Shogun is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band, Trivium. The album lasts a duration of 66:41. It was released on September 30, 2008, through Roadrunner Records.

Lineup:

Matt Heafy – lead vocals, lead guitar

Corey Beaulieu – lead guitar, harsh backing vocals

Paolo Gregoletto – bass guitar, clean backing vocals

Travis Smith – drums, percussion

Production:

Produced by Nick Raskulinecz

Background:

Shogun is the album that helped Trivium develop their own unique sound. This album is Trivium's first progressive metal album that is far more complex than anything they had attempted prior to this album. Heafy's vocals are more brutal and powerful thanks to him growling instead of screaming like a banshee on Trivium's first two records and his cleans sound more melodic as well. The guitar work is taken to a ridiculously complex and progressive level on this release, which was ambitious and quite impressive. The bass work and drumming is also superb. The album debuted at No.23 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and has since sold 300,000 copies worldwide.

Track Listing:

1. "Kirisute Gomen" 6:28

I love the acoustic opening that transitions to booming drums and great sounding riffs to start this album off. This song represents the new Trivium, because it involves tempo changes, more aggressive clean vocals, and a change in Heafy's rough vocals to more of a growl. The rhythm guitar work on this song is far more complex and original than in the past. The lead guitar parts are also more impressive as well. This song is a great introduction to Trivium's new more innovative sound.

2. "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis" 6:49

Trivium utilizes more fast guitar riffs and powerful drumming to get this tracks started. The chorus to this track definitely stands out and is memorable because it slows the pace down and has an entirely different tone from the rest of the track's frantic pace. The guitar solos are superb and many of the riffs are among Trivium's best.

3. "Down from the Sky" 5:35

Now comes one of Trivium's most well known and classic tracks. The first time I heard this song, I definitely thought that this may have been the band's best that they had ever done. The buildup to the screaming verses and massive chorus demonstrate excellent songwriting. The thing that really takes this track to another level of heaviness is the absolutely huge powerful growls of Heafy and heavy riffs. I must say that this is one of the best songs on the entire record.

4. "Into the Mouth of Hell We March" 5:52

Another extremely catchy tune that is instantly recognizable from the album. The song is epic and features a mix of growls, cleans, and rougher vocals from Heafy. I love the chorus because of how memorable it is upon first listen. The use of several different guitar riffs also keeps this track very fresh with each listen. As usual, Trivium has some incredible guitar solos and thrash oriented moments as well.

5. "Throes of Perdition" 5:54

The intro guitar riff to this song is one of the most unique and memorable guitar riffs I have ever heard. My favorite part about this song though is the contrast between Heafy's melodic vocals and his brutal growls that happen before a very memorable chorus that is among Trivium's finest. This song has a lot of changing riffs and moods that really make it fresh and pleasing every time I listen to it. The guitar solos are ridiculously good as usual.

6. "Insurrection" 4:57

This is definitely one of the heaviest, if not the heaviest tracks on the album. It has a very thrash heavy intro, but soon completely changes sound and tempo to a very powerful Heafy growl. The heaviest part of the entire track is the breakdown when the tempo slows and Heafy begins to growl more aggressively than I have heard him attempt before this album. The guitar solos are amazing to make this track that much better. This song is among Trivium's heaviest work to date.

7. "The Calamity" 4:58

I love the extremely fast intro riff. Heafy's vocals are very enjoyable because his more melodic vocals during the chorus are epic and sound great. Obviously, Trivium shows off the duel guitar work as per usual during the verses and the growling is as heavy as it gets. The guitar solos are stellar and continue to prove why the duel guitar work of this band is among the best in heavy metal. This is one of the more straightforward tracks from the record, but that does not make it any less impressive.

8. "He Who Spawned the Furies" 4:08

This track has a bit of different sound to it when compared to the others so far on the album. Heafy again demonstrates his newfound guttural growls that make his voice even more dynamic. I must say that his melodic vocals during the chorus are probably some of his best cleans from the entire record. The breakdown of this track completely changes tempo and utilizes guttural growls, intense riffs, and shredding solos. This part of the song makes this song go from good to great and continues this album's absolute dominant nature.

9. "Of Prometheus and the Crucifix" 4:40

I really like how Trivium completely changes up their sound again with this memorable track. Heafy's vocals are his best sounding clean vocals that he had done up to this point in his career during this track. I love the song's complete change in musical mood to a more melodic sound thanks to mostly clean vocals throughout its entirety. The guitar solos are incredible, which is just a given with this band.

10. "Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven" 5:25

I love how epic the beginning guitar riffs of these tracks are and this song does not disappoint in the slightest. My favorite part of the track is its epic chorus that the song really builds up to throughout its entirety. Heafy again demonstrates his growls, but also shows some great more melodic vocals during the song's excellent chorus. The guitar solos are so fantastic as always when it comes to this band. Also the tempo change for the last two or so minutes to more of a groove metal sound was a nice touch.

11. "Shogun" 11:55

Now comes perhaps the most impressive piece of music that this band has ever written. It is the band at their most progressive nature thanks to changing tempos, vocals, guitar riffs, and mood changes throughout. This song was not initially among my favorite tracks from this album, but as time has passed, it is actually now my favorite from the album. The chorus is so uplifting and beautiful and really is a nice contrast to the remainder of the song. I love the incorporation of softer guitar work that includes an pleasant riff and a acoustic guitar in the background. This softer interlude in the middle of the song is a nice break that gives the listener a nice break from the heaviness. It also includes a very soulful guitar solo during this part of the track. When this soft interlude ends, the song explodes into complete chaos with a crazy fast shredding solo, intense drumming, and some of those low guttural growls that have become addictive from this album. The song then slows down again into the melodic chorus and ends with the song's main riff. This may just be the best song that the band has ever done.

Overall Scoring Scale:

0-19: Garbage

20-29: Very Poor

30-39: Poor

40-49: Below Average

50-59: Average

60-69: Above Average

70-79: Good

80-89: Awesome

90-100: Must Own

My Verdict:

Production:

Shogun sounds bigger and more epic than anything else from Trivium prior to its release. The guitar riffs are melodic and so powerful, the vocals amazing, and the drums have never sounded this strong on any Trivium record prior to this one.

Score: 20 / 20

Album Flow:

This album does not have a single song that would be classified as filler. Every song on this album is complete and serves a major purpose on the record. There are so many Trivium classics on this album that are all different from one another. Some songs are perhaps a bit too long, but I am really nitpicking at this point.

Score: 19 / 20

Song Writing:

The thing that I immediately noticed about Shogun was how amazingly consistent the songwriting is on this record is from start to finish. Every song is unique and each one feels like an epic. The guitar riffs and duel guitar solos are as impressive as you will find in metal. This album really represented a huge improvement in songwriting for the band because of how unique and original the songwriting is throughout the entirety of the record thanks to the progressive nature of almost every track.

Score: 59 / 60

Overall Score: 98 / 100

Shogun is a complex and powerful album that is known by many as the best album that this band has ever released. Trivium's newest album certainly gives this album some good competition, but for many Shogun will always be Trivium's magnum opus.