Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews
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!!)
Before you begin listening to the latest Born of Osiris album The Simulation, you'll very well find something to surprise you...the length! You might be wondering, "I waited 3 years after Soul Sphere for another short literally 8-track EP (after The Eternal Reign)???" Well the band considers this an album, but it's only a few minutes longer than The New/Eternal Reign. Seriously, album or EP?? This is actually part 1 of a studio album, and the second album would be out later this year. You know another band who's on Sumerian Records recently? Between the Buried and Me, another favorite band of mine! I'm guessing BTBAM's two Automata albums released last year might've influenced Sumerian and Osiris into that new marketing strategy, or if it's just a strange coincidence, I don't know.
After two direct responses (Tomorrow We Die Alive and Soul Sphere) to the breakthrough, The Discovery, The Simulation continues to look back at the past, alongside some ferocious new hints. The lyrics continue the theme of technology vs. humanity, now in a whole new concept that would continue in the next album, delivered with the band's trademark fury and rage. You already saw my reference to The Eternal Reign, right? Well that's the band's 10th anniversary re-recording of The New Reign EP plus a song from their early demo days. The music production is a direct reflection, keeping the raging intensity, but not that much for the keyboards, without being New Reign 2.0.
The first track of The Simulation, "The Accursed" has a central role of futuristic synth work inspired by progressive rock titans Pink Floyd at the same time as a progressive djent-core offering filled with a hooky chorus of alternating vocals between Joe Buras and Ronnie Canizaro, down-tuned bass, and angry guitar riffs, twisting and turning back and forth constantly for just 3 and a half minutes. "Disconnectome" is another 3-minute song that cancels out accessibility. Massive riffs, synth interludes, and even a sick symphonic black metal influence that fits well in the band's electronic-cinematic aesthetic alongside rolling drums. "Cycles of Tragedy" cycles through frantic driving poly-rhythms while finding its way through layering strings and synthesizing piano accenting the other elements of dual leads and chugging bass. And the song works right with the interplay of clean and harsh vocals.
"Under the Gun" has a possessive infectious hook over declarative vocals and keyboards in a deep dimension of guitar wrath. "Recursion" is an under one minute interlude that's not totally interesting but a good set up for the next song. "Analogs in a Cell" takes things into a provoking direction with more djent influences similar to Tesseract.
The nearly profound "Silence the Echo" is the album's finest hour- I mean, finest 4 and a half minutes, showing some cinematic influences over massive technical death metal/progressive djent-core. The closer, "One Without the Other" is OK, but it's just doesn't work right without another song that would segue into the next album, leaving behind an abrupt awkward ending. That's the price to pay for splitting an album in half.
There's compelling songwriting and imaginative production with The Simulation. Even when Born of Osiris look back at the past, they still have their strength, execution, and courage to move through new directions. Now I don't wanna be rude while still trying to add some politeness when I say this, but.... Born of Osiris, please HEAD YOUR A***S BACK INTO MAKING THAT NEXT ALBUM!!!
Favorites: "The Accursed", "Disconnectome", "Analogs in a Cell", "Silence the Echo"
Every new album by Born of Osiris is a new experimentation. Their first release, the EP The New Reign, was one of the first well-known Sumerian Records releases and helped bring both the band and Sumerian to prominence. Their first full album, A Higher Place, is one of their most interesting albums with more experimentation in rhythm and chord progressions. The Discovery toned down the experimentation but their songwriting is more refined with higher amount of lead playing. Tomorrow We Die Alive disappointed most Born of Osiris fans with less technical guitar work and over-emphasized keyboards. I still liked that one as much as the other albums.
Soul Sphere, their fourth album (fifth if including The New Reign), is not exactly A Higher Place 2.0, but it does take you back to their beloved old aspects while keeping their new tendencies. That's enough to make perhaps the band's most satisfying well-rounded album yet! Especially in their strong diversity, with every song having at least several memorable moments and more differentiated characteristics.
"The Other Half of Me" starts the album on a spooky note with its suspenseful futuristic electronic intro, before the epic chaotic song itself. The next track "Throw Me in the Jungle" has some of the most varying vocal styles in a Born of Osiris song; lows, mids, highs, cleans, you name it. However, the harsh/clean dueling chorus is a little flat and the lyrics can be a bit confusing, but that doesn't affect the rest of the album. "Free Fall" continues the harsh/clean dueling but this time lets the song stay in purely wild greatness. "Illuminate" has more of the harsh/clean vocal power in the chorus.
"The Sleeping and the Dead" foreshadows the band returning to the Higher Place era later on. "Tidebinder" has quite the mid-tempo headbanging groove along with oriental-influenced synths. "Resilience" has the band's trademark arpeggio riffing. The blast beats in "Goddess of the Dawn" trace back to the more brutal sound of The New Reign.
"The Louder the Sound, the More We All Believe" begins with an EDM-inspired intro, and despite the slightly cringe-worthy chorus, the loudness continues to shine, and the louder the sound, the more I believe in this song being amazing. "Warlords" does the melodic chorus as well, but makes a surprising change of pace and tone with screaming vocals going from one catchy line to another before the excellent harsh/clean interplay. "River of Time" once again starts with spooky electronica before the rest of the song descends into chaos. "The Composer" is probably the most monstrous yet well-composed song in the album. Pure djent-core with keyboard-orchestral background before ending in a straight-forward electronic-glitch outro. Pretty confusing, but an effective ending!
With Soul Sphere, Born of Osiris made a true cohesive return to the strong aspects of their older form. Not a complete imitation, but a bursting evolution! This is some of the band's most complete material with all the drums, guitars, keyboards, and vocals in a friendly interplaying battle. A memorable album with engaging moments that help put the band safely back in the map of their stylistic creation....
Favorites: "The Other Half of Me", "Free Fall", "The Louder the Sound, the More We All Believe", "The Composer"
After Jason Richardson left the band on a sour note, many Born of Osiris fans thought the band would never be the same without him. Well at least he's in a better place now... That better place being another deathcore band Chelsea Grin, and recently another favorite band of mine, All That Remains! But that's a story for another review. Anyway, all that's left in the lead/rhythm guitar section is Lee McKinney, and according to some videos of Born of Osiris shows, he couldn't properly play the parts originally performed by Richardson. The Discovery was loaded with shredding guitar solos and soaring leads, which the pre-released first couple tracks of their next album didn't have.
Then just when fans thought this album Tomorrow We Die Alive would be a small step backwards, it's a giant step forward!! This album has amazing keyboard synths and, from track 3 onward, a great amount of shredding by McKinney, more technical and well-written than before. Today they live dead, tomorrow they die alive! By the way, all the A's in the song titles are replaced with triangles, but I'll use the A's anyway for this review.
Besides no shredding, "Machine" starts with a short but epic orchestral overture that might as well be the start of an Audiomachine song (my new Audiomachine-loving friend would love that). Then it booms into guitar, bass, and synth in a killer riff battle. "Divergency" is more sci-fi-dubstep-influenced, especially that 30-second Skrillex-like ending. I would be a little like other Born of Osiris fans and say "What's this dubstep garbage?!? Who sneaked that in there?!" But not really, because I used to like a few Skrillex songs before my metal taste started. "Mindful" marks the true return of shredding, with incredible lead guitar and synths.
"Exhilarate" is one of the more personal humble tracks lyrically. But musically, it's exhilarating with keyboards and Chester Bennington-like clean vocals mixed with the usual screams. Plus, there's a short swift guitar solo toward the end. "Absolution" is absolutely melodic, especially the vocal line in the chorus, switching between progressive excursion and melodic sci-fi Disney-like sweetness. The vocals in "The Origin" have a lot of laser-sword-sharp energy. That and the melodic synths make that song never boring at all. "Aeon III" has a bit of Eastern instrumentation with greatly ambitious lyrics. "Imaginary Condition" really keeps the energy high with as many killer guitar riffs as they needed in the mix.
"Illusionist" continues the incredible guitar riffs and shredding, here with frosty reverb and symphonic synths. The stellar synths continue in "Source Field" with solid guitar melodies, well-executed drums and memorable singing. "Vengeance" once again starts smooth and symphonic before breaking through a journey of epic chaos. However, the song and the album ends in a confusing symphonic-electronic-Mariachi outro, leaving the listener confused and unsettled after it's all over.
Basically, this album is an incredible combo of the technicality and melody of Periphery, the riff-wrath of After the Burial, and the brutality of Whitechapel. Pounding speedy drums, soaring guitar and keyboard melodies, and awesome vocal combos, all in a good mix, though the bass is a little hidden. A true epic djent-metalcore journey!
Favorites: "The Origin", "Illusionist", "Aeon III", "Source Field"
Throughout their previous two releases, Born of Osiris really made a quick evolution through their sound. The New Reign is an over 20 minute EP with 8 short songs filled with fast technical breakdowns and drum beats, and short synth melodies. A Higher Place had a different sound compared to that EP, with atmospheric melodies, crushing vocals, driving drums, and not as many groovy breakdowns.
Their true sound would be discovered with The Discovery, where everything comes full circle! The 15 songs here all have the best aspects that Born Of Osiris had in both their previous albums, plus improved structure. The album's lead guitarist Jason Richardson (Chelsea Grin, recently All That Remains) has awesome talent not to be ignored.
Richardson's talent is more obvious in the opening song, "Follow the Signs". That song and "Singularity" are two of the best songs of the album and a killer album opening with strong soaring melodies through busy original compositions. "Ascension" is another original composition with bouncy djent breakdowns. "Devastate" has the same vein as the first two tracks, but in the second half of this song, vocalist Ronnie Canizaro screams "SYSTEM FAILURE!" and the song crashes into an intense breakdown with Canizaro in a screaming duel with Joe Buras, and then a strange electronica-inspired outro.
The guitar bit around the 30-second mark of "Recreate" really shows what guitarist Lee McKinney can do. "Two Worlds of Design" is OK, but what's more notable here is the bell chimes heard throughout its second half. Then it segues to "A Solution", a synth interlude known for having the band's first ever prominent clean vocals sung by Buras. "Shaping the Masterpiece" sounds like kind of a masterpiece with backing symphonic keyboards. "Dissimulation" is more chaotic with one of the best guitar solos on the album. Its song name is sort of a foreshadowing contrast to the band's newest album The Simulation. "Automatic Motion" once again has a bouncy breakdown, here with more melodic lead guitar and synth that make the breakdown more balanced.
"The Omniscient" is an electropop-like ambient interlude. While all the songs are extremely good, "Last Straw" is probably the weakest point of the album. Not saying it has no strength, it's just not as much as the other songs. The clean vocal effects in "Regenerate" are a little distracting, but still a well-focused song nonetheless. That song has a earth-shaking technical breakdown right before an uplifting synth outro. "XIV" is a suspenseful interlude to keep you up for what's next. Behold, the longest song by the band (almost 6 minutes) and one of the best, "Behold"! It has the best solos of the album, and towards the end, a KILLER breakdown before the electronic outro.
While Born of Osiris is not totally my favorite band in my playlist while still remaining being awesome, it's definitely one of the best djent/deathcore releases I've ever heard, a little better than Veil of Maya's ID, and on the same level as the first Periphery album and other Sumerian Records albums. There are many breakdowns, fast sweeping, and typical deathcore vocals. So if you can't handle that heat, stay out of the djent kitchen. But listen first, judge later. You might just find a true discovery in your music taste!
Favorites: "Follow The Signs", "Singularity", "Recreate", "Behold"
A Higher Place... Definitely one of the best metal album titles I've ever seen. Why? Because it indeed takes you to a higher place! This is an album that would really help the band grow in higher fame.
Born of Osiris has been kept alive throughout their discography by Cameron Losch on drums, Ronnie Canizaro on lead vocals, and Joe Buras on keyboards/vocals. After going through so many incarnations and their respective styles, Diminished (post-hardcore), Your Heart Engraved (post-hardcore/deathcore), Rosecrance (deathcore), and the first Born of Osiris album The New Reign (progressive deathcore), A Higher Place is the true start of the band's progressive metalcore/technical deathcore journey.
The band picks up where they left off from the end of The New Reign in this album's intro, "Rebirth", which has a dark Egyptian-like theme. The first real song, "Elimination" explodes in with wild heavy riffing similar to Chimaira before the melodic passage kicks in. That song is fun to listen to, despite the song being just a measly two minutes long and has interesting riffs and vocal patterns followed by a fresh breakdown. "The Accountable" is pretty decent, with a solo at the 45-second mark that sounds suitable for any album released by Sumerian Records. It is another very short track, yet has many time signature changes, plus some technical riffing.
"Now Arise" has some perfect heavy riffs, along with a black metal-like section with evil-sounding synths and blast beats, which makes the song another fun one to listen to, and similar to The Faceless while straying away from that kind of sound. "Live Like I'm Real" is another technical deathcore highlight with great impact in the keyboard section. "Starved" has some of the best, most perfect metal tendencies. The songwriting is brilliant, along with the lyrics about the band members' lives and destiny that really let the track hit hard. "Exist" is a really heavy song with catchy melodies before ending with a heavy breakdown. This is another easy song to digest, which is something good about its over 2-minute length. It really shows how much the songwriting has progressed. "Put to Rest" starts heavily with the chaotic riffing. The heaviness continues to stay while building up with fun, enjoyable grooves. There's also a riff influenced by Sikth and a melodic slow part while Ronnie and Joe take turns screaming the song title.
The next song, "A Descent" starts with a melodic riff inspired by Misery Signals while still sounding fresh. Then there are a lot of time signature changes and breakdowns, with many different styles of metal in one awesome sound! But before we can get to the "Ascent", the title track kicks in as probably the most progressive song of the album. Unlike other songs in the album, there aren't any actual breakdowns but it has really groovy riffs and one of the most best song endings I've ever heard in my life. "An Ascent" is probably the most melodic of the bunch, with really addictive melodies. In an attempt to plunge into technical metalcore, "Thrive" has some Meshuggah-like polyrhythms and elegant background soloing. "Faces of Death" is in the right place as the album's ending track, with mid-paced riffing throughout.
So what have we learned about this album? Well, Joe has much better and more frequent screaming vocals then in The New Reign, unleashing a perfect combination with Ronnie's growls. The metal keyboards really fit the album perfectly. The songwriting has just turned to a new improved direction. However, some tracks aren't easy to get used to with lack of power, but they're still top notch and are only bad in comparison with the better songs. Yeah, those few tracks have the beat and screaming combo a little off. But still, A Higher Place is one of the most original albums I've heard with great technical songwriting with the short album length. While some things might feel missing, at least the band had more to learn for their next album....
Favorites: "Now Arise", "Live Like I'm Real", "Exist", "Put to Rest"
Born of Osiris is a progressive metalcore/technical deathcore band who ended up rising to fame with their first ever official mind-blowing ear-shocking release, The New Reign! Now I don't usually review EPs, but this one is so important for me to review it if I'm ever going to review the entire Born of Osiris discography. The band has some super-powerful riffs and melodies, probably more than many other progressive metalcore bands I've listened to.
The New Reign stands out as a unique sound so different. The band employs different techniques with everything including odd time signatures used by more progressive mathcore bands, post-hardcore beat-breaking riffs to catch your attention, melodic two-guitar harmonization normally heard in metalcore/melodeath, fast bass, highly technical drum styles, melodic keyboards with harmonizing riffs, heavy tone that's both wonderful and harsh, speedy lead patterns that would make the Acacia Strain proud, and overall, melodic yet dissonant deathcore. The 8 songs in the album are rather short, each at 2 or 3 minutes, a common grindcore element, making it only over 20 minutes long. If the songs were twice those lengths, that would be a full album right there. Those songs are short and a quick listen, but they really have the Born of Osiris spirit.
"Rosecrance" is an unusual yet mind-blowing opening track. It is one of the oldest songs by the band to be re-recorded from an earlier demo, the first version being as early as 2004, when they were a post-hardcore/deathcore band called Your Heart Engraved. In the song, the keyboard doesn't appear until the end. There's a lot of sharp chugging in the guitars, made groove-sounding with the impressive vocals. After over the first half-minute is a lovable but annoying break that would confuse you until you listen to more of the riff-wrath and drumming. "Empires Erased" is a good song to listen to. It has a catchy main riff, along with harmonized guitar and speedy bass. The groovier parts are the best, but what really hits the spot is the epic video game-like keyboarding.
"Open Arms to Damnation" is probably the best track of the album, and it really should've started the album as track #1 with "Rosecrance" as track #3. It has the best riffs and keyboards. Vocals are catchy and fun. And the ending guitar melody is impressive. "Abstract Art" is just wonderful and aptly named. After a quick 10-second fade-in, a speedy technical riff plays immediately before changing tempo while staying technical. Some of the other riffs are the most melodic here. There's also an awesome oriental keyboard break and a sick breakdown. The title track is not bad but not appealing enough. At least there's another video game-like keyboard break and melodic breakdown.
"Brace Legs" is one of the most popular songs by Born of Osiris at that time. Definitely more melodic with epic keyboards. There's also some faster bass and probably the great breakdown of the album. What kinda better way to start the next track "Bow Down" with these lyrics shouted out, "F***ING BOW DOWN!!" Another favorite and probably the album's heaviest headbanging track, despite not being so technical. More video game soundtrack influences appear in one of the only solos in the album. "The Takeover" is not exactly one of their best songs, but it has one of the album's greatest chugging riffs at around the 45-second mark, but it keeps switching to that riff. It also ends the album on a good note with the fading piano outro that would fade in the band's next release and first full-length album, A Higher Place. To be continued, I guess?
Born of Osiris has nothing similar to most other bands, they're completely different! The New Reign is very unique with wonderful appeal. The tone is heavy but can give headaches to anyone who can't handle that amount of heaviness. It's not one of my favorites but still has some awesome highlights. Melodic metalcore might enjoy this album, yet the better metalheads to recommend are those who listen to deathcore like The Acacia Strain and the more extreme side of progressive metal like Meshuggah. But this would definitely NOT be for anyone who doesn't like heavy harsh vocals with dissonant music and just prefers the mundane verse-chorus form....
Favorites: "Open Arms to Damnation", "Abstract Art", "Brace Legs", "Bow Down"
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