Trivium

Holy crap do these guys ever love Metallica. Trivium front-man Matt Heafy does his best to channel James Hetfield on almost every note of this record — and he sure as hell sounds like him. Unfortunately, the Hetfield in question here is the horrendous version we heard on St. Anger (an album that should have a negative connotation for any former fan of Metallica). The vocal lines on The Crusade are rarely harsh, and come off sounding as if the singer from Good Charlotte started a Bay-Area thrash band. What’s even more disappointing is that Trivium’s previous album, Ascendancy, showed flashes of viciousness, especially from Heafy. Alas, the once-intense vocals have all but disappeared. Interestingly enough; the strongest track by far on this album is the closer, which is an instrumental. This song —the title track — shows off the strong musicianship from the band and they may have a bright future ahead of them (Heafy is a mere 20 years old). However, The Crusade falls flat when you realise that most of it sounds too similar and is ultimately forgettable. At least the legions of high school aged metal kids are going to love it.