Shogun

Trivium never asked to be described as "the next Metallica" by a hyperbolic British magazine or two, but because they tried to make the best of the opportunity instead of wilting away with apologetic shouts of "We're not worthy!," they've taken a hell of a lot of guff from radical heavy metal fans, already stirred up over the group's signing to the closest approximation to corporatism in their world: Roadrunner Records (who actually dare work with non-metal bands -- curse them!). Admittedly, the youthful Floridian quartet (whose confidence has been frequently misconstrued as arrogance) didn't help matters when the band followed its impressive sophomore album, Ascendancy, with an undisguised bid for wider commercial appeal via its inconsistent third album, The Crusade. Thus came something of a backlash even among their supporters, bringing, in turn, the stylistic retreat toward more uncompromising metallic terrain embodied by the group's fourth album, Shogun. On this outing, Trivium elevate their new millennium thrash to -- by their standards -- largely unprecedented heights of intensity and complexity, stacking riff upon riff (really good ones, too) into densely structured highlights such as "Down from the Sky," "Throes of Perdition," and the especially devastating "Kirisute Gomen" (which supposedly means "Pardon me while I cut off your head off" in Japanese).

Far be it from me to defend the likes of a band who has achieved such a high level of success by doing little more than filtering the highlights of METALLICA's career into a watered-down glass of Kool-Aid for the metalcore kids to slurp down like they were rockin' it in Jonestown. On top of ...

If 2006's The Crusade provides any indication, Trivium would like nothing more than to become the next Metallica.

Trivium - Shogun review: Shogun may well rankle the traditionalists, but in going back to basics Trivium have returned to a solid base.