Review: Trivium - In Waves

Trivium is finally back with their first new album since 2008’s Shogun. While they have changed drummers from Travis Smith to Nick Augusto, the main writing has remained the same. I’ve liked Trivium (to the chagrin of some friends) since I first heard Ember To Inferno. They are very talented, play fast guitar riffs, and have stellar drumming that propels each album. As I opened up In Waves, I expected no less. The talent is still there, but I feel this album has a slight identity problem. With over an hour worth of tracks, there are two distinct styles of songs presented: super heavy thrash songs, and polished radio-ready rock songs. The thrash songs are everything you would expect, with punishing screams and intricate music to back it up. The radio songs have clean vocals and more subdued instrumentation. As far as song order, it just seems like the songs were peppered in. ‘Dusk Dismantled’ is a brutal song that sounds like it should short out your speakers, but leads right into ‘Watch The World Burn’ which seems like the perfect radio single. The stark contrast in style makes it a tough listen, since I listen to music based on how I feel. I think I’ll split this album into two playlists with and that will make it easier to digest. For Trivium fans, you’ll enjoy this outing; for new listeners, you might want to try a previous album first.