10 Metal Albums That Should Have Been Great (But Totally Weren't)

If I may speak subjectively for a second, I really like The Crusade (2006). Sure, it is far from being Trivium's best work (that distinction will always belong to successor, Shogun (2008)) but, at the same time, it performs its modus operandi pretty well. The melodies are decent (albeit sometimes cringe-inducing), the solos and riffs are still enticing and tracks like "Becoming the Dragon" and the eight-minute instrumental title track definitely hint at some of the progressive greatness that would come on the following album.

However, The Crusade divided audiences down the middle after the acclaimed hit that was Ascendancy (2005), so it earns its spot here. Apparently loved by the Europeans (especially Germany, according to the band) and the Japanese, and detested by the Brits and Americans, The Crusade was definitely too much of a tonal shift too soon, delivering almost no screaming on an album that came less than twelve months after the growlstravaganza that was Ascendancy.

Love the record or not, it's impossible to deny that The Crusade was just too massive a jump for fans, performed in too small a time frame.

Thankfully, Shogun would go onto restore the heaviness in glorious ways.