Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Trivium - Shogun (2008)
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"