Author: Primož Novak
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Concert date: 02.04.2018
Attendance: 600
Ticket price: €30.00
When American metallers Trivium’s show in Slovenia was canceled a few years back, it looked like there just wasn’t enough interest to pull a bigger crowd. The albums after In Waves (2011) weren’t exactly received with open arms either. Last year, though, Trivium turned things around. The Sin and the Sentence got a great response, and the band started touring like crazy. After a successful US run, it was time for a European tour too, and Trivium hit the road with Power Trip and Venom Prison. Those two don’t quite fit Trivium’s style, but Trivium picked them personally because they both have potential. It was Easter Monday, and the area in front of Kino Šiška was slowly filling up. You could hear foreign accents in the crowd too, so the night definitely promised good things.
First up were Venom Prison, a young death metal band from Wales with one album and one EP under their belt. In a measly half hour, Venom Prison tried to win everyone over with aggressive, chaotic noise. The music was clearly death metal at its core, with hints of black metal and hardcore thrown in. The performance was confident, with the ferocious vocalist Larissa Stupar standing out, but sonically it was pretty exhausting. It all sounded like a disorganized »mess«, and during the solos especially, all you heard was random squealing. Pretty far from how they sound on their studio recordings. The ideas are interesting, but a bit of polish wouldn’t hurt.
American band Power Trip became a full-blown sensation last year when they dropped their second album, Nightmare Logic. The Texas quintet’s sound touches on that tried-and-true mix of thrash metal and crossover. Nothing revolutionary at first glance, but live they’re even more convincing than on the record. The five of them are tight, suitably aggressive and full of energy. The songs hit just hard enough, and the sound was clear, so you could really enjoy the set. With this show, Power Trip proved they’re on the right track. For fans of Slayer, Cro-Mags, Pantera and the like, Power Trip are required reading. They’d rather lean on old-school patterns than modern ones. No frills here, and even the soloing felt like it drew its inspiration from Slayer. Power Trip stick to proven formulas, but judging by the energetic show and how tight they are, they can climb high. At least to the level of Lamb of God, if the guys keep going in this direction.
Trivium need no long introduction. Quite a few people in the crowd had seen them abroad before, and some confirmed that two years ago Trivium weren’t in their best form. But after a lineup change and an album that won back people’s trust in the band, you simply have to give them another shot. For the intro, the band played Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills, then opened their set with The Sin and the Sentence from the latest album, which is the first chance for them to show what kind of shape they’re in. Mainly because it has all the ingredients Trivium are known for. Doubts were quickly silenced; the band is tight as clockwork. The instrumental side is truly convincing, and Heafy’s vocals sounded great too. New drummer Alex Bent shone as well, metronome-precise through the entire show. If a note slipped by during the solos, Bent seemed not to miss a single hit. The setlist was carefully picked, and the fans even chipped in a little beforehand by voting.
Next came Throes of Perdition from Shogun, which with its groovy thrash riffing is perfect for headbanging. Then it was back to the current album with Betrayer, but after that they remembered Ascendancy, the record that really put them on the map. The title track made it clear that metalcore has a few moves up its sleeve, and as a bonus the guitar duo of Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu threw in a fast solo duel, confirming their virtuosity and precise playing. Another jump to the current album: behind its pompous chorus, Sever the Hand hides a heavy thrash section that gives the song its real power and is made for going wild at shows. The good sound across the board helped make the gig a real pleasure. Trivium’s aggression didn’t let up until Until the World Goes Cold, a catchy track from Silence in the Snow with a standout chorus that the crowd sang back pretty loudly. A slightly more technical dose was served up with Becoming the Dragon, where bassist Paolo Gregoletto got to show off his chops too. Matt Heafy even strolled into the crowd with his guitar mid-song. Nothing to complain about with the setlist: it could be fast and punchy, melodic and catchy, and virtuosic all at once. After a good run, Trivium closed the main set with the current Beyond Oblivion, which mixes aggressive and softer elements and shows where the band stands right now. There was plenty of stylistic variety, and still they didn’t run out of room. The band announced the encore with Shattering the Skies Above, which hasn’t been in the set for a while, but a little variety never hurts. The evergreen Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr from Ascendancy is a staple. It’s the song that launched them out of the underground in 2005. Heafy even managed to get the crowd into a circle pit on the stairs. During the closing track, In Waves, the crowd went wild one last time, and Trivium wrapped up their set successfully and lived up to their reputation.
In their first-ever Slovenian show, Trivium displayed incredible tightness and a professionalism that comes from a lot of miles on the road. Power Trip convinced in a similar way and definitely look promising, while Venom Prison will need something more. All in all, a gig we’d happily look forward to again.
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