50 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2017

Among Trivium’s near-rabid fan-base, many are comparing the band’s new, thrashing trailblazer The Sin and the Sentence to what is often considered to be their greatest achievement: the lauded, progressive Shogun (2008). Not only are both discs among the band’s most tonally intricate work, reliant upon seven-string guitars and a blend of clean vocals and growls, but they also each came after what many fans consider to be a lacklustre record. In this case, The Sin and the Sentence is following up from the oft-derided Silence in the Snow (2015).

While I personally enjoyed Silence in the Snow as a simple slice of melodic rock that calls back to such groups as Dio and Def Leppard, many others did not feel the same way, labelling it as basic and lacking any real grit, vitriol or aggression.

Luckily, all of those aspects and more return in full force on The Sin and the Sentence, easily Trivium’s greatest achievement since In Waves (2011), making for a record that’s massive in every respect.

The vocals (both clean and unclean) from founder and front-man Matt Heafy, the riffs and solos from himself and co-shredder Corey Beaulieu, the drumming from newcomer Alex Bent, the sheer melodies, even Paolo Gregoletto’s bass… all of it has a sheer, palpable and omniscient enormity. Thus, The Sin & the Sentence feels like the culmination of every other Trivium album up to this point, blending Shogun, In Waves and Silence in the Snow in particular to craft a gargantuan beast of a record.