Trivium return with album, artwork and upcoming tour, which the band are treating as a “complete project”. “In Waves” is a unique effort and will be a big hit with many. Intro track “Capsizing the Sea” is an effective broken piano, an atmospheric opening with elements of Nine Inch Nails. This directly kicks into “In Waves”, which combines both the expected heaviness, and a nice clean melody. Though most of the instrumentation remains consistently and brilliantly technical, there are noticeable moments of simplicity. For example Heafy himself describes the chorus of In Waves as having "the simplest chorus we've ever had”. This has its benefits and perhaps Trivium are having a revelation that plenty of other bands in their genre need to share: Just because a song is complicated, doesn’t mean it’s good. The guitars have been hoisted up to drop D, but the uncluttered solos and riffs sound as though the band are playing more for the songs, rather than trying to deliberately play the most difficult songs as possible.

There are a lot of good things about this album. I particularly liked the unusual vocal harmonies in “Inceptions Of The End”, and the meaty “Dusk Dismantled”. Guitars and bass are as tight as ever and new drummer Nick Augusto is a highlight throughout and he retains complexity, creativity and flawlessness across the entire album. Heafy is on top form, his voice has definitely matured over the years and it particularly evident here.

There ‘s a lot of clean vocals and hooks in this album, making it accessible and tight, but for those of us who hoped for more of the older Trivium sound, this won’t fulfil. I personally feel that there’s something missing from this album. The tracks seem to merge together and though this was the intention of the concept album,I felt this was more of a set-back than artistic hook. Linking the songs makes it lack variety and means that no particular track jumps out to you.

Album Rating: 7/10
Best Tracks: “Dusk Dismantled”, “In Waves” ,“Black”