Kingcrimsonprog
Ember To Inferno is the debut album by thrash influenced Florida metalcore band Trivium, released on Lifeforce Records in 2003, two years before their breakthrough album ‘Ascendency.’
The album features concert favourite ‘Pillars Of Serpents,’ which is indicative of the style throughout; the harsh vocals, riff style and song structure neatly exemplifies the direction of the album as a whole. Therefor, if you enjoy that song then you should definitely pick up a copy of the album.
Obviously, the production is not as good as on later albums on a bigger record label, so the sound is a bit flatter and lacking in sheen than later albums, but is by no means demo quality and is only noticeably bad in comparison to later works. Furthermore, while Matt had the harsh vocals well nailed by this point, the clean vocals are not yet entirely perfected.
Don’t be put off by the album’s age or production however, it still contains music as good as on later Trivium releases. ‘If I Could Collapse The Masses’ for example, is a track that still rates among the band’s finest work, and the same could be said for the title track and the aforementioned ‘Pillars Of Serpants.’
In fact throughout the album, you’ll get challenging double-kick work and guitar solos that show off Trivium’s considerably talent as musicians and a bunch of enjoyable songs that still hold up now.
In summary, Ember To Inferno is a good album and Trivium fans should not hesitate to buy a copy, it mightn’t be the best choice of a first album for a prospective fan, but neither should it be ignored or viewed as anything less than a strong debut from a band who would go on to greater things.
*Newer versions of the album feature slightly altered artwork and bonus tracks including demos of tracks that would later appear on Ascendancy.