy metalcore sound was about to hit an all time low, it came back, thanks to Shogun! This is for true metalheads who will surely love this assorted mix. But I can't wait to review the band's next album In Waves, which even though its style can't top off the one for Shogun, is for me something even better!

Favorites: "Kirisute Gomen," "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis", "Down From the Sky", "Throes of Perdition," "Insurrection," "He Who Spawned the Furies," "Shogun"

After the modern metalcore sound of their first 2 albums, Trivium decided to go on a scream-reduced thrash metal Crusade with their third album. Apparently, the band wanted to reduce the screaming because they were never actually into metalcore bands and other bands that scream. Well, considering myself a fan of screaming/growling metal genres (metalcore, melodic death metal, etc.), if I ever start my own band, I would keep that style for as long as I possibly could. But I respect their one-time move from metalcore. This change has made some things better and a little more improving, but also made a few things worse and gone downhill. I'm a nice positive reviewer, but this album has some negatives worth pointing out.

A few songs have weaker energy in comparison to others. They still have pretty solid riffs and drumming but due to lack of aggression, they don't really catch so much fire. Like I said, the vocals are also not very aggressive with very few screaming, which isn't totally bad but isn't what I wished for because of my interest in the screaming. To make some matters worse, the clean vocals in a few songs are sort of bland and lack charisma.

The album kicks off with a tremendous technical-thrash pair, "Ignition" and "Detonation". The former segues to the latter, fitting well like a glove as kind of an 2-part 8-minute suite. "Entrance Of The Conflagration" is next, and it continues the technical thrash momentum, with faster riffs and a nice breakdown and solo. The upbeat motivator, "Anthem (We Are The Fire)," is OK but sounds too Iron Maiden-ish.

"Unrepentant" is once again executed in a faster thrash fashion, followed by the darker mid-tempo song "And Sadness Will Sear". Both of those songs, along with "Entrance Of The Conflagration" and "Contempt Breeds Contamination" are lyrically based on famous killings. As a Muslim, I'm familiar with the term "Friday prayers" (used in the lyrics for "Unrepentant").

Hinting at the next album's style, musically and lyrically, is "Becoming The Dragon", a Japanese mythology-themed thrasher about the transformation from a small koi to a genuine dragon. That lyrical theme made me think of the band Dragonforce from my old epic power metal taste (good times!). "To The Rats" balls out some chaotic thrash while having a more positive chorus. "This World Can't Tear Us Apart" is the melodic 7-string "ballad" of the album. Even though it's practically radio friendly, I'm surprised that wasn't a single. "Tread The Floods" has some diminished palm muted riffs, with a nice lengthy technical solo.

The last song in the album to describe a famous killing is "Contempt Breeds Contamination," which describes the death of Adamou Diallo, who was wrongfully, brutally shot by 4 police officers who mistook him for a serial killer or something. The chorus explains too obvious, specific, graphic detail: "The four protectors fired forty-one shots, Hitting him nineteen times, Searching the body there were no weapons found, He lies with all who die in vain" Seriously, it's as if part of the chorus was plagiarized from a Wikipedia article or CNN statistics, instead of poetically or emotionally expressing more interesting opinions.

The next song "The Rising" is a slower anthem rock tune, and it's not totally bad, but many other songs in the album are better. The 8-minute instrumental title track finale is extremely impressive, with many changes in riffs, keys, and tempo. It is the most progressive, Dream Theater-ish song on the album and by the band. The swept arpeggios in the solos are so incredible. It's one of the most complex songs to play on guitar or any other instrument. If you can play this perfectly well, you would be a true guitar master.

Overall, the album has some songwriting decent to be enjoyable. And while this album isn't exactly what I would recommend for Trivium fans following the metalcore circle, die-hard Trivium fans and Metallica lovers would definitely be pleased. The band's next album Shogun (2008) would really dominate this one and the first two! Stay tuned for that in the next review....

Favorites: "Ignition," "Entrance To The Conflagration," "Unrepentant," "Becoming the Dragon," "To The Rats," "Tread The Floods," "The Crusade"

Practically every Trivium fan says that Ascendancy is their favorite album, and I somewhat agree. Ascendancy is an awesome album, but it's not my ultimate favorite one from Trivium. This is my second favorite album (In Waves is still my #1)! While Ascendancy is the band's second album, it is their first one with the legendary Roadrunner Records.

These guys once again show their stunning talent in this astonishing masterpiece that reaches higher levels than they ever thought possible. I can totally understand how successful and brilliant this album is, noticing some of the biggest highlights of the band's career. They really know how to kick their modern metalcore music into high gear.

Once again starting the album with a short intro, “The End of Everything” is a beautiful start-off with subtle keyboards and acoustic guitar parts. Then the first actual song “Rain” kicks off the metal action in a vicious bang, setting a feverish pace maintained throughout this album. Next is “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr,” one of Trivium's most popular songs, displaying their diversity. It’s loaded with as much brutality and speed as melody. "Drowned And Torn Asunder" is another diverse song mixing huge harmonies and sheer melodies with out-of-control tempos and ripping guitar work.

The title track delivers a healthy dose of melodic death metal influence of early In Flames material with an unbreakable combination of masterful guitar work and melodic overtones. The solo displays a good heap of technicality. "A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation" unleashes a pummeling double bass drum rhythm leading into a ferocious verse and a pre-chorus decimating break.

“Like Light to the Flies” is yet another classic, and one of my personal favorite songs in the album, once again showing how good this band can possibly be. I wish I have my own iPod so I can listen to this song anytime, anywhere. “Dying In Your Arms” is a slower, shorter, catcher, and more harmonious song, but still as powerful as they’ve made. It should please a wide variety of people, whether or not they're metalheads. This song is followed by “The Deceived,” another work of art with pace and overall tone that can make you stand back in awe.

"Suffocating Sight" once again contains tight riffs and a venomous combination of abrasive growls and harmonizing clean vocals. Then it carries the tune to another level before closing things off. ‘Departure’ shows some good texture, great backing vocals in the chorus, and a brutal crescendo. This track would come off well as a radio single if it didn't include that much chaos.

The epic of this record is ‘Declaration’, the album’s 7-minute final track. Intense harmonies, lightning-fast beats and solid grooves mingle together to form a driving wall of sound, basically everything metal fans can surely enjoy. The vocals range from deep growls to higher clean vocals that will strike through the heart of any metal listener.

This album establishes Trivium as one of the best modern metal bands in the world, and has elevated them to gigantic heights and greater fame. It had made them get bigger than ever before. If there are any metalheads that don't have this album in their collection, they really should. This may be considered the perfect Trivium album, but in my opinion, the only album to top it off is In Waves, yet another album to talk about in a later review. But still, congrats to Trivium for Ascendancy being a complete success!

Favorites: Rain, Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr, Ascendancy, Like Light to the Flies, The Deceived, Departure, Declaration

OK, so this is my first real review for a metal album. I just came to this website to help it grow by adding suggestions in the forums, but when I was asked if I was planning on adding some ratings and reviews, I thought "Eh, why not?" So here I am, all prepared for a journey through writing metal reviews!

Anyway, Trivium is one of my favorite bands, and the first band I started listening to in my new modern heavy metal taste. I would consider them one of the most amazing modern melodic metalcore bands out there! Their first album Ember to Inferno does not totally meet the higher standards of their later albums, but it is still made really well with their usual heavy metalcore, intense melodies, and a bit of their mainstream sound that would propel the band into fame with their next album.

The intro "Inception: the Bleeding Skies" begins the album on a hauntingly melodic note that is actually the outro "A View of Burning Empires" partly played backwards. Then it transits to “Pillars of Serpents”, a chugging churning example of heavy metalcore, still audible enough for the ears. In fact you can hear a bit of the bass clearly in the mix. I personally like the original better than the 2017/2019 re-recorded version, not sure why, maybe I just wasn't into the scream and the F-word at the end of the re-recording.

Trivium’s originally drummer is more intense than his later work. His intensely fast drumming doesn’t break through any walls, but still adds a lot of sound. However, there's a lack of bass in the mix, and the drums are pushed back to make way for the electric and bass guitars, but songs “If I Could Collapse the Masses” and “Fugue” still unleash a good amount of drumming wrath.

Speaking of "Fugue", the interesting lyrics about the apocalypse and metaphysical negation are well written in this song along with “Requiem” and “Ember to Inferno". Those songs sound very upbeat for lyrics of pain, suffering, and disappointment. Listen to the chorus of “Fugue”: “As this dream comes to its grim end, Blind pray to god to make them men, As all hopes crumble truths unveiled, The world we know now abysmal hell” See? Sounds beautiful at the same time obviously not so hopeful. Now about the vocalist, he really bolted through the album with his great mix of growls and clean vocals. And he was only 17! Man, I need to improve my own vocals.

Once again talking about the title track, during the song they unleash their upbeat yet heavy metalcore guitar riffs, similar to Shadows Fall, that not only sound good but keep the listener going through the music, not just the lyrics, including its incredible lightning-fast solo. You can expect more guitar soloing chaos in “To Burn the Eye”, once again demonstrating the abilities of the guitarists without the solo being too lengthy. Before "To Burn the Eye" is the under one-minute intro “Ashes”, which has an audible but creepy guitar sound to it that sounds like a macabre horror circus. "Falling To Grey" opens with a nice neo-classical solo. The song seems to offer more emotion and dexterity, but it is still not exactly a classic. In “My Hatred” and “When All Light Dies”, the guitars are a neat backup for the intensity of the lyrics and vocals. The guitars range from the higher notes in the solos to the lower sinister death metal-like riffs, still melodic sounding but really matches the heavy direction.

Still discussing “When All Light Dies”, the song has one of very few metalcore breakdowns in the album, whereas the solo is as sparse as the other songs in the album, with a good amount of intense technicality. And finally, the aforementioned outro of the album, "A View of Burning Empires", seguing from the fascinating outro of "When All Light Dies", is a peaceful uplifting way to end the album with classical guitars, keyboards, and acoustic guitars coming into play here.

All in all, Trivium did really well and had a lot of passion and strength in their first attempt to create their own album. This is a good album but not reaching their heights as high as the rest of the band's discography, except for the thrashy but less aggressive-sounding The Crusade and the classic heavy metal album Silence in the Snow, but those are another story....

Favorites: Pillars of Serpents, Fugue, Requiem, Ember to Inferno, To Burn the Eye, Falling to Grey, When All Light Dies