“Carried through the gates, I will avenge my name.“
You know an album is good when you put it on and time flies by in an instant, which is the case with Matt Heafy’s solo album. Despite being a little over an hour long, Rashomon manages to hook you throughout with delicate instruments and just a touch of black metal influences over its course. If you dive into Rashomon thinking it to be just Trivium but black metal, you’ll be surprised, for it is much more than that. It builds up on Heafy’s more than a decade and a half’s monumental career in Trivium and presents something different yet on par, if not better than Trivium’s own material.
Deftly combining his Japanese heritage with the sound his band has been known for and adding some more subtle touches, Rashomon ends up being something that fans of every era of Trivium will find enjoyable. Every song combines a decade of Trivium into a 5 minute package then adds delicate tunes courtesy of various folk instrumental melodies. This feels like a breath of fresh air on songs like “Kagutsuchi” and “Ibaraki-Dōji”. They each possess a bridge focusing on the more cleaner side of Heafy’s vocals as well as toning down on the riffs to let the folk instruments shine.
“Tamashii No Houkai” starts with (and I kid you not) the coin pickup sound effect from Super Mario with similar experimental tidbits really make this album. There’s softer, more ballad leaning sections in songs like “Komorebi” and “Jigoko Dayū” which build up into an explosion of sound. The menacing sounds inspired from black metal give the album a unique character when paired with the more slower bits of the folk instruments. This dichotomy is seamlessly intertwined into every song, making it a rollercoaster of heavier and lighter tones where every element is given a pedestal to shine on.
Heafy definitely knows how to pick his singles. With the likes of Nergal (Behemoth), Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) and Ihsahn, the 3 singles featuring each of them are easily the best songs on the album. Each of those provide their own flavor making the song sound like their own while also leaving room for originality. The intersection of two different styles on all 3 of those make for some of the best moments on the album. Incorporating features is something I wished Trivium would have done more of for this is exactly why. “Rōnin” easily tops anything Trivium while being just a few seconds short of 10 minutes in length.
Rashomon exemplifies the versatility Heafy possesses. I am glad he took a detour, and a highly inspired one at that, for this album highlights his true potential and exhibits some of his best vocals and musicianship to date. Rashomon takes Ember To Inferno and In The Court Of The Dragon and everything in between to create something unique and fresh that is worth a listen to any fan of Trivium and metal in general.
8/10
Rashomon is out May 6th via Nuclear Blast Records & you can pre-order it here.