There is variety, and then there is indecisiveness. Trivium have explored many different paths through the years, which is positive generally speaking. However, because they’ve been doing so from the very beginning of their career, there is no such thing as a ‘classic’ Trivium sound. Fans in Greece, being more traditional in their taste, hold ‘The Crusade’ in high regards, a record that the band isn’t particularly proud of, the British consider ‘Ascendancy’ the best thing they ever made, while US mainstream audiences jumped on board thanks to ‘Strife’, the lead single off ‘Vengeance Falls’. And then there is me; in my eyes ‘Shogun’ is the greatest moment in their discography. Go figure.
Now, ‘The Sin and the Sentence’ comes along, in an attempt to reunite us all. It has brutal vocals, but also tons of melody. It has commercial songs like ‘The Heart from your Hate’ but some rollercoasters as well. It combines Matt Heafy’s love for In Flames with Corey Beulieu’s adoration of Maiden. The most important thing though, is that it features some truly powerful tracks, ‘Beyond Oblivion’ and ‘The Revanchist’ fighting for the pole position.
This is an – at times – impressive release for Trivium, the best for some time, for which I would be even more excited if it wasn’t for Heafy’s apparent struggle to deliver the same vocal quality live.
