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The darkest period of Thrash has reached its sad peak, Metallica are officially fallen, just like Megadeth and other legends of this music genre that had amazed everyone, topping the charts all over the world.
A ray of light appears in 2005 with the release of the second album by Trivium, led by the frenetic American-Japanese Matt Heafy. The Orlando band, after their self-funded debut Ember To Inferno, was signed by the famous Liferecords label, allowing the quartet to offer their fans a work of much higher quality than the first album (which should not be dismissed nonetheless). March 2005 marks the consecration period for Heafy and company, who were immediately accompanied by Machine Head on their Tour. Trivium are no longer negligible but a true musical phenomenon: they are immediately dubbed the "new Metallica," even though it would be reductive to describe Ascendancy as merely a Thrash album.
It is indeed a melting pot of different musical currents: firstly the Speed Thrash of San Francisco's Bay Area, but also the British Heavy Metal of Iron Maiden, and the new Progressive-Hardcore trends sweeping across America; with double hammering pedal, riffs brought to the speed of light, a powerful bass that penetrates the hearing, growl and melodic choruses skillfully blended together, as well as alternating "melodically powerful" moments with others where the distortion explicitly incites moshing: this is how this great work can be summarized.
You must not be deceived by the harmonious Intro "The End Of Everything," already "Rain," harsh but at the same time absolutely catchy, lets us understand what Trivium is made of. It continues with the now-famous "Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr" (opened by an exceptional fill by the war machine Travis Smith), which turns out to be one of the most energetic and tough tracks to chew for the faint-hearted. Two more intriguing songs follow, namely "Drowned And Torn Asunder" and "Ascendancy," which mix at speed the typical elements of Steve Harris's Iron Maiden, with choruses of renewed power accompanied by unforgettable riffs. "A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation," one of the album's strengths, strongly reprises the Hardcore lines, softening them with pleasant melodic interludes of only guitar and drums and a surprising second part that almost takes on Hard Rock connotations. More tracks follow, among which the negatively standing out "Dying In Your Arms," almost punk-pop, although Heafy's voice saves everything. Particularly noteworthy is the crashing "Suffocating Sight," sustained by a monstrous double pedal by Smith, who increasingly asserts himself as one of the best drummers in the world in the Metal field. Next comes the restful "Departure," which gives a well-deserved relief to the ear (albeit partial), and the album closes beautifully with "Declaration," original but still connected to the flow that ties the whole album together, making it sometimes hard to digest and slightly monotonous.
The overall impression is decidedly positive, as Trivium (true to their name, indicative of their appreciation for different musical genres) revive the extraordinary music of the '80s, skillfully blending it with everything relevant in contemporary Metal. Perhaps it lacks some interludes to rest our poor hearing and give more fluidity to Ascendancy, which nonetheless remains an excellent work.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Rain (04:12)
Everytime I'm left alone
My misery begins to drown me
Tied by a rope of anxiety
Thrown overboard
As I'm pulled under the tides of this fast paces world
I refuse to see
Time will always be the thing that kills me truly
Open these eyes waking from a dream feigning
My lungs fill up with letdown
Disapointement in self and everyone
Expectation died in failure
Abandonment my unsavior
As I'm pulled under the tides of this fast paces world
I refuse to see
Time will always be the thing that kills me truly
Open these eyes waking from a dream feigning
Absolution at the sight of your demise
I know what I must do
Choke
Die choking on your every word
Swallow every blasphemy
Absolution at the sight of your demise
I know what I must do
Swallow every blasphemy
Eat out your heart and make it bleed
[solo]
Tie the noose around my neck
Make this life end!
03 Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr (04:51)
This face and lips tremble as it rips
Your breath quickening as heat rushes in
[Chorus]
Pull, Harder, Strings, Martyr
Stop you cry that's a lie
Flush gasping white reddening
You smile and destroy it
It's time that we end this
It's our curse that makes this world so hopeless
Allowing our king to spread his genocidal wings
Clawing the skin each kill your weakness
Annihilation your masturbation
Tyrant, I'll burn you down
[Chorus]
Pull, Harder, Strings, Martyr
Stop you cry that's a lie
Flush gasping white reddening
you smile and destroy it
It's time that we end this
It's our curse that makes this world so hopeless
Allowing our king to spread his genocidal wings
It's our curse that makes this world so hopeless
Allowing our king to spread his genocidal wings
My hands grip your throat I need your end,
Burned, Stalked, ripped apart - I avenge
For every life you have taken
I am here to repay
You ask me "oh god why?"
'cause i'm god that's fucking why
For every life you have taken
I am here to repay
[solo]
[Chorus]
Pull Harder on the String of your Martyr
Stop you cry that's a lie
Flush gasping white reddening
you smile and destroy it
It's time that we end this
It's our curse that makes this world so hopeless
Allowing our king to spread his genocidal wings
It's our curse that makes this world so hopeless
Allowing our king to spread his genocidal wings
It's our curse that makes this world so hopeless
Allowing our king to spread his genocidal wings
05 Ascendancy (04:25)
All this life shrouded in a veil
Of deception in association
But now
I will witness thee
With unblinding open eyes
Judas I bury you in your own blood
You only held me down from what I was suppose to be
Ascend above the ashes of the world I once knew
All this life shrouded in a veil
Of deception in association
But now
I will witness thee
With unblinding open eyes
Judas I bury you in your own blood
You only held me down from what I was suppose to be
Ascend above the ashes of the world I once knew
Ascendancy is the only thing this will prove
I spread the fuel with fire
Desire
To incinerate all
Behold I rise
phoenix, phoenix!
Ascend above the ashes
Ascend above it all (x2)
Judas I bury you in your own blood
You only held me down from what I was suppose to be
Ascend above the ashes of the world I once knew
Ascendancy is the only thing this will prove (x2)
06 A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation (05:56)
You starve your children on neglect
Then feed their bellies with fear (bellies with fear)
Concussion bat to the brain
Witness to a battered mother (battered mother)
[Chorus]
Your abuse will end right here
No longer will your family fear (no longer will your family fear)
A Gunshot to the head of trepidation (head of trepidation)
My promise if you ever lay a finger
Just look at the scars you make
Your terror makes your kids break (make you kids break)
A broken home just as you were raised
With fist raised up to your children
[Chorus]
Your abuse will end right here
No longer will your family fear
A Gunshot to the head of trepidation
My promise if you ever lay a finger
This battle is on all
You've made beautiful Now hateful
You wretched life wrecker
Abuser
Now suffer
Open fire
On the desire of the man
Open fire
With strife we'll strike down the hand (open fire, build the pyre)
If i cant make you see the damage you've made(open fire, build the pyre)
I'll make you wish you'd never been alive
--------
SOLO:Beaulieu DUAL:Heafy DUAL:Beaulieu SOLO:Heafy
hey x24
Open fire
On the desire of the man
Open fire
With strife we'll strike down the hand
Open fire
On the desire of the man
Open fire
With strife we'll strike down the hand
(open fire, build the pyre)
If i cant make you see the damage you've made(open fire, build the pyre)
I'll make you wish you'd never been alive
07 Like Light to the Flies (05:41)
Behold our beloved revels in tragedy (in tragedy)
Self-denying avarice for bloodshed
Behold hypocrite
Those who run will be burned X4
Behold our beloved revels in tragedy (in tragedy)
Self-denying avarice for bloodshed
Behold hypocrite
Devoutly wished for blinded eyes
This tragedy's like light to flies
This seems to suit you better bleeding out the eyes (bleeding out the eyes)
hope's left in chain suspension,
Holding onto lies to make the truth
Behold our beloved revels in tragedy (in tragedy)
Self-denying avarice for bloodshed
Behold hypocrite
Those who run will be burned X4
Devoutly wished for blinded eyes
This tragedy's like light to flies
This seems to suit you better bleeding out the eyes (bleeding out the eyes)
hope's left in chain suspension,
Holding onto lies to make the truth
SOLO:Beaulieu
SOLO:Heafy
Devoutly wished for blinded eyes
This tragedy's like light to flies
This seems to suit you better bleeding out the eyes (bleeding out the eyes)
hope'sleft in chain suspension,
Holding onto lies to make the truth
This seems to suit you better bleeding out the eyes (bleeding out the eyes)
hope's left in chain suspension,
Holding onto lies to make the truth
Devoutly wished for blinded eyes
This tragedy's like light to flies
This seems to suit you better bleeding out the eyes (bleeding out the eyes)
hope'sleft in chain suspension,
Holding onto lies to make the truth
This seems to suit you better bleeding out the eyes (bleeding out the eyes)
hope's left in chain suspension,
Holding onto lies to make the truth
08 Dying in Your Arms (02:53)
I'm wearing thin wearing out becoming weak,
Holding hands with this rope she's my self-destructive,
Bleeding disease the things that makes it hard to breathe,
But if I shoved you far away,
This addict just starved again asphyxiated,
And now I see it's you that's tearing me ensnaring me,
This is me dying in your arms I cut you out now set me free,
Lynched high above what used to be,
In her gallows built for me,
So I escaped cut this noose around my,
Neck I break free to see the things you blinded me,
And I shoved you far away,
Now I live the life I dreamed of,
You're dead to me,
And now I see it's you that's tearing me ensnaring me,
This is me dying in your arms I cut you out now set me free,
And now I see it's you that's tearing me ensnaring me,
This is me dying in your arms I cut you out now set me free,
You poisoned my life,
So I take this knife,
And I cut you out,
Cut you out,
And now I see it's you that's tearing me ensnaring me,
This is me dying in your arms I cut you out now set me free,
And now I see it's you that's tearing me ensnaring me,
This is me dying in your arms I cut you out now set me free,
set me free
set me free
set me free
set me free
set me free
set me free
set me free
09 The Deceived (05:12)
Disintegration constituents to decompose of the parts
A malformation utopia systematic unity can't be achieved
Be numb to all the things
That force you to frame
We are the deceived
Lost in the foreseen
To wait for aforementioned dreams time will only tell
Tell that the promised have been failed
Behold your fellow man through centuries of control
Adhering to the decrees of a manufactured god
10 Suffocating Sight (03:48)
I am but a force, a satire of stability
Insecurity is an uphill struggle, it's me versus the world
The shore still starves,
For another,
Novel of my shipwrecked being tied up dried alive still breathing
The sands of time, from me are running out,
My hands shake, in apprehension,
Of every action I'm guilty of playing the victim,
The shore still starves,
For another,
Novel of my shipwrecked being tied up dried alive still breathing
The sands of time, for me are running out.
Just like the embrace of arms that made you
They'll surely destroy you.
Just like the embrace of arms that made you
They'll surely destroy you.
It's time for your panic,
Then it kills and makes, you manic,
Making its way inside - relax, it's alright,
Making its way inside - relax, it's alright
Panic grips your frantic breathing
I can't breathe, I can't breathe,i cant breathe!
Just like the embrace of arms that made you
They'll surely destroy you.
Just like the embrace of arms that made you
They'll surely destroy you.
Just like the embrace of arms that made you
They'll surely destroy you.
Just like the embrace of arms that made you
They'll surely destroy you.
11 Departure (05:41)
This weight is so unbearable caving my lungs
All my life seems to be flashing in front of my eyes(In front of my eyes)
Run away from all the pain-all the pain of life
Run away-From-All the pain-of-life
Ways of devotion turn to obsession open your eyes (open your eyes)
I want you to see what you've done to me crying out those eyes
Run away from all the pain-all the pain of life
Run away-From-All the pain-of-life
Bring my end (bring my end) to an end
Distance yourself from the pain that covers me
As I reach out for your hand to find there's nothing left for me
Razors kiss the vein overdose for pain
A 12 gauge cross kisses the forehead a savior in a shell
Sever me from the fall
Fuck the people, Fuck the world, Fuck it all
Open my arms
Bleed out the flood
In crimson I begin to drown (X2)
Run away from all the pain of life
Bring my end to an end
Distance yourself from the pain that covers me
As I reach out for your hand to find there's nothing left for me (X2)
12 Declaration (06:58)
Freedom is all I have to say in defense
Of what the world's becoming
A nation hell bent on choosing what's right
And how we should all live our lives
Fuck their ways
it is time to break free
Fuck their hate
acceptance is what we need
Equality for every race, sex, sexuality
And every choice to live our lives
And to you bigot cretin ignoramus
Mind your own goddamn fucking business
Fuck their ways
it is time to break free
Fuck their hate
acceptance is what we need
Holding onto what means makes us whole
Never letting their poison take control
Freezing the air (that stands between all of us)
Closing the eyes (bear witness to me)
Feeling the Fear (that stands between all of us)
Closing the eyes (bear witness to me)
I'll be right here
Falling away
Fighting on principle
I'll die 1000 times
Before I'll ever be them
Fighting on principle
I'll die 1000 times
Before I'll ever be them
Burn the scriptures
bury the governing
Free yourself
Break the structures
Declare Freedom
Burn the scriptures
bury the governing
Free yourself
Break the structures
Declare Freedom
Burn the scriptures
bury the governing
Free yourself
Break the structures
Declare Freedom
Burn the scriptures
bury the governing
Free yourself
Break the structures
Declare Freedom
BURN!!
Freedom is all I have to say in defense
Of what the world's becoming
A nation hell bent on choosing what's right
And how we should all live our lives
Fuck their ways
it is time to break free
Fuck their hate
acceptance is what we need
Holding onto what means makes us whole
Never letting their poison take control
Freezing the air (that stands between all of us)
Closing the eyes (bear witness to me)
Feeling the Fear (that stands between all of us)
Closing the eyes (bear witness to me)
Freezing the air (that stands between all of us)
Closing the eyes (bear witness to me)
Feeling the Fear (that stands between all of us)
Closing the eyes (bear witness to me)
13 Washing Away Me in the Tides (03:47)
Disgusted with what I see
So many pieces left of you and me
Glass falls like rain
I’ll crucify you for this pain.....for this pain
Tonight I leave this town
In love I’d burn it all down
To the ground you’re nothing to me
To the ground you’re fucking killing me
Abandon all hope washing away me in the tides
Unclenching the fists made round my neck accepting the end
Longing to see your face
So my hand can form into a mace
Everything smells of you
Even the gasoline that covers you
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Other reviews
By SimoneMB91
The album is a concentrate of power that alternates the melody of the choruses with the Growl chants.
Pull harder on the strings of your martyr... the solo at the end of the song, which I consider the most successful of the entire work!
