One benefit, and I use the term with a feather-light touch, arising from the world’s current predicament, is that I’ve been able to bury my head firmly into the ever-bloating monolith of new music waiting patiently in line to swarm my unsuspecting ear drums…
Tackling the gamut of the thousands of self-proclaimed pioneers can be an arduous task, so it’s comforting to see the worn-in trousers of a flagship act resurface to justify my neglection of chilling thoughts like trying something new; enter Trivium.
After having my face melted off by the drip-fed content Trivium has mercifully secreted out since late February with singles Catastrophist and soon to be title-track What the Dead Men Say, I was content to reside till April 27th for the album’s release for another helping of Trivium’s magic. Amongst the Stone and the Shadows (ATSATS is no less of a headache to be frank), then, is the fiver you find down the back of the sofa although we might have to start talking in gold slabs before we reach anything as heavy as this song.
Without even buying us dinner first, Trivium leaps upon us with a beleaguering chorus to perturb the waters. It’s a simple affair with vocalist Matt Heafy unleashing short jabs as a thrashing riff uncoils itself before heading into the escalating verse notes and heroic pre-chorus. It’s a constant scaling of rage as ATSATS increasingly furrows its brow before settling into instrumental mayhem with numerous guitar harmonics, well pronounced solos and even a false ending that jolts us back upright for an incoming verse.
The twists and turns of Trivium’s songwriting here, with the various riff alterations and frenetic pace changes, raises eyebrows but what opens eyes is the production. It’s remarkably clean but doesn’t dissolve into being artificial with the drums in particular sporting a diverse palette that thrives in the track’s clarity. One exception worth noting is that, stacked against this spotless soundscape, the second solo sounds like it was recorded submerged in treacle. It’s no deal breaker but it’s a rather sore thumb on an otherwise dazzling set of fingers.
Finger metaphors aside, ATSATS has me rather excited for What the Dead Men Say (probably not a lot considering they’re dead) and with eight days to kill and a large amount of nothing to do in between I’ll be entering a small hibernation till that day is upon us.
Rating: 8.5/10
By Alex Mace
Feature Image Credit: Roadrunner Records