I suppose this was inevitable. Riding high on the awesome response to previous album Ascendancy (2005), Trivium release an album that doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Whether this is because Ascendancy effectively came out of nowhere and was a sucker-punch to the jaw of the over-saturated metalcore scene, is not clear. But, The Crusade, although sprinkled with promising dashes of genius and song-writing excellence, just doesn’t have the same impact.Take the lead single, “Anthem (We Are The Fire)”; not only is it not a very good single, it’s a little boring and very repetitive. Nothing about this song really made me sit up and think, ‘Wow, the boys have done it again!’ There is a wonderful guitar solo in here, though.
“Detonation” (a song released by the label before the album’s release) would have served lead-single duties far better, with its incredible sung-verse and chorus. But, even here, the song is held back by the rather boring beginning, with Matt Heafy’s gravely vocals prominent over his much better singing voice – the chorus towards the end is one of the best I’ve heard all year. To be fair, though, Heafy’s vocals are much better throughout the album as a whole, if tamer.
Metallica is clearly a heavy influence, as has already been pointed out by everyone who’s come close to this album. Thankfully, though, Heafy’s sung passages make the album stand apart from most other bands, and Corey Beaulieu’s impressive, melodic and catchy guitar solos are simply sublime on this record. If anything, I think perhaps his progress has been greater of them all.
The songs blend into one mass, seeming to be a single song interrupted by excellent melodic choruses. Which, on the surface, might sound great, but when the stuff in the middle will sound like something you’ve heard already, it’s not so good. The final, title track is an 8-minute instrumental that is more jam session than sublime musical passage. Disjointed and ultimately self-indulgent, it wasn't the best way to finish the album.
A pity, but it’ll still sell shedloads. If this album came before Ascendancy (and therefore a younger band), it would make sense, paying strong homage to their influences. But, it doesn’t, so I’m a little disappointed. This should have been the chance for Trivium to solidify their identity as an original force to be reckoned with.
Ultimately, The Crusade sounds like a step backwards. Not necessarily a bad step, but a step backwards nonetheless.
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