This is the original Kerrang! review of Trivium's In Waves from 2011.
2008 was a pivotal year for Trivium. When
Kerrang! spoke to frontman Matt Heafy as the band prepared to release their
fourth album, Shogun, the singer said, “If this album fails, then we’re
probably done.” At the time there was a feeling that their previous 2006
outing, The Crusade, had fallen short of the expectations of their fanbase,
all but expunging the screams and filing down their once harsh, abrasive edges.
Shogun did the job it had to do but, like The Crusade, it still sounded like a
reaction to pressures and expectations from both inside and outside the band.
The good news is that In Waves finally finds Trivium sounding comfortable in
their own skin again. And what a sound that is.
Stripping their sound down to its bare bones
before carefully re-fleshing the frame, In Waves takes elements from each
previous Trivium era and welds them together into one glorious whole. This is
not the sound of a band treading water that it could have been, but rather that
of a now-veteran act distilling the essence of everything they excel at into a
single devastating attack. At the heart of that is the fact that Matt and
fellow guitarist Corey Beaulieu clearly still know their way around a
fretboard. The fluid solos and dexterous riffs are all present and correct, only
their finger-mangling excesses are not reigned in when required, never allowing
a technical gear-shift to hog the limelight. Similarly, new drummer Nick
Augusto plays to suit the occasion, tempering his blistering blastbeats with a
simple, solid backbeat when that’s all the song needs.