There is obviously something very special about the air in Florida, as the southern state has spawned so many angry metal bands. Obituary, Iced Earth, Death and who not (just to name a few of the cut throats). Trivium on the other hand never enjoyed the all out respect from the metal fans that their neighbours did and still do receive. Maybe because they broke through too young, they made a name too fast, the media also shoved them in people’s faces more than necessary, they were also laleled as “the new Metallica” – a lot of things metalheads do not like. Well, now all of the band’s members have crossed the psychological bar of 20 years of age and are eager to show they’re no mere sensation but a respectable metal band instead. “Shogun” starts with “Kiristue Gomen” that is not only the musical equivalent of a decapitation – the song is named after the ancient Japanese rule that a samurai is allowed to cut your head off if you make him angry. Melodic riffs, Metallica-influenced singing and spontaneous death metal bursts create one hell of a metal monster. Things continue in the same vein with the first videotaped song “Down from the Sky” where a melodic eastern-influenced intro just sets the red carpet for a modern metal anthem. “Insurrection” is probably the band’s thrashiest song ever, as the track crushes on every front. The last song is the title one and this is where things take absolutely serious form – a catchy melodic intro, mid tempo groove driven verses, melodic choruses, acoustic interludes, one hell of a solo, and a triumphant ending – 11 (!!!!) minutes of perfect epic metal. Made me remember “The March” by Bulgarian heavy metal heroes Ahat! The band themselves admit they’ve tried to make an album that combines all they had to offer so far – the clean singing dominated epic “The Crusade” (2006) and the more metalcore punches of “Ascendancy” (2005) and “Ember to Inferno” (2003), The result is not a musical fankenstein but a full-blood serious metal album instead. Also a victory over their label that wanted them to become a “new Metallica” and made them into a pale copy on the previous record. And after all here they sing about shoguns, samurai, marching armies and decapitating peasants… what more could one want?