Why do so many people hate this band?
Even I initially felt like I should dislike this band before I ever really heard them, causing me to fail to give them a chance. I think part of the problem is that Trivium started out as a straight-up metalcore band, as shown in this live video for "Ascendancy".
That kind of sucked right? It sounds bland and generic and doesn't merit repeat listens. The band isn't terrible, but there are better lesser known bands I have seen perform live.
After the somewhat successful run of "Ascendancy" the band began working on a follow-up album. Members began talking about how the album was more straight-up metal with clean vocals. "The Crusade" came out and instantly the haters trashed the band for selling out and ripping off Metallica and Testament. Matt Heafy even looks like a young Kirk Hammett.
Maybe he is a clone?
"The Crusade" is the point where I decided to give Trivium a chance after reading some positive reviews of the album. I did hear a lot of borrowing of riffs from thrash bands, but isn't all music a rehashed form of its predecessor? There is no 100% PURE music and there are countless bands the same haters of Trivium love that sound like other bands.
Songs like "Ignition" and "Entrance of the Conflagration" are awesome tunes that I thoroughly enjoyed. The band was definitely improving at this point and I no longer hated them.
The band gets better...
In 2008 Trivium started doing interviews in support of the new CD that was coming out called "Shogun". Heafy stated that the band was bringing back some of the screaming vocals along with the melodic vocals found throughout "The Crusade".
I'll admit that I have not purchased the full album yet (I didn't download it either), but the first two singles off the album ("Down From the Sky" and "Throes of Perdition") are good tracks that show the band finally getting into its own sound.
Check out the most recent video for "Throes of Perdition".
So in summary Trivium may have started out as a standard metalcore band, but they have grown into a unique band with its own sound. Even if you dislike them, there is no denying the band's technical ability.
Maybe we should all remember a little band called Pantera" (RIP), that started out as a glam metal band, then transformed into a Judas Priest sounding band ("Power Metal"), until finding its true sound on "Cowboys From Hell" and "Vulgar Display of Power".
Before there was Dimebagg Darrell, there was Diamond Darrell!
If Trivium is being hated for what they used to be, then maybe we should all open our minds to the new stuff and listen to it from as unbiased of a perspective as possible. Is Trivium the best band out there right now? Probably not. Are they a proficient metal band that writes great metal tunes that make you want to headbang? This metal show DJ thinks so.
3 comments:
Hear, hear.
Bravo.
I felt the same way about Ascendancy at first as well. But try going back to it now and you'll find it's easily just as good as the others, it's just a little hard to get into thats all.
Too true. I love Trivium. It took me a little while to get into Ascendency but its got some good songs. In fact, I'm sitting here at work listening to it. Its so hard, especially for a metal band, to have their own unique sound very early into their career. I think they just found it on Shogun, and I love it.
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