Trivium - Shogun

Published September 18 2008

*=Staff's pick	Kirisute Gomen* Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis* Down From The Sky Into The Mouth Of Hell We March Throes Of Perdition Insurrection The Calamity Of Prometheus and The Crucifix Like Callisto To A Star In Heaven Shogun*

Genre	Melodic/Heavy Metal	Matt Heafy	Vocals
Tracks	11	Matt Heafy	Guitar
Runningtime	67 Min.	Corey Beaulieu	Guitar
Label	Roadrunner Records	Paolo Gregoletto	Bass
Release	30 September 2008	Travis Smith	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Nevermore, Machine Head, Bullet for My Valentine

Trivium is one of those bands that have become popular to hate on for being considered trendy media darlings, allegedly falsely representing that which is metal in the eyes of 'tr00' fans. I won't deny that the band has played in the oft-loathed metalcore style, at least for their first two releases, and that frontman Matt Heafy certainly should check his ego when he claims that his band is the "next Metallica," but you certainly can't question their musical prowess or songwriting ability. Trivium has never produced anything but catchy, melodic material that draws equally as much from thrash as it does metalcore.

Trivium's fourth release, Shogun, does not really see any stylistic departures for the band from their previous efforts. In fact, it could be seen as a hybrid of the band's previous two releases in that the harsh 'core' vocals of Ascendancy have been brought back, combined with the hooky, vocally-oriented song structures of The Crusade, with none of the caveats of either. Gone are the breakdowns of the former and the uninspired, boring songs of the latter. The result is a more mature-sounding band that is able to mix aggression with almost pop-like choruses and arrangements that will get stuck in your head.

That being said, most of the songs seem to have trouble finding identities of their own. It's hard not to listen to them and, while admittedly well-crafted and musical, not feel that they could be offering something a little more unique. The band, however, does come across as if they are performing with much more energy and personality than on the previous, sterile recording; a property that is able to redeem the sometime-generic songs.

Musically, the album has no outstanding flaws and is easily Trivium's most finely crafted work. The choruses are catchy, the song structures offer enough variation not to bore the listener, and the guitar work is top notch. If there is one thing that the band can do well is the ability to write delicious leads and pyrotechnic solos that are not just standard shred-fare. In fact, at times, the songs skirt closely to power/progressive metal in their use of intricate leads and epic orchestration, making the record's sound somewhat difficult to categorize (the closest band that immediately came to mind would be Nevermore). Though the aforementioned harsh vocal deliveries don't really take anything away from the album, they don't really add anything either, not really fitting the feel of the more straight-up metal nature of the album's tunes, try as Heafy may to give the them an aggressive edge.

All told, Shogun is a solid album that is certainly above-average, if too similar at times. That's not to say it isn't an enjoyable listen; it certainly is - just not one that blew me away. The band, though not being particularly innovative, has honed their sound to its most mature and progressive magnitude yet, continuing to focus on what they do well at. Metal elitists just need to get off of their high horses and realize that it is both possible and acceptable to write metal music that is catchy and aggressive at the same time.

See also review of: Silence In The Snow , Vengeance Falls , In Waves

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9	7	9	7	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Dux