Trivium - The Crusade

In the Spring of 2005, Trivium established themselves as a force in the metal community with their major label debut, Ascendancy. A mix of metalcore and thrash, Ascendancy was undeniably an exceptional effort from a group of talented musicians.Released in October 2006, Trivium fans finally got their hands on Trivium's highly anticipated album. Simply put, those expecting Ascendancy: Part 2 were met with disappointment. Front man Matt Heafy clearly had been watching old school Metallica videos as evident by his very James Hetfield like vocal tone. Fans of the metalcore scream that permeated Ascendancy were left in the dust as Heafy Hetfield-ed his way through The Crusade's 13 tracks. In fact, only 3 tracks feature screaming at all and even then it's relegated to mere snippets. Heafy has said himself that he just couldn't scream and sing together live (which I can definitely attest to) and the new style of singing is far from bad in any way. It is a shame, however, that Heafy's top-tier and powerful scream has been thrown to the wayside.

The guitar work is as impressive as ever, sometimes pushing the speed to "melt the strings" territory. "To The Rats" is an obviously old school thrash influenced track that will make even the stiffest of neck head bang. The solos are equally impressive, although Heafy apparently feels obligated to jam on his whammy bar at every possibly opportunity. Travis Smith once again brings the brutality with prime drum work. Sure, he's a little bit of a red neck but damn, the guy can play double bass. If being a hick imbibes one with his ability, then I'm officially changing my entire wardrobe to wife beaters and wife beaters only.

The Crusade isn't Trivium's new Ascendancy. It was never meant to be. While the album has it's share of less than stellar tracks, the top shelf material is certainly there. Fans of everything from Metallica to newer metalcore acts should definitely give The Crusade a spin.

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