The following text field will produce suggestions that follow it as you type.

Ascendancy
Ascendancy

Ascendancy in Bloomington, MN

Current price: $9.99
Loading Inventory...
Get it at Barnes and Noble

Size: CD

Get it at Barnes and Noble
Trivium
has only grown stronger since 2003's
Ember to Inferno
. That album's mix of classic
thrash
(early
Metallica
) with 21st century
metalcore
rage and
progressive metal
flourish still roils here. But
Ascendancy
's fire is more ferocious and its transitions more confident, which means the band is even more dedicated to its clever throwback sound. This is even more impressive when you consider that no one in
is old enough to legally rent a car. The lineup has shifted -- joining vocalist/guitarist
Matt Heafy
and drummer
Travis Smith
are guitarist
Corey Beaulieu
and bassist
Paolo Gregoletto
. But they're a ridiculously tight quartet, unleashing thrilling dual guitar passages and pummeling kick drum gallops as surely as they do melodic breaks and vicious throat screeds. The verses of
"Rain"
and
"Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr"
blister the brain, while
Heafy
channels
James Hetfield
effortlessly in the choruses.
"Martyr"
is particularly insane, its hurricane solos piled on top of percussion that simply engulfs the rhythm. From a technical standpoint,
is often astounding. It's worth reading along when
's screaming becomes unintelligible. Though his lyrics cover familiar territory -- gloom 'n' doom, emotional pain, revenge -- he gets off great lines like "You ask me 'Oh God why?'/'Cause I'm God, that's f*cking why" and "Disintegration constituents to decompose of the parts."
Gregoletto
steps up for the intro to
"Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation"
before it transforms into a
rant,
"Deceived"
is downright melodic (but still totally heavy), and there's a great extended bank of guitar solos in
"Drowned and Torn Asunder"
's midsection.
aligns real-deal
with powerful modern influences. But at all times it's a platform for
's own crazed talent. ~ Johnny Loftus
Powered by Adeptmind