Kingcrimsonprog I have a lot of love and respect for Trivium; the Floridian Metal band released their seventh full-length studio in 2015, entitled ‘Silence In The Snow’ on Roadrunner Records and it is one of the best in their discography. Words that come to mind when I think of Trivium include ‘Hard Working’ ‘Consistent’ and more and more these days ‘Underrated.’

‘Silence In The Snow’ sees the band diversifying their sound a little after their previous two albums arguably started to head too much down one particular aspect of their sound. This album experiments more with dynamics, with fast and slow, with cleaner singing and changes the primary focus from rhythm to guitar heroics. The clean slick production by Michael Baskette (Slash/Alter Bridge/Tremonti), the tasteful minimalistic art direction and even the lyrics all gel into one really solid whole. On paper it should be bland, but in practice it works remarkably well.

Musically, there’s a lot of guitar solos, a lot of lead lines, a few switches to acoustic guitar. There’s a few surprises too, such as the one Djenty moment in the middle of ‘Beneath The Sun’ and a sort of Power Metal moment at one stage as well. There’s even a guest appearance from Ishan on the intro track. Highlights include the moody ‘Pull Me From The Void,’ the speedy ‘The Thing That’s Killing Me’ and the excellent single ‘Blind Leading The Blind.’

The album features some of the best and most impressive and mature singing in the band’s career, in a way that feels natural and not like a calculated move. Trivium may have received an arguably unfair bit of a backlash last time they did the ‘we’re done with growling’ thing ten years ago, but unless you’re shallow and just plain out looking for drama you wouldn’t even notice here, the only thing you’d notice is the quality of the singing. Its not an exciting selling-point in and of itself… but when you hear it in context, and consider how perfectly crafted the material is as a whole, the record ends up feeling damn pretty strong and creatively viable.

Overall; To me, there’s something about the songwriting that feels a bit more considered. A bit less auto-pilot and a bit less filler. I like everything the band have put out, but this to me is one of their better records. More than three quarters of this album I’d love to see live, and would put on any Trivium compilation or playlist. If someone said they were going to check out the band and asked me if this album was a good starting point I wouldn’t jump out and say ‘start elsewhere.’ If you like the band, this is a fine record and absolutely worth your money, your time and your attention.