MetalSucks

Hats off and horns up for Nika Shilobod, who correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to Gravestorm. Nika wins a super-sweet limited edition copy of Soulfly’s self-titled  debut. Niiiiiiiiiice.

This week the metal masters at Roadrunner have given us five, count ‘em five, copies of Trivium’s new album, Shogun, to bestow upon you, the MetalSucks Maniacs. This is one of the most anticipated metal releases of the year and we happen to think it’s pretty awesome (check out Vince’s review here). So now’s a chance to get a copy for FREE!!!

All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl [at] metalsucks.net. We’ll randomly select five winners from everyone who gets it right, and announce his or her names next week.

This week’s logo ain’t all that hard, so try not to fuck it up!!!

-AR

Trivium are a controversial metal band to be sure. Fans of the band cite their musicianship and songwriting ability as a testament to the band’s talent at such a young stage in their career while their detractors focus on what essentially amounts to their mainstream appeal as a calling card for “false metal.” With Shogun, their fourth full-length album and third for Roadrunner Records, Trivium had a lot to prove: could the band outgrow their sometimes derivative (but still very good to these ears) past work and forge a sound all their own while retaining their mainstream metal appeal? The answer is a resounding “yes;” with Shogun Trivium have truly found themselves. The vestiges of metalcore and Metallica-isms haven’t left Trivium’s sound completely but instead have seeped into the band’s being in a more organic way. Trivium now just sounds like Trivium, and Shogun — though not without shortcomings — is the culmination of the sound they’ve been building towards throughout their whole career.

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At this point, I really don’t imagine Slayer need any bait to lure fans to their concerts; I’ve seen them live quite a few times in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen the show be anything less than packed. Regardless of whether or not Slayer actually have anything to promote, if they play it, the fans will come.

Still, they’re trying out a little experiment, as explained in a press release:

“A brand-new Slayer album is expected in 2009, but some fans won’t have to wait that long to get an early listen to some of the new music.

“Fans who attend any of the upcoming European ‘Unholy Alliance Tour, Chapter III’ dates, will receive the new Slayer song via an exclusive download card that will also include special material from the entire tour’s line-up – Slayer, Mastodon, Trivium and Amon Amarth. The download card, along with a limited edition ‘Unholy Alliance Tour’ clothing patch, will be given away free only to ticket holders when they arrive at their local venue the night of the show.”

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Because deep down, even the most br00tal of the br00tal knows that metal can be really fuckin’ ridiculous. Kinda reminds me of Paranoidave’s Trivium spoof.

-VN

Trivium are one of those bands that seem to divide metal fans like Moses divided the Red Sea. Some see the band as leaders in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal (maybe not so new anymore) while some claim they’re wannabes posing in the name of false metal. Their latest album Shogun hits stores this coming Tuesday, September 30th, but the album hit the leak wire some time ago and it’s currently streaming on their MySpace page. No matter what you’ve thought of the band in the past (and we’ve always been supporters here at MS), there’s no denying that Shogun represents a huge step up for the band; or does it? Tell us what you think.

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Trivium’s new album, Shogun, gets its official release on Roadrunner a week from today, but the entire album is currently streaming on the band’s MySpace page.

If you’re one of the people who showed enough restraint not to download the album when it leaked a little while back, here’s your chance to preview before you buy. Or, if you’re one of those people who hates Trivium the way Sarah Palin hates science, here’s your chance to know thy enemy, as the saying goes. Y’know, in the unlikely event you wanna try and make an intelligent argument against the band, instead of just calling them and their fans “fagets.”

Also, read our interview with Trivium’s Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu here.

-AR

Perhaps in reaction to the recent leak of Shogun (September 30th, Roadrunner), Trivium have just posted the new song “Throes of Perdition” on their MySpace page. Having lived with the full album for about a month now, I can say with certainty that while “Throes of Perdition” isn’t the strongest song on the album (the first two tracks “Kirisute Gomen” and “Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis” are still my favorites) it’s a pretty solid one nonetheless and gives a good flavor of what Shogun sounds like overall; lots of guitar harmonizing, big riffs, a mix of singing and screaming, and a big, huge chorus. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being the next single.

Like the album as a whole, “Throes of Perdition” finally sounds like Trivium stepping away from their metalcore roots (Ascendancy), out-growing their Metallica idol worship (The Crusade) and stepping out on their own and just being Trivium. Shogun feels like the band’s most honest release to date. Quite honestly, I haven’t been able to take it out of my iPod rotation since I got it; nothing here is earth shattering, but it’s all about the songs, man, something so many metal bands forget about. Surely the “False Metal” haters will come out of the woodwork to rally against this band, but really — anyone who claims that any band is “false metal” is quite obviously false metal themselves.

-VN

Trivium’s new video, “Down from the Sky,” has hit the web, and apparently, director Ramon Boutviseth really likes the color green, or the movie Saw, or both.

ANYWAY, I actually really like the video. If you’re gonna incorporate found footage for the sake of trying to give your clip an apocalyptic feeling, using vintage newsreels is a much better move than using newer stuff. And while this isn’t necessarily the song I would have chosen to represent the band’s new album, Shogun, enough people have already heard some of the other stuff from the album that I s’pose it doesn’t really matter.

One thing I could live without in this video: the part at the beginning where the band is doing those hero poses. I know it’s a video and a certain amount of staging is to be expected, but come on, what year is this?

Roadrunner will release Shogun on September 30. While you’re thinking about it, why not read our interview with Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu?

-AR

It’s been kind of a roller coaster ride for Trivium, hasn’t it? Their debut LP, Ember to Inferno, caught the attention of Roadrunner Records’ legendary A&R man Monte Connor. Roadrunner subsequently released the band’s sophomore album Ascendancy to nearly-unanimous raves from critics and fans alike. Trivium, it seemed, were the future of metal incarnate.

Then came The Crusade. The album introduced some radically different sounds into the band’s repertoire, and seemed to divide their fan base.

So it’s little wonder that Trivium’s dynamic duo, Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu, feel that the band’s latest offering, Shogun (out September 30 on Roadrunner), is the band’s “make or break album.” But they’re insanely excited about the record, and with good reason – following the interview, Heafy personally commandeered a conference room in Roadrunner’s Manhattan offices so he could give the MetalSucks Masterminds a taste of what Shogun has to offer. What we heard that day was technical, heavy, and catchy all at once, a true hybrid of everything that made the band’s previous albums worth your time. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Shogun pretty much guarantees Trivium will remain atop the modern metal heap for some time to come.

And so, in the middle of a discussion about God Forbid guitarist/MetalSucks blogger Dallas Coyle, Axl and Vince roll tape on the interview…

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We still haven’t heard Shogun, the new Trvium album, but we have heard the first three tracks – and they slay. Anyone who felt let down by The Crusade should totally have their faith in the band renewed – it seems like the band really stepped it up for this one.

The opening track from Shogun (and my personal favorite of the three songs we’ve heard), “Kirisute Gomen,” will be avail for free download (for 24 hours only, Slipknot-style) on the Roadrunner Records website starting at midnight on July 31 (That’s midnight EST – e.g., NYC time. Just wanted to make that clear, lest I ever be accused of being geo-centric again). The song is worth your time, I promise. I mean, what do you have to lose? It’s FREE, right?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go try and find out what the fuck “Kirisute Gomen” means.

-AR

After fellating Protest the Hero’s incredible early-2008 release Fortress for two months solid (culminating in my first ever 5 of 5 horns review), I was immediately let down by successive announcements that the band would be touring with shit emo bands through the entire summer. Finally someone in the band’s camp has come to their senses and packaged them with a lineup that will put them in front of the metal audience that NEEDS to know about this band. And finally, I will be able to go see them live. Lambgoat is reporting a fall tour with Protest playing direct support for Unearth, with The Acacia Strain, Whitechapel and Gwen Stacy also on the bill.

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This one shows Lars instructing the recording engineer to digitally move a guitar note he doesn’t like. Hmm… Maybe Trivium is influencing Metallica this time around? Of all possible mindfucks…

-VN

So yesterday Trivium posted a new “from the studio” video update in which they focused on the fact that they aren’t relying on ProTools trickery as much during the recording process of their new album Shogun. I’ve written about this at length before… But it’s kind of sad just how much bands rely on ProTools shenanigans to record these days. Most modern metal records have the snare and bass drums sound-replaced with pre-recorded sample, and errant hits are moved so that they line up with a grid. Parts of different takes are cut together instead of having to play the whole thing correctly (for every instrument). Guitars are recorded clean and then “re-amped” during the mixing process.

The fact that Trivium are taking a more natural (relatively) approach this time around is good news, but the fact that this is newsworthy is crazy. If you really wanted to make a natural record you’d do it live in one take with all the band members standing in a room together. This will never happen, nor would Roadrunner allow it to. Nor am I convinced the result would be good if this happened. But, I guess for Trivium it’s a step in the right direction. Heafy and co. are proficient enough musicians, and with Nick Raskulinecz behind the boards I’m sure the result will be great from a sonic standpoint. Though I’m convinced their shoddy drummer is going to have problems.

-VN

Here’s a band that we haven’t talked about in a really long while, I guess just because they’ve had some down time after a 2-album, 4-year non-stop touring whirlwind. Expect to hear about Trivium a whole lot more in the coming weeks and months; as Axl reported below, they’ve just announced September 30th as a release date for their as-of-yet untitled 3rd album.

Prediction: this is going to be one of those controversial bands that people LOVE to argue about (see also: Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Disturbed) because of their flirtations with both mainstream success and the metal underground. It’s way too early to say what this album will sound like (and the below preview clip that Axl posted certainly doesn’t help any), but I think it’s safe to say it won’t be a Metallica rehash like 2006’s The Crusade after the backlash that followed.

A lot of people wrote off Trivium early because of their quick rise to success and their association with the metalcore movement. Maybe that’s a fair assessment, and maybe it isn’t. But I have to say, a couple of months ago I put on Ascendancy for the first time in a year or two, and that is a ridiculously solid album through and through.

What do you all think of Trivium?

-VN

1. There’s a brief snippet of a new Slipknot song, “All Hope is Gone,” available on Amazon. Based on these thirty or so seconds, I’d say it sounds like a super-catchy slice of pop metal in the vein of Vol. 3. Which is a good thing. In any case, it gets an official release this Friday, June 20 (and there will also be a “heavier” song sent out to radio stations in the next week or two), so we should have a better sense of the track soon. Thanks to every MetalSucks reader, because I’m fairly certain each and every one of you e-mailed us about this over the weekend.
2. There’s also a brief snippet of a new Soulfly song, “Unleash,” on Amazon. Based on these thirty or so seconds, I’d say it sounds like Soulfly. It gets an official release next Tuesday, June 24.
3. Blabbermouth reports that Trivium’s new album, which may or may not be called Shogun, will drop September 30. Below you can watch a “teaser” for the new album, although it’s even lamer than the teaser Slipknot released last month. Nothing to get you excited about new music than a pulsating graphic accompanied by no music whatsoever, right?

-AR

Holy crap, dude. Did you hear about this awesome new tour? It’s gonna be rad, dude. It’s Desaster with Throwdown, Airbourne, and Trivium are the headliners. It’s called the “Close Your Eyes” tour, ’cause if you close your eyes, you’ll think you’re at some awesome show with Venom, Pantera, AC/DC and Metallica. For reals, dude!

What’s that, dude? Oh, you don’t know Desaster? Yeah, they’re these totally smart black metal dudes. Like, while those chumps in Sigh were off recording a tribute to Venom, this band just made an album that sounds exactly like Venom – and they don’t have to pay any of the royalties! I know, dude, it’s totally sick, isn’t? Totes sicko.

Cool, dude. So I’ll see you at the show. And, hey, did I mention the best part? Each ticket comes with a free blindfold! WICKED!

(one and a half out of five horns)

-AR

The resemblance is uncanny. In fact, there have been times that I’ve been convinced that Sarah Connor Chronicles star Summer Glau is in fact the singer for Trivium and Matt Heafy is a cyborg from the future. –OR– Who has nicer hair?

Am I the only one to notice this?

-VN

It’s the end of the week here at MetalSucks but the metal never stops, even though our own Axl Rosenberg is busy moving his life-size Guns N’ Roses wax statues to his new apartment. So while it’s just good ol’ Vince posting today, we’ve still got lots of good stuff. First off, MTV’s Headbanger’s Blog has posted another entry in the burgeoning field of lyrical video spoofs, this time to Slayer’s “Angel of Death,” by Cheeky Dave and Brave Sir Garrick. Check out the other interpretations we’ve posted: Pantera’s “Fucking Hostile” (Fucking Hoffstyle) and Trivium’s “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr.”

-VN

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