I never really liked Trivium. I would like to say I did in proxy, in that I used to be one of those 'core fuckers that piss every metalhead off. But as far as I'm concerned, these idiots missed the boat, in that they missed me. I came in as late as humanly possible to the 'core rush, weaning myself from Killswitch Engage's "The End of Heartache" and Shadows Fall's "The War Within". I soon moved onto bigger and better bands. These guys released their first (non-demo) album in '03; I completely missed them. That being said, while I look upon KsE and SF with some nostalgia, this is one band I am proud to say I never liked.
Then I heard this cover of Master of Puppets. The CD it was on ("Re-mastered" Master of Puppets) was a complete clusterfuck, but that track stood out -- partially because Heafy didn't do either his trademark puke vocals or his harmonized emo-wail. Instead, he opted for a very appropriate Hetfield-esque "tough" voice. The instrumentation also improved in subtle ways on the original (as blasphemous as that sounds, listen to the cover). I was pleasantly surprised, and as such opted to at least try their next album. Then I saw it on MetalHead and figured, fuck, I might as well.
I have to say, I have rarely made such a bad choice in my life.
This album starts off with an admittedly decent track. The vocals worked, the piano thing in the chorus was vaguely reminiscient of Dark Tranquillity, and being a DT junkie like crazy, I kind of dug it. I could almost see myself enjoying this album. Then we moved to the next track. "Detonation" is a slightly decent song, made worse by the awful ripping-off of various Metallica riffs. This would be the theme for the rest of the album: blatantly ripping off as many bands as possible, even to the point of combining two ripped-off themes at once. Not to mention, that damn emo voice returns by the second track! Matt Heafy is one tricky bastard. I noticed too that even though he ripped off so many bands, the music still doesn't stand out that much. Why? Oh, right, because he has almost no songwriting skills. Smooth.
On the other hand, "Anthem (We Are The Fire)" actually made me laugh during the midsection, it was so bad.
I was having a pretty bad time for the first 2/3 of the album. Then "This World Can't Tear Us Apart" came on. Even the most diehard, fanatical Trivium fan should have to pause a few seconds to find a proper way to praise this song. I mean, fuck, look at the title. That sums up what the song sounds like. I can't think of anything honest that is good about this song. Wait -- it'll bring more chicks to concerts. +1, Heafy...I can't contest that.
I was almost dreading the final, 8-minute title track, but it actually turned out to be instrumental (and surprisingly good). I suppose every genericxcore tree has a few good apples, though.
So, here's the lowdown.
-This album started off with a 7.5 or so, not counting "This World".
-The fucker's gonna lose 2 points for ripping off so much, so blatantly. Influence is one thing, plagiarism quite another. Not to mention combining so many classic thrash/melodeath riffing with emo-core...*shudder*
- -1 point for recording "This World".
- +.5 point for recording the title track (it was, admittedly, decent enough to pull the grade up a little).
- -.5 point for WEARING THEIR OWN FUCKING T-SHIRTS TO THEIR CONCERTS. Arrogant, conceited little Matt Heafy.
Finally:
- -1 point for saying they were going to be "the next Metallica" or whatever the fuck they said. Pride breeds bullshit (and bad grades).
So, that would leave us 3.5 cliched sung choruses out of 10.
Fuck you, Matt Heafy. Fuck you. I raise two middle fingers and two swollen ears (from listening to your garbage) in your general direction. Your music almost made my balls disappear.
[/angry, pissed off metal rant]
5 comments:
fuck you motherfucker chinga tu madre puto TRIVIUM RULES
No, actually Trivium blows ass. This is not even a matter of opinion, you are just wrong.
Reviewer dude, I don't think you have really listened to Trivium because then you wouldn't have said that they had no songwriting skills!! True it's sounds a bit like Metallica but no more than influenced because NO WAY Metallica would have made these kinda songs! And finally something fresh in all this METALCORE SHIT! But well maybe we just don't have the same opinion but listen to the record more often and it'll prove you wrong!!
1) You didn't make any points explaining why Trivium has good songwriting skills. Let's see, recycled riffs, wanky soloing, kind of rough singing for the verses, softer stuff for the choruses...man, this is so new! So exciting! [/sarcasm]
Good songwriting entails the ability to incite some sort of emotion in the listener through the overall product, and do so in a creative way. While Trivium does incite hatred in me, it sure ain't the musical subtleties and patterns that are doing that. And while we bring up the subject of creativity...
2) No more than influenced? If you listen to one of the first riffs of Detonation and Master of Puppets' main riff, it's THE SAME FUCKING RIFF, just in a different timing, down to the clipped ending. That's one of the most standout examples, but there are definitely others. And if you think (old) Metallica could never write these songs, that's true. They would never have condescended themselves to that level at that time in their history. Metallica did rip off a few riffs in their time, but at least they put it in a creative, interesting context (see: the bridge to "Creeping Death").
3) I suppose this is fresh, if by fresh you mean "would have been generic 20 years ago." Kid, brush up on your metal history. You clearly don't know your ass from a hole in the ground in terms of that.
4) I'm still waiting for the file (which, incidentally, was deleted from my computer so as not to give my hard drive AIDS) to "prove [me] wrong!!", but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Funny how that works out.
And if this band does become "the next Metallica" or whatever, fuck them regardless. They pulled themselves up not by their bootstraps but by the nuts of many a worthy band, and I think it will eventually catch up to them. If not, there is little hope for an American mainstream metal market to flourish. But we already knew that...
(Or at least the smart ones figured it out...)
I agree with Andras a little.. that Metallica and Trivium is like left to right. If they compared themselves to Killswitch Engage that would've seemed like a more plausable comment, and they do act a little arrogant, toss in a few emo riffs *Not to seem too hard core for tha ladies I believe* But all in all the guitar plays acceptionally well and the screaming's are pretty good..I believe if they throw that arrogant shit out the door like screaming "I WANT TO SEE YOU JUMP ON THIS MUTHA FUCKING FLOOR YOU MUTHA FUCKAZ" to the people in the mosh pit or as you said, wearing their own shirts.. what kind of fuckhead idea was that?.. but anyways, if you threw that excess shit out I believe the band could get a 6.5-8.5
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