Vengeance Falls

Vengeance Falls is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium, released October 10, 2013 in Japan, October 14 in UK, and October 15 in US via Roadrunner Records.

shadowdoom9
In Waves was (and still is) an absolutely awesome album, but Vengeance Falls? Well, it's another great album but not as high-level as In Waves. I still like this one, it has the same sound but many of its elements were reduced a little, making way for some more thrash. This album is probably just half Crusade, half In Waves.

Trivium had been bringing in more progressive ideas in the previous couple albums. The progressive reign still belongs to the great unbreakable magnum opus Shogun, but In Waves, still my #1 favorite album, has the band's high peak of metalcore with some slight progressive elements. However, like I said, Vengeance Falls sees the band tone down on many of those elements and once again add a bit more thrash. The album may be different, while still a throwback to their earlier albums. The instrumental interludes and mid-song passages are gone, with more of the simple classic song formula being used. David Draiman, vocalist of one of my brother's favorite bands Disturbed, produced the album, much to some Trivium fans' dismay, and helped the band stick to those basics. Despite the vocal melodies being a little annoying, the songs are still very solid and a few of them fit well with the formula.

The furious opener "Brave This Storm", is a great and catchy song, but the Disturbed formula has been too stabilized in the verses. The extreme title track and the memorable anthem "Strife" are two of the best songs in the album, with the latter song combining a small bit of the Disturbed formula with the band's signature thrash elements. "No Way to Heal" showcases the band's strong potential with the simple yet powerful formula mixed with a fair amount of rhythm changes for maximum effect.

"To Believe" is not the best track but still enjoyable. It has one of the more apparent examples of the Disturbed formula that makes the verses actually sound like a Disturbed song. "At the End of This War" and "Through Blood and Dirt and Bone" contains worthwhile clean vocals while still keeping some screaming, with Matt Heafy's voice growing and becoming more powerful.

The last 3 songs; "Villainy Thrives", "Incineration: the Broken World", and "Wake (The End is Nigh)" are what I consider the epic trilogy of the album. They are longer than the previous songs in the album with the latter two each reaching nearly 6 minutes. They break out of the Disturbed formula. The clean vocals and screams are back to their equal balance. The key signature varies with more than just D-flat minor. And they maintain their signature thrash-metalcore sound. Those 3 songs really bring this album to a pleasantly heavy end.

Despite the whole "Disturbed formula" thing, and the controversy caused by it, some songs in here really hit the spot despite some long-time fans not approving of them. David Draiman's involvement in production may throw some Trivium fans off, and the Disturbed influences might be some great flaws, but Trivium is still far better than Disturbed, though I respect my brother's interest in Disturbed. The album still has a cool sound and sweet guitar tone. I'm sure some of you would enjoy some of this album's highlights as much as their earlier material despite the Disturbed influences pulling harder on the strings of the band (get it?). But you know what you should direct your complaints to?! The band's next album Silence in the Snow! That album has an entirely different sound so unlike Trivium! More about that in the next review....

Favorites: "Strife", "No Way To Heal", "Through Blood And Dirt And Bone", "Incineration: The Broken World"

shadowdoom9 (Smith ghast4, shadowdoom9)

Reviewed June 2019 for Metal Academy