What The Dead Men Say

Despite really enjoying the albums before it, I personally felt that Trivium gained a new lease of life with the album The Sin And The Sentence. The new boost of energy is perhaps down to a better working environment, and the addition of Alex bent on drums. The same energy that lifted the band up is found on the bands 2020 release. An album titled, What The Dead Men Say. Trivium's ninth studio album is ten songs long, twelve if you pick up the Japanese copy (with acoustic renditions of Bleed Into Me and Scattering the Ashes tacked onto the end). In total it is forty six minutes long and again, it is produced by Josh Wilbur. The release was handled by Roadrunner Records, and was released in late April, 2020. It's a much easier listen than the previous album. The fact the album is ten minutes shorter just makes things feel less exhausting. The pacing of the record is also much stronger. The songs flow from one into the other very well. What The Dead Men Say, is a really a good solid album. It starts off with a melodic intro that slowly builds into the heavy metal sound that we've come to expect from Trivium. There's plenty of big catchy choruses and great chugging riffs. The lead guitar playing and harmonies found throughout the album are definitely the highlights. I feel that the boys in Trivium do not get the recognition they deserve for moments like these. The vocals have the same styles as the last few Trivium albums. It's a blend of Heafy's criminally underrated clean singing and the old school metalcore screaming. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone listening to Trivium at this point. The production of the album has been handled very well. I like the tone that Heafy and Beaulieu utilise with their guitars. It benefits both the heavy riffing and the more melodic moments well. The lead guitars and harmonies are very well mixed into the overall sound, not taking away from harder and heavier back end. All the instruments have some good panning work going on. The different drums featured on Alex's kit has their own spot in the mix and sounds very cool when he pulls out a big drum fill. The same can be said for the backing vocals and the previously mentioned guitar parts. It's all been very well put together. I have some gripes but they are few and aren't worth going on about in the bigger scheme of things. Alex Bent is a pretty solid drummer and I think he has done a world of good for Trivium. I do however find his drum fills to be pretty one dimensional. He rolls down the tom toms with no real pattern and it's very repetitive. Also, there's the fact that (yet again), the band's album has been engineered to be quite loud. It's not the worst in their catalogue but it would have been nice to have heard this record with more dynamics etc. Minor complaints aside, if you haven't picked up Silence In The Snow, The Sin And The Sentence or What The Dead Men Say, I do recommend it. The last three albums in the band's back catalogue are all worth owning. Trivium have become a great heavy metal band and the quality of their albums have been consistently good. They really are really starting to outclass a lot of bands.

Florida’s Trivium have been on a bit of a career high recently, with their album-of-the-year worthy previous album The Sin & The Sentence introducing the best drummer of their career and being the best collection of songs since their breakthrough. Momentum was high, as were expectations for their ninth album, 2020’s What The Dead Men Say. For me, The Sin & The Sentence is basically the best album the band have ever released, and not even by a slim margin. It was a highlight of the whole subgenre. This album, while maybe not just as vital, breath-taking and relentless as that was, is definitely a worthy follow-up. Like the previous album, it has an absolutely perfect production job from Josh Wilbur, tasteful minimalist artwork, jaw dropping drums from Alex Bent and a musical direction that combines all the various aspects of all the different things they’ve tried over the years and pushes it in new directions too. Whatever era of Trivium you like, be it the melodic and classic metal sounding Silence In The Snow style, the commercial Crusade style, the catchy and simplified Vengeance Falls style, the heavy Ascendancy & In Waves style… there’s a bit of everything, with all the good points and none of the bad. Its smooth, flowing, tasteful, and punchy. Its not cheesy, disjointed or boring. Basically, it’s a continuation of the absolute rage and perfection of the Sin & The Sentence style (although maybe a bit more melodic, with a few less blast-beats). Its a bit less immediate, but it makes up for it by being a grower. Its also succinct, with no filler, and the songs have complexity without overstaying their welcome. I saw someone on social media call it Silence In The Sentence and I think that fits quite nicely. There are some huge crunchy riffs, some excellent virtuoso solos and brilliant both harsh and clean vocals. Ever since Silence In The Snow, Matt Heafy’s vocals have been a whole other level, he’s as melodic and powerful as many of the best Traditional Metal heroes, and he can be emotive without being cheesy or sacharine. There are some damn memorable choruses here. Highlights include the harsh ‘Amongst The Shadows & The Stones’ the more direct and catchy ‘The Defiant’ and best of all, ‘Sickness Unto You’ which no Trivium fan should be without. In the past, the band had a lot of detractors for a range of different reasons, suspicious elitists who didn’t like the youthful band wearing Overkill t-shirts and playing Thrash riffs in with their Metalcore, young fans who didn’t understand the band growing and evolving with each album, fans of one era but not another. Its really nice that now the majority of people are stopping having to be defensive about liking Trivium. Judging by most of the reviews, this album seems to be pretty universally loved and the band are getting the respect and status they deserve. When the material is of this quality, you just can’t cross your arms and deny them anymore. This album is superb, and if you don’t check it out, you’re the one who is missing out.

What the Dead Men Say reeks of quality. Every song crushes your bones and flies off with your lungs. Trivium strikes a perfect balance as ever between effortless melodies and monstrous riffs. And you’ll have to tie your ear drums down before listening to Alex Bent’s drumming.

If you love Trivium at their most heavy / melodic then this album is for you. Heavy riffs branch into soaring chorus’s throughout and does not leave you disappointed. Not a confused album, this does what it says on the tin.

What an album, not a weak song on it. Vocals ,guitars and drums masterful. Haven't stopped playing this album. Well done Trivium.. I've been a fan for a long time.

Great follow up to The Sin and the Sentence. Catastrophist, The Defiant, Sickness Unto You, Scattering the Ashes & The Ones We Leave Behind are standouts for me. Songs are catchy, technical & complex. Brilliant album.

It's Trivium enough said. In the process of gradually getting all the albums on vinyl. They have to be my favourite band and have seen them live several times. What a band. This album will not dissappoint.

Another amazing album from trivium. Music and vocals are fantastic. A band I don't get tired of.

Great music cd

ottimo album per chi ha sempre seguito loro. consigliato.

Es un gran album, me encantan las canciones de este album, no me canso de escucharlo, super recomendado

Trivium does it again, I cannot even begin to describe how good this band is. All the members are so talented it's incredible.

今更レビューも遅いけど、アルバムが出た時にすぐ購入してます。 メタルコア界で一番勢いがあるバンドだと思うし、キイチの上手さは本当に凄い。 メタル全盛期時代にデビューしていたら神扱いされたはずなのに勿体ない！