Trivium
Shogun

THE REVIEW

"Shogun", the new album by Trivium, has been released, and no one has yet bothered to review it. Well, I thought, maybe no one noticed they made a new record, or maybe no one is interested in reviewing it since, reading the various comments on the reviews of "Ascendancy" and "The Crusade", it's clear that 99 out of 100 users find these young Americans rather terrible.

Now, I wouldn't exactly call myself their number one fan, but given the stir they have caused over the years with their entry onto the global metal scene, it seems at least necessary to analyze this latest effort of theirs regardless of what one might think, so I'll take care of it.

This work, in terms of creative effort, undoubtedly surpasses the previous ones. The songs have a considerably longer average length, and the number of tracks is slightly lower, perhaps a sign that more focus was placed on the substance of the individual pieces. The instrumental parts are all extremely well-crafted, Heafy and his companions exhibit exquisite technique (although too often they indulge in pointless showboating), and Matt presents a much more convincing growl. The tracks, at first listen, flow without much to highlight, but on closer examination, they show a significant qualitative leap. I would especially like to highlight "Kirsute Gomen", "Down From The Sky", and the title track "Shogun", which in its 11 minutes reaches levels of epicness never seen in previous works.

This album is a watershed in Trivium's career, from this moment they stand at a crossroads, which will lead them either to be enshrined in the hall of fame of metal or to be remembered as a mere passing phenomenon that mimicked the giants of the past. I feel inclined to consider it their best work so far and give it 3 stars, the next one they make will receive from me either zero or five, but I wholeheartedly hope for the latter.