Since becoming one of the UK’s favourite metal bands with their acclaimed second album Ascendancy, Florida’s Trivium have trundled earnestly forward without threatening to emulate that initial flush of success.
If there’s any justice, that will all change if and when In Waves reaches the huge audience it deserves. Where 2008’s Shogun was sturdy but over-egged, this is a ferociously focused feast of smart, succinct and passionately-played modern metal that brims with anthemic choruses, razor-sharp hooks and moments of startling aggression.
While tinkering with a previously nebulous formula, the band have stumbled upon a definitive identity, as showcased amid the juddering riffs and arena-sized refrains of Watch The World Burn, Black, Built To Fall and the pleasingly thunderous title track.
There is great depth and diversity here too, exemplified by the ambitious Caustic Are The Ties That Bind and the bleak thud of Dusk Dismantled. Mission very much accomplished, we feel…
