Year : 2020
Total Time: 46:32
Label: Roadrunner Records
When a new album comes from a band that knows how to play great modern Heavy Metal (without having any bad moment among its eight previous releases), the whole Metal community is there, waiting anxiously to see the result.
In this case, the result is more than impressive! Many people in the past have blamed TRIVIUM for a kind of “identity crisis”, for songs that heavily rely on the melodic choruses and just build on it, not giving as much attention to the rest of the track. Personally, I find these accusations completely unfounded. Yes, this album contains some commercial and mainstream situations, there are points that are not as guitar oriented as “Shogun”, with “Bleed Into Me” first of all. But basically, the Heavy attack, the endless melodic/offensive guitar riffs between Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu, the angry bass of Paolo Gregoletto is here and they are all thunderous! Alex Bent has been here since 2017 at their previous effort and seems to be the drummer we want to hear! The man does an incredibly technical job, thing that you will understand from the very first second! Matt’s voice has improved tremendously, and now he’s back with that grizzly voice that he had not been trying for so many years. We totally missed that!
Why are those allegations against TRIVIUM unfair? Listen to “The Defiant” to feel young again. To understand how a Metalcore band can easily write a -soon to be Hall of Fame- song of this genre. Listen to the self- titled track, to understand what a “sticky” refrain and super aggressive riffing this band is able to compose. Listen to the “Catastrophist” to understand how Metalcore elements, progressive ones, mixed with melody and different kind of riffs can fit in a few minutes and how they can be combined together. Listen to “Amongst The Shadows & The Stones” to understand how this band can write their heaviest song yet, in 2020. Even “Bleed Into Me”, “Sickness Unto You” and “Scattering The Ashes”, especially the last one, have incredibly “sticky” choruses, although they are definitely more radio friendly. We should totally mention the very guitar oriented-thrashy, “Bending The Arc To Fear”. The whole musical adventure closes with “The Ones We Leave Behind”, which is another hit, destined to create chaos when played live, when the time for the tour comes. And it certainly contains one of the catchiest riffs they have ever written (towards the end of the song).
In “What The Dead Men Say”, TRIVIUM are showcasing all the influences from every part of their career. Thrash, Death, Heavy, Progressive elements make their appearance, and they all fit in just great! It also contains (yes, I will say it!) the best Metal Album production we have heard the last several months in the entire metal genre. Kudos to the producer!
So, what’s “What The Dead Men Say”? A middle finger raised to those who believe that TRIVIUM are over. Those who believe they can no longer write heavy tracks, that they can’t even come close to releasing an album, which is to be a candidate for the best album of the year. So here they are, proving all those people dead wrong.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: George Kourou
Related Link: TRIVIUM – Official Page
