It’s hard to believe that Trivium, who still feel like a young band, have been treading the boards since 1999, but here we are in 2020 and the band are set to unleash their ninth studio album. Following on from the quite excellent The Sin And The Sentence, Trivium have kept faith with studio whizz Josh Wilbur (Lamb of God, Gojira), and the result is a crisp, clean selection of songs that frequently dazzle with their power and precision.
Opening with the short instrumental, IX, What The Dead Men Say properly kicks off with its title song, a belting track that is best described as classic Trivium, with its layered vocals, blistering solos and pulverising drums. Perhaps because they’re teamed up with the same producer, or perhaps because of the well-deserved praise that they received for The Sin And The Sentence, Trivium sound comfortable in their own skin, delivering What The Dead Men Say with considerable gusto. Nevertheless, it comes as some surprise when follow up song, Catastrophist emerges sounding like Stone Sour, with Matt sounding remarkably like Corey behind the mic. It’s a good song, albeit a couple of minutes over its fighting weight, but it really comes into its own as a martial beat from Alex Bent sends the whole thing spinning off into heavier pastures at the mid-point. Trivium, however, are not going to make things that easy to follow and, with the melodic strains of Catastrophist still echoing in the baffles, the band unleash the ferocious Among The Shadows And The Stones, a track that takes considerable pleasure in pummelling the listener into a bloody pulp with its mammoth riffs and harsh vocals. It may be one of the best tracks Trivium have yet put their name to, twisting and turning across its run time, and consistently sending the adrenalin racing through the veins. The first half reaches its conclusion surprisingly quickly, the short Bleed Into Me (coming in under four minutes in length) proving to be a melodic track, bruised yet defiant, that harks back to the underrated Crusade album.
Kicking off the album’s second half, The Defiant could well be the band’s unofficial anthem, combining anthemic, Maiden-esque riffing, harsh vocals and a sing-in-the-shower-until-your-vocal-chords-rupture chorus. Next up, the epic Sickness Unto You is one of those Trivium tracks that sees to take you on a tour of their influences, the band’s precision musicianship very much on display as vast melodies and coruscating percussion coalesce into an album highlight. The short, Scattering The Ashes is a near perfect blend of melodic and metallic Trivium, although the stabbing riffs of Bending The Arc To Fear are much more effective at setting the heart racing and the solos are particularly dizzying as the song reaches its climax. It leaves The Ones We Leave Behind to see the album out amidst a blizzard of double kick blasts and heroic riffs. It’s a fine concluding track to an album on which the quality levels rarely dip, and it marks the end to one of the most concise and compelling Trivium albums to date.
There is a huge amount to enjoy about What The Dead Men Say. Trivium sound incredibly comfortable in who they are, and confident in what they have to offer. Part of this comes down to their choice of Josh Wilbur, who did such an excellent job on the last album. He knows how to bring the best out of the band, and he does so without adding unnecessary bells or whistles. Moreover, the album rarely drags. Only Catastrophist overreaches a touch, a four-minute song in a six-and-a-half-minute shell; but it’s a minor misstep and, with the rest of the album so deftly edited, the album as a whole passes quickly. Overall, What The Dead Men Say is another impressive offering from the commendably consistent Trivium. 8.5
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