For their graduation to the big leagues Trivium have cleaned up their sound a bit, but by no means have they sacrificed their prior vision or intensity. A faithful mixture of Gothenburg styled riffing of the highest caliber and 80's Bay Area thrash ala Metallica and Megadeth; "Ascendancy" is as much a modern metalcore album as it is a loving homage to the greats who helped to build the genre's foundations.

The first thing that stands out about this effort is the astonishingly high level of technical ability that is put on display. Dazzling solos and astute metal crunch instantly set the pace and rarely let up. Throaty vocals roar with determination and share their time with straight-faced melodic singing that allows for some nice dynamic interplay. But if anything, Trivium are a band driven by the almighty power of the guitar and in that regard "Ascendancy" has little faults - especially with an extremely competent, and often pummeling, rhythm section behind it.

However, as refreshing as it is to hear instrumental expertise and accomplished songwriting, there is one thing that quickly begins to weigh down the groups gradual progression. Nearly every one of their songs is layered with a watered-down melodic chorus or verse ala Killswitch Engage that just seem unnecessary and overdone. This constant flux quickly becomes repetitive and detracts from the aggressive energy the songs strive to build up. Timeless metal releases are those not plagued by the current trends and with nearly every band out there sounding more like Savatage than Slayer, one can't help but feel that the group have become too contemporary for their own good. That said, there's no denying that this is about as good as modern metalcore can currently get and Trivium have all but guaranteed their rise to the top.