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February 4, 2012 |
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01. Inception, The Bleeding Skies
02. Pillars Of Serpent
03. If I Could Collapse The Masses
04. Fugue ( A Revelation)
05. Requiem
06. Ember To Inferno
07. Ashes
08. To Burn The Eye
09. Failing To Grey
10. My Hatred
11. When All Light Dies
12. A View Of Burning Empires
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From a few high-school kids who got together about 3 years prior to do a "Battle Of The Bands" competition comes "Ember To Inferno" from Florida's TRIVIUM. After solidifying the lineup, Matt Heafy (guitars/vocals), Travis Smith (drums), and Brent Young (bass) headed into Audio Hammer Studios to record and release this blend of many metal styles upon the world.
As previously mentioned, these musicians only recently graduated from high school, but play together like a well-oiled machine. No doubt about it, they seem to have been together much longer than history indicates. The recipe for TRIVIUM's 12 track debut includes a mixture of 80's thrash, melodic death metal, a dash of hardcore, a hint of metalcore, some classic-IRON MAIDEN worship, and let's not forget the obvious tinge of the South-Florida death metal sound.
The album has 3 instrumental tracks, one at either end and one in the middle. Personally, I've never been a big fan of intro tracks - I'd rather get straight to the music. This intro track doesn't make me change my mind as it seems to go nowhere and doesn't even really flow into the second track. The instrumental track in the middle of the album, "Ashes", also does not excite me any, especially since it sounds like one of those wind-up music boxes - badly out-of-tune. The outro track is almost 2 minutes of the same loop over and over so all it made me do on successive spins of this albums was forward around to track 1, oops I mean 2, again.
However, the 9 tracks (46+ minutes) surrounding those 3 tracks are a different story.
I am a fan of a wide range of metal from extreme death metal to the currently popular, almost radio-friendly metalcore. The melting pot of musical styles that is TRIVIUM appears to me to be an attempt at accessibility from fans of these many genres. Obvious influences include bands such as AT THE GATES, ARCH ENEMY, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, SHADOWS FALL, and certainly older METALLICA and IRON MAIDEN.
Hard to believe those sounds emitting from my speakers are from a trio...seems like three fairly busy musicians! TRIVIUM have put together 9 good metal songs, a few of which are a step above the others. A combination of clean and death vocals (INTO ETERNITY anyone?), melodic choruses, solid riffs, memorable hooks, exceptional basslines, time changes aplenty, and a drummer who can seemlessly hold it all together sums up these tracks.
"Pillars Of Serpent" starts with some strong chugging riffs and has some hardcore-style vocals and breakdowns within. There are spoken parts which merge to growling - I feel all growling would've been more effective. "If I Could Collapse The Masses" is a little faster song and presents some of the band's vocal harmonies. "Fugue (A Revelation)" starts with 45 seconds that any old thrash fan will enjoy. Pull out the air guitars, drums, and throw the horns! Hints of MAIDEN scattered throughout this song too.
"Requiem" consists of more of the clean vocal/death vocal tradeoffs over tight riffing. Again, I prefer the rougher vocals over the clean counterpart, but each listen makes me a little more comfortable with the clean vox. The title track, "Ember To Inferno", is undoubtedly my favourite track on this release. The guitar sound is very raw, lots of time changes within, and drummer Travis Smith once again showcases his abilities behind the skins.
Side 2, or the second half of the CD for those of you too young to remember vinyl, is much more of the same heavy sound, with the second to last tune "When All Light Dies" being the standout track. TRIVIUM is fully capable of bringing much of what was good about the Big-4 (SLAYER, METALLICA, MEGADETH, and ANTHRAX) in their finest hour to today's metal fans. In addition, their strong songwriting, complex arrangements, time-changes galore, and MAIDEN-influenced guitar solos will please many a metalhead. My only complaint being that some of the songs seem to be from the same mold, making the album kind of repetitive after a few spins. However, these musicians are still young, and I'm sure have learned a lot from their recording experience and current touring. I very much look forward to their next release.
Since recording this debut, TRIVIUM has added second guitarist Corey Beaulieu which has likely added to the live show, allowing Matt to concentrate a little more on getting those vocals across. The band must be turning heads as they have been picked up by Roadrunner Records for their next release. TRIVIUM has also recently completed summer tours with ICED EARTH and BEYOND THE EMBRACE, and GOD FORBID, ALL THAT REMAINS, and Scars of Tomorrow...not too bad for a diary entry "What I did on my summer vacation."
Watch for TRIVIUM on the Roadrunner Records Road Rage tour which also includes CHIMAIRA, MACHINE HEAD & 3 INCHES OF BLOOD. The tour runs through August into September and kicks off August 3rd in Cleveland, OH at The Odeon. Go check them out as their website mentions that they'll be playing many new songs...wish the tour was swinging through my part of Canada!
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