‘What the Dead Men Say’ the previous and fantastic Trivium record had the bad luck to come out during the worst possible time, as sanitary restrictions made it impossible for the metal group to go out and perform its songs live. When its successor was announced, without any touring in between, the truth is I was a little skeptical. Is there truly such an abundance of inspiration in the Trivium camp?
With ‘In the Court of the Dragon’, these Floridians give a convincing and resounding answer. The record is just as good, if not better. It’s heavier, thrashier, Heafy and Beaulieu play their socks off, check out ‘Like a Sword Over Damocles’ for irrefutable proof, and, simultaneously more confident, with longer songs and direct references to ‘Shogun’, their most technical and ambitious album up until now. This second aspect is perfectly illustrated on ‘The Shadow of the Abattoir’, a shining moment in the group’s discography as a whole. And since I used the word ‘discography’, can you think of any band for which one could seriously claim their 10th (!) record to be its best one to date?
Trivum, with the recruiting of Alex Bent and beginning on ‘The Sin and the Sentence’, have made one of the most impressive comebacks of all time – even if you snubbed their past, their present deserves your undivided attention.
