Trivium
In Waves

Just over 3 years have passed, and Trivium, one of the many most hated/loved bands in today's metal scene, are back with a new album, their fifth to be exact, which follows the acclaimed Shogun, still considered their highest artistic achievement so far. I am an average listener of this band, and I don't care if they are branded as a poser group, fake, sellouts, or whatever else you want to call them. I don’t care. I believe they have potential. In fact, I wanted to listen to the album in question to see if they have finally managed to find their path, their identity in this earthly life, their "self". Well, without exaggerating too much, to see how they would fare after a big hit like Shogun.

The album opens with "Capsizing the Sea," a dramatic and almost apocalyptic intro played with a distorted piano and driven by the drummer's snare (the new drummer, Nick Augusto). It then explodes with the immediate title track, "In Waves," the first single released by the band, powerful and incisive from the first listen, and immediately presents itself as the best song of the entire album. It follows with "Inception of the End," less impactful than the previous one and not memorable. In "Dusk Dismantled," Matt Heafy gives his best with his guttural voice (even with some help through mixing). "Watch the World Burn" goes unnoticed, a great pity, having started so well. The next two songs, "Black" and "A Skyline's Severance," are among the best tracks on the record, both having great momentum and demonstrating Nick's immense skill on the sticks, possibly superior to former member Travis Smith. After the instrumental and ethnic "Ensnare the Sun," we reach "Built to Fall," the second single extracted, less fast and decisive than the other tracks already analyzed, with an almost classic heavy vein, but it remains an enjoyable piece that doesn’t bore. Next is "Caustic Are the Ties That Bind," the song I consider the weakest of the entire album, as well as the most "lightweight." At least it demonstrates how Matt knows how to sing and not just rely on death growl/scream. To conclude, I'll make a brief mention of "Forsake Not the Dream," very good but requiring more listens to be fully appreciated. I'll stop here, the rest, unfortunately, leaves me completely indifferent. But I would keep an eye on the deluxe version of the album, where, among other tracks, the cover of Sepultura's Slave New World stands out, a decent interpretation but adding nothing new to the original, and "Shattering the Skies Above," originally composed last year for the video game God Of War III, which in my opinion, would have made a better impression if included in the standard version of the album, replacing one of the less deserving tracks. 

Therefore, we can say that it is a well-structured album, composed and played more than decently, with good ideas especially, but the consistent repetitiveness of some pieces lowers its value. It was really difficult to match the results achieved with Shogun, those who have heard it will understand, but it doesn’t seem to me at all the case to snub this album, which, despite having its ups and downs, is easy to listen to but requires repeated listens for almost total assimilation. Then again, those who suffer from migraines accompanied by nausea and vomiting due to the metalcore genre, you can stay away from it. As I said at the beginning, I believe in this band, it's still very young, has all the requirements and potential to deliver the new Master Of Puppets of the third millennium, and I am sure that, sooner or later (preferably sooner), it will succeed at carving out its own personality, distinguishable from other colleagues in the industry and, for those who stubbornly still believe it, from their favorite and much-admired band: Metallica.

SCORE = 72 / 100