Review: “The Sin And The Sentence” by Trivium

In “The Sin And The Sentence”, Trivium are releasing their 8th studio album in a career that has seen the band rise from critical acclaim to commercial success since their 2003 debut “Ember to Inferno”. The addition of ex-Battlecross drummer Alex Bent to the bands lineup, indeed the bands third drummer since 2015’s “Silence In The Snow” had more than a few eyebrows raised, such has been the regularity of the changes. Three singles and two drum playthroughs appeared on-line in the build up to the albums release and the decision to drop opener and album title track “The Sin And The Sentence” as one of these was always a brave move. Fortunately it was the right one as it’s one of the strongest songs on the album and crutially captures the overall sound of the album into a single sub-six minute epic. The first thing that strikes you about the album as a whole after the first couple of listens is that it’s an amazing career summary of the bands back catalogue. From the four part “Making Of” documentary series it’s clear that this was not the intention but actually it works really well. Each song contains elements of music that would fit perfectly at some point in the bands history while adding new texturing and layering to make the whole sound so much better. Another thing that strikes you is how good the clean vocals are this time around. There is so much more polish, confidence and control in Matt Heafy’s delivery and he hits notes and ranges that have previosly eluded him. Unlike previous outing “Silence In The Snow”, the screams are back with this album, however they are used in a different way, to add contrast and colour, rather than to be something that is lead with. The exception to that is the brilliant mid album cut “The Wretchedness Inside” which sounds like it belongs on “In Waves”. Crushing riffs and screams but with the addition of a dark spoken work segment that really adds to the darkness. On the subject of vocals, there is a suprise gang chant on “Beyond Oblivion” is totally new for the band. As ever with Trivium, there are elements of thrash, black metal and progressive metal throughout the album and this time around each song has a piece of each in varying forms. There are blast beats on “Sever The Hand”, there are epic solos and harmonies between Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu and there is a real dynamic and creativity in the likes of “The Revanchist”, which is an epic master class for young pretenders to the crown. The album has great flow and consistency throughout, the quantity of quality material doesn’t let up throughout. There are little nuances that come out of the woodwork on repeated listens that will keep you coming back for more. It’s classic Trivium and classic Metal, indeed everything you could want from a modern metal album. While the band will probably never hit the heights of “Shogun” or “In Waves” again, the pair are very much in the “Classic” album vein, but this is very close. [4.5/5]

Tracklisting

0:00 – 5:45 The Sin And The Sentence
5:49 – 11:05 Beyond Oblivion
11:06 – 15:55 Other Worlds
15:56 – 19:59 The Heart From Your Hate
20:00 – 25:26 Betrayer
25:27 – 30:56 The Wretchedness Inside
30:58 – 34:36 Endless Night
34:38 – 40:01 Sever The Hand
40:03 – 44:32 Beauty In The Sorrow
44:34 – 51:51 The Revanchist
51:52 – 57:22 Thrown Into The Fire