Trivium - The Crusade
You won't find an album from 2006 that is more derivative than Trivium's "The Crusade". The band boldly promised that it would be a "Master of Puppets" for the 2000s, and they pretty much delivered on that promise (or was it a threat?) American radio - for some reason that only the gods know why - decided to hand pick this band as the new leaders of heavy metal. And what a shame it is too, since they are now, more than ever, little else than a Metallica coverband. They want to be Metallica so badly that they even had singer Matt ditch his screaming approach for a Hetfield-esque growl. The music was put through the database of all things thrashy and comes out like a light thrash mish mash of Judas Priest, Slayer, Metallica, Iron Maiden and others. Riffs, hooks, etc are copied right out of the pages of those bands histories. And when you least expect it (maybe not too unsurprisingly) they give their sticky fingered lifted riffs a knockout overdose of modern "metalcore". The effect is enough to make the most true hearted metal fan gag a bit. "The Crusade" is bursting at the seams with moments that are anything but original. Its one flash of deja vu right after the other. That puzzling feeling of "haven't I heard this somewhere before?" With the answer being "yes...another song from a better band..."An assault of shameless rip offs (or would that be "tributes"?) that clutter the disc and leave not a shred of originality to be found.

The songs are aplenty, but one is much like the other with a riff change here and a solo switched there. Even the guitar solos seem lackluster and disjointed. It's like they just shoved them in anywhere they could, whether they really fit the song at that point - or belonged in the track at all for that matter. Its messy songwriting, but it is heavy. They get brownie points for that at least. Which get taken away for the lyrics as fast as they are awarded. Metal bands are often not known for the greatest of poetry in their works, but Trivium take it back to the old school. Not just any old school, but one on a third grade level. For all its weighty subject matter, and lofty intentions to drive home political views and what not with grandeur, the lyrical content seems more in line with the maturity of a very angry grade schooler. A tenacious but not particularly gifted tyke who caught five minutes of the evening news and picked up on the adult discussion about it, and is trying to seem worldly and above his level. He does this by discussing it at the most primitive of wordplay with such genius gems as "Bury you in a coffin made of your A coffin made of your deceptions" to identify just one silly section out of many. Its appreciative that they tried to be deep, but they just did not try hard enough. It must have been a busy day on the tour bus when the lyric session writing went down. Much like with the messy songwriting that received the same attentive care (or lack thereof).

There are a few good songs here that managed to somehow worm their way out. With all the subtlety of a sledgehammer the band covers the murder of Andrea Yates five children with "Entrance of the Conflagration". Miraculously, if you can look past the old news theme and simple "Yes I Can Read - Step One" type lyrics, it manages to nail a nice hook if nothing else. Disturbingly, alot of this album is pulled from old headlines dealing with dastardly deaths and written about on a child speak level with no grace, mystery, or tact whatsoever. "Unrepentant" covers Nazir Ahmad's murder of his daughters and stepdaughter with such charming lyrical snippets as: "For your honor, you will slaughter, everyone of your daughters." Yes, he was a sick madman. Does he need more time in the spotlight even though the final spin is not a positive one? And should these ancient newsflash headlines be boiled down to such an elementary state that such tragic events are now exposed as fodder for an uncreative band to take advantage of? The whole idea of it, handled so shoddily just brings the album down even more, to a stomach sickening, voyeuristically perverse level.

Elsewhere "Ignition" sounds so close to "Puppets" it could have been a B-side, still it reeks of being regurgitated garbage. Matt nails the Hetfield impression until about halfway through when it turns from a fiercely guttural, angered delivery to more of a drawn out whine. From a whirlwind battery to weak whining, it just doesn't get much more pathetic than this.

"Tread the Floods" is especially notable. This one draws on the spirits of Iron Maiden of yore without being a total copy machine. Yet the rest suffer from sameness and the disc flows together haphazardly. Its difficult to pinpoint when one song ends and the other begins, they are all so alike and wallow in their unidentifiability with pride. Matt does his Hetfield impression over the entire lot and while the musicianship is not terrible, it could have been better. His supporting musicians are also doing their own odes to the Metallica of past, and manage to come up short in every possible way. Whether the riffs fit or not doesn't really matter when they are just noodling for even more pointless musical mess. But its heavy! Yes, it is heavy. The drums are tinny and the bass gets swallowed up by everything else. Even my monster of a subwoofer could not coax the bass out very well. Its just buried alive in this avalanche of a mix.

The few enamoured with the disc are immediately going to point to the instrumental. No it doesn't degrade itself by being another "Puppet". Instead it seems like the band just jammed every decent riff and solo in that they couldn't work into the other songs. It was either the scrap heap or shove it in here, and they chose the obvious solution. This makes for eight minutes of mind numbing instrumental wankery with no rhyme, reason or structure. The disjointed leaping from one shredding tangent to another is headache inducing and utterly boring. Does this band have one ounce of personality in their bones? A personality that wasn't borrowed on loan from others? Every idea is stolen property with no apologies. But with this much blatant copying and pasting, an apology would just bring down a hailstorm of ridicule.

"This World Can't Tear Us Apart" runs through a quick pacing and is drenched in 80s pop cheese lyrics. Hamfistedly created and horribly out of place, its hard to tell if its an ode to finding religion or a weird love story. "And Sadness Will Sear" tries the slower moody route but the melancholy only manages to penetrate the song so much with Matt Heafy yelling on top of it. Not to mention the plethora of generic riffs that populate the tune like festering old wounds. Atleast they are different enough to remain in memory, if only for a brief while.

Trivium love Metallica to the point of worship. The media has latched on to them to the point of nauseum. For a disc so devoid of inspiration and originality, and for radio to be be so taken with it just shows what an empty, bleak void was left when Metallica decided to change their sound. There are obviously ALOT of people out there so hungry for the band that they are willing to latch onto a poor man's copy and snap it up. Hook, line and sinker. Despite the fact that the disc is riddled with issues on its own, nevermind the shameless copying of other outfits. "The Crusade" is not a good CD. Not when compared to Metal Church or Pantera or any of their contemporaries they are so desperately trying to imitate. Its messy, its heavy but with all that anger energy, still manages to be boring. Its too far spread with the same repeating themes musically to make an impression and the lyrics just plain suck. The grotesque fascination with mainstream media sensational murders is also another strike against them. Such thought provoking material that is all too real is treated here with a shameful carelessness used more for shock value than anything else. Especially the way they decided to present it.

However...and this is a big however...if you are hell bent on getting in on the trend that is Trivium, then this review is not going to stop you. If a weak "Master of Puppets" is what you need in your life to achieve heavy metal happiness, then here you go. "The Crusade" fills that niche, if poorly.

Written by Alanna
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Show all reviews by Alanna

Ratings

Alanna: 2.5/10

Members: No members have rated this album yet.


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RevelationZ Comments


Comment by Pat (Anonymous) - Monday, February 5, 2007
Agreed.


Comment by Alex (Anonymous) - Monday, February 5, 2007
That was kind of harsh.....The reviewer exaggerates in most of her claims...


Comment by ThraX (Member) - Monday, February 5, 2007
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I think this album is very good , while yes I agree it's not totally orginal , it's very well excecuted and there is a lot of talent involved.....This is the type of album Metallica should be making these days!......I give this a 7/10

Posted by ThraX
Monday, February 5, 2007

Comment by metalman (Anonymous) - Tuesday, February 6, 2007
a 2 is harsh
but its not a good album

a 4 from me


Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Tuesday, February 6, 2007
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Comments: 245
This album gets marks detracted for
1. Stealing from so many bands shamelessly, its much more blatant that "little nods" or "tributes" or "familiarity" in the music, its all out thievery.
2. Poor, messy songwriting
3. All songs sounding much the same
4. The boring as hell instrumental
5. The lyrics. For their simplicity and lack of taste. That was really the final straw that brought it below average for me. The topics could have been handled interestingly or atleast with a little class. Bringing such brutal murders to a "teehee how edgy are we?" perverse level is just gross.
6. Lack of bass and hollow drum sound
7. NO originality at all

Thats enough isnt it? I really do not believe any of the claims are "exaggerated". Check out the album for yourself. Its bland, boring and has all the problems that were pointed out in the review and probably more. Extensive listening brings this point home pretty painfully.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Comment by The IRON MAN (Anonymous) - Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Oh, like I said, two sides of a coin.

I AM one of the most devoted of Metallica fans, so I can admit to the possibility of that being my draw to this band. However, I also appreciate the fact that these guys are trying to be resurrectionists of a style that, in my opinon, was last done justice on an album of the same name ... 1989's ...And Justice For All. I listen to a lot of the bands like Shadows Fall and Lamb of God who hold onto contemporary styles like a child clutching a torn teddy bear. Screaming and cookie monster vocals are a dying trend, IMO, and The Crusade helped add another death nail to the coffin of nu-metal.

Matt Heafy and Corey Buealieu are guitarists born in Hetfield and Hammet's fires, but their dual lead combo work bring to mind Megadeth more than Metallica. If Matt sounds like a pre-Load Hetfield, more props to him, because Hetfield has abandoned this tone for dead. Let Matt take it and run with it, if it fits him.

Sure, Trivium sound like the end of a funnel of most 80's speed metal bands, but ... is that a bad thing? Most of those bands aren't around and if they are, they've drastically changed their sytles, like Metallica, or time has taken its toll on them, like Maiden. Someone has to keep the fire burning, even if the flames burn just the same.

I found the lyrical content very profound, myself. A third grader wouldn't really know half the words used by Matt, hell, I didn't know what a Conflagration was until the album. I think that the writing of the lyrical matter was done with an intelligent edge to the point where I was very impressed with the thoughts presented on The Crusade.

Now ... to the instrumental. Yes, it is a mess, its very sloppy ... its no Orion or Ktulu or Anesthesia .... its mostly just a failed attempt. But hey, you can't always bat a perfect game. Effort above all should be rewarded here. For me, refreshing dynamics, hooks, melodies, and amazing technical work abandoned by most of metal's modern acts gains the most reward. In my opinion, well done guys. But that's all it is ... my opinion.


Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Tuesday, February 6, 2007
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Comments: 245
Ah "Conflagration" - the only five dollar word on the album. Everything else is very simplistic with cheesy lyrics. Besides the horrid bit shown as an example in my review there is the equally laughable: "Transform from Koi into a beast
Dragon", that literally erupts the listener into chuckles (in my case anyway). The lyrical content needs ALOT of work, as does alot of the album.

But these guys are young. Touring with Metallica and Iron Maiden overly starstruck them. They can do better. The previous disc, "Ascendency" was VERY different and had Heafy doing a different vocal style. It worked in their favor because their sound was somewhat unique and not a patchwork of stolen ideas. I will be interested to see how they decide to progress from this point.

I whole heartedly agree that there needs to be more bands willing to carry the torch of the speed metal flame, but utter ripoffs like this is not what the genre needs. It did get the media's attention, but thats not enough.

"The Crusade" is simply not a good album and I think Metallica fans are so starved for the olden days that they will latch onto any familiar ghost from that past. Whether its derivative drivel or not. It *sounds* like a light weight Metallica, and that apparently is enough. Songwriting, musicianship, lyrics, and originality be damned.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Comment by Alex (Anonymous) - Wednesday, February 7, 2007
I concede that the style is not 'original'. However, to accuse them of outright 'thievery' is to imply that specific riffs, melodies or solos are snatched from elsewhere and reproduced note by note. For my part, i can cetainly spot stylistical similarity with, say, Testament (and is was rightly pointed out, with Hetfield as regards the vocals or even Nick Holmes) but I do not think I have spotted any such thievery.
After all, as the reviewer concedes, the 'style' of the Crusade is an amalgam of Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron Maiden (i would add others too), which by itself implies that they are more versatile than the review suggests. As far as I am concerned, generating a sound that borrows more many influences is not a reason for which this band (or any band) should be concerned. Plus, it also suggests that they are not a carbon copy of Metallica. I cannot understand why the reviewer cannot spot 'the bass'. It's easily audible and well integrated with the rest of the sound, even If i dont have the reviewer's high-tech subwoofer. The instrumental is not original in any way, but it is excellent in many ways. All the songs sound the same? I cant see how 'Tread the Floods' is similar to 'Anthem', and how 'Anthem' is similar to 'Ignition' (cause they are not).

So originality? Definitely not. But there's good musicianship here, solid compositions, the vocals are great (yes, he sounds like Hetfield - and that's the reason he's great). Thumbs up for a group of youngsters (Heafy was born in 1986) who had the guts to play in a sound that is no longer fashionable and succeed. They deserve it.

I would give this album a 7.5/10 at the very least.


Comment by Pat (Anonymous) - Wednesday, February 7, 2007
"I also appreciate the fact that these guys are trying to be resurrectionists of a style that"

What? It never left. We've got thrash bands, and curiously, bands that repackage thrash and call it "metalcore" or what have you.


Comment by Pat (Anonymous) - Wednesday, February 7, 2007
If you spend enough time dissecting Trivium songs, you'll see just how much they compare to a handful of 80s tracks. I don't think Lamb of God are very original either, which doesn't say much for Trivium.

Should be able to find the tabs at this point.


Comment by Matt (Anonymous) - Friday, February 9, 2007
Trivium have never been original. Ever.











Review by Alanna

Released by
Roadrunner - 2006

Tracklisting
# "Ignition" - 3:54
# "Detonation" - 4:28
# "Entrance of the Conflagration" - 4:35
# "Anthem (We Are the Fire)" - 4:03
# "Unrepentant" - 4:51
# "And Sadness Will Sear" - 3:34
# "Becoming the Dragon" - 4:43
# "To the Rats" - 3:42
# "This World Can't Tear Us Apart" - 3:30
# "Tread the Floods" - 3:33
# "Contempt Breeds Contamination" - 4:28
# "The Rising" - 3:45
# "The Crusade" - 8:19


Style
Thrash Metal

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Trivium - Official Website

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4 - Below average
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9 - Genius
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666 - Unrated

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