Trivium 20/3/06

It took me over a month and a half from the time I saw this gig to the time I finally tried to write this review. And the simple truth behind the delay was, it doesn’t and didn’t inspire me. I bought my ticket way back in November of 2005, knowing full well that this band were the next big hot sh*t. Knowing well enough that some tout them as the next-gen Metallica. But as they would later prove by a sleek rendition of Metallica’s Seek and Destory, where the rock heavyweights are clean and anthemic, Trivium are heartless, soulless fret-wankers, with Heafy’s unclean vocals irritatingly smeering the otherwise interesting apocalyptic, cryptic lyrics, with a brash, bludgeoning growl that just makes you want to bury your face into a cacophony of some Panic! At The Disco, for some light relief. For gawd’s sake, just sing the lyrics, you don’t have to sacrifice aggression for coherence. Try listening to At The Drive-In, or Pitchshifter, for some lessons.

Somewhat aggravating was the fact that my team West Ham were on Sky Sports the same night, in a quarter final of the FA Cup no less, against a beatable team in Man City. But not one to waste my money, spent on seeing a “might be alright” band at the “acoustically challenged” Guildhall, in the heart of the “metal music desert” of Southampton, I set the video timer (i.e. told my dad) to record the match, and arrived half hour after the door’s opened to avoid standing like a sad, muppet lone gigger, amongst the dreadful scum of the metal youth.

Having been thoroughly appalled by a) the extortionate price for a tour t-shirt – the only time I’ve known it cheaper to buy from the interweb, and b) the appalling print quality and design of said t-shirt – a two-tone red and gray (they are American) number, I bought my customary £3 pint, and planted my feet firmly on the plastic covering the wires running across the width of the hall, a good distance back from the action (I told you - half an hour after doors opened).

First support act Bloodsimple were already in full shite, an unholy dirge of melded guitar and growls, like a pit bull barking into a tin, and completely washed over me, registering absolutely no resonance, or remembrance. God Forbid weren’t much better, but again despite trying to listen to some of their stuff in advance, this is not the clean, smart, polished, energetic, captivating, melodic stuff I actually like.

I actually continued to write this review in August 2006, as I tried to update on all the gigs I’ve seen since January 2006, and my vague memories are only triggered by the bullet points I made at the time. So here goes – there was a 10 year old wearing a Cradle of Filth t-shirt – seriously? Not only are they a Cradle of Crap, but there is no way anyone, let alone a little dipsh*t, can possibly comprehend the point of the misogynistic, media-baiting, offence for offence’s sake, crap that gets barked out by Dani Filth. It’s music like this, that makes me struggle to defend the genre. And what on earth are the parents thinking? Another serial killer is created.

Trivium came on stage to We Will Rock You by Queen, and pretty much played their last album in it’s entirety, only pausing for an ego-boosting fret-off between the lead guitars, that whilst technically superb, had me looking at my watch, and somewhere in the mix was a sodding drum solo. Yawn. The metal kids entertained themselves by getting copious amounts of cups of water from the bar, pouring it all over themselves and throwing the rest into the crowd.

Much talk has been in relation to the encore (see I’m bored of talking about the main bulk of the gig already), which effectively amounted to snippets or complete renditions of other people’s songs – everything from Megadeth (Symphony of Destruction), Maiden (The Trooper), Pantera (Walk), even Green Day, Eminem and Lynnrd Sknnard. And you know what, the encore was actually more entertaining. Hearing an instantly recognisable riff was an absolute delight, compared to the turgid nonsense that had proceeded it. A rendition of Metallica’s Master of Puppets with audience member on vocals was good entertaining fun, and again marked Trivium as a covers band of some skill.

That’s all I can be bothered to say. They’re supporting Iron Maiden in December 06, but at least they’ll have a new album out (and a shorter set), but given a choice I’d never need see them again. Truly forgettable, although strangely I’ve now got a little urge to listen to the album again to just check why I was bothered in the first place. Oh, and West Ham won. F*ck yeah.