Once upon a time, that's how a good story begins. Alternatively, A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
There was a 'younger' man in search of some new music. This jolly fellow (sometimes jolly) travelled around many parts of the UK in a vehicle absorbing as much loud music as possible. As his thirst for more and more brutal and ear-destroying music grew, he sought out new music regularly.
One day whilst visting the lovely city of Hereford and with some time to kill he visited a small record shop (it was of course a CD shop but record shop fits better with this style of story!). As he browsed the racks of music he was drawn to a particular band, a band he had not heard of, a surprisingly a band that was playing in the store (wouldn't happen nowadays I'm certain). The band was Trivium and the album was Ember to Inferno.
With the album purchased the journey home seemed (and maybe did) take much less time. The brutality of the album was exactly what our intrepid explorer (over egging the story now) had been looking for. Somewhere between the brutality of Slayer and the thrash of Metallica with the harsh vocals of Death Metal.
My love for Trivium began with that album and has pretty much never waned. I have seen them on numerous occasions and their ability to recreate the energy of a record is second to none. The energy and shear enthusiasm on stage is a joy to watch.
I have always loved guitar solos. My allegiance to thrash metal as a college kid was due to the magnitude of the solo. I have never mastered the guitar solo and perhaps this is why I still to this day love a great solo.
I love the local band I Hate You More (http://www.myspace.com/ihateyoumoremusic), again for the energy and enthusiasm and because, well simply put, there really nice dudes who play exciting music. How excited was I when they unveiled a song (The End Still Remains) with a guitar solo!! The circle is complete.
Trivium are a solo fans dream. They play so effortlessly and interact so well together it reminds me of watching Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. They have also created some proper Metal anthems, including IMHO; 'Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Matyr', 'Ascendancy', 'A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation' and the aptly named 'Anthem (We are The Fire)'. I enjoyed the first show so much when I saw them I went a bought myself a Dean guitar after watching them play - can I do it justice, hardly but damn it looks cool.
Trivium have come into come stick over the years, the album 'The Crusade' was pretty much condemned by critics and while yes it might not be perfect it still had some stonking tunes. 'Shogun' the follow up again for some apparently fell short too. I absolutely love the title track 'Shogun' for its 11 minutes of pure joy (I think its the prog in me - Opeth are the masters for me of metal prog - disappointed by Heritage though).
The were also in some ways immediately hated by sections of the Metal community for daring to say at one point they would like to be a big as Metallica. Jeez, a band needs an aspiration don't they!? Surely every Metal and Rock band alive would like to be as big and as successful as Metallica, is that such a bad thing? Actually with the release of the Lulu project perhaps they have already surpassed them ;-)
Anyway, the new album by Trivium was therefore immediately pre-ordered as soon as the release date was issued. Upon first listen, 'In Waves' (album and first track) did exactly what was required. It took me back to my favourite Trivium album days of 'Ascendancy' - brutal lyrics, fast guitar work, catchy hooks and chorus - a blinder.
As the album progressed and with more listens it becomes apparent that this album has a certain Punk Attitude about it. Songs are aggressive and chug along almost at times like a Gallows-esque album whilst maintaining the Trivium sound. Interestingly when you import the CD to iTunes it categorises the album in the Genre 'Punk'!
It is for me a standout album of 2011. Has it topped 'Ascendancy' as my favourite album, possibly not but its is a close run thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XD2jKlCiK0&feature=artist - not so heavy
http://youtu.be/0Xfvk028Kv0 - a little for Trivium heavy
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