Top 10 Trivium Songs

Photo: Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Back in 2006, when Trivium released the record dubbed “The Crusade,” we all expected them to be the new Metallica. The record featured some hot thrash metal, fantastic guitar work, and some fantastic vocals. The record peaked at position 25, and it was evident that Trivium would take over the Metallica world.

However, we haven’t seen exactly what we expected back then, and to be fair to the band; they haven’t been so badly off. The band has taken a different path and dominated the heavy metal trail. The band was formed in 1999 and is currently composed of four members; Matt Heafy, the lead vocalist and the lead guitarist, Corey Beaulieu, Paolo Gregoletto, and Alex Bent.

The band released their debut album, Ember to Inferno, in 2003, and it was the only album released through their former record label, Lifeforce Records. Although the album barely made headlines, it introduced a young band that had all the qualities to make it to the biggest stage. Band members like Matt Heafy, who was 17 years old at the time of its release, showed passion, confidence, and maturity with their intuitive understanding of the basic principles of death metal. Trivium managed to catch the attention of Roadrunner Records, who later signed them to their record label.

The band released their second album, Ascendancy, in 2004, with the album making its debut on the Billboard 200 at position 151 and position four on the Top Heatseekers chart. The album represented a significant breakthrough for the band, and it was recognized by Kerrang! As the album of the year. The dual guitar passages, well-articulated beats, and vicious throat screams accompanied by pummeling kick drums endeared them to many heavy metal fans.

According to Matt Heafy, the Download Festival in Castle Donington, England, propelled the band to unseen levels of fame. Videos for their hit songs, “Like Light to the Flies” and “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr,” were played on rotation on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball and Scuzz TV, making the latter song one of the band’s most popular songs which they usually close their sets with.

In total, the band has released eight studio albums with Roadrunner Records and more than twenty singles. Their latest studio album, What the Dead Men Say, was released on 24th April 2020. However, the band is working on another album, In The Court of Dragon, which will be released later this year. Trivium have sold over one million albums globally and were nominated for the Grammy Awards in 2019 for their song, “Betrayal.” The band’s history is proof that they have a special place among the best heavy metal bands of the 2000s. Let’s take a look at Trivium’s top ten songs.

# 10 – Strife

Honestly speaking, this song contains one of the greatest guitar intros ever, while the riff and solo are just amazing. The song is included in the band’s sixth studio album, Vengeance Falls, one of their most daring and progressive albums.

# 9 – Like Light to the Flies

“Like Light to the Flies” is one of those great songs with a unique message behind their lyrics. The song is about how people are captivated by different forms of tragedy such as violence, murder, and war, which are the daily subjects of mainstream media. This song is epic, and you will absolutely love the guitar riff leading up to the chorus.

# 8 – Dying In Your Arms

You can feel the emotion of this song just by listening to Matt Heafy’s vocals. “Dying In Your Arms” is one of my favorite songs from the band. The lyrics of the song are on point, the rhythm is top-notch, and the opening sounds in the song sound like an anime intro.

# 7 – Down From The Sky

Most Trivium fans would have probably wished for this song to be ranked higher, and I cannot dispute that. However, it is our list, and “Down From The Sky” comes in at number seven. This great song is another masterpiece from Trivium. The song is heavy, and the melodies are pretty sinister, yet they are beautiful.

# 6 – Kirisute Gomen

Vengeance Falls was indeed an epic album, and this track is one of the reasons why. Matt Heafy’s vocals in this song are immaculate, and they are bound to send shivers down the spine of any Metallica fan. The track never gets old, and it clearly shows how good the band was at its peak.

# 5 – The Sin and the Sentence

“The Sin and the Sentence” is the title track of the band’s eighth studio album, released in 2017. The song marked a change in style for the band, with the return of harsh vocals in their music. The track is melodic though it is pretty furious at some point. The guitar tunes are fantastic, and the vocal harmony makes the song one of the band’s most outstanding.

# 4 – Betrayer

The number four song in our list of the best Trivium songs is another track from the 2017 album, The Sin and the Sentence. After a frantic drum fill, the song opens with Matt Heafy screaming, “Betrayer,” after which the aggression reduces in favor of some clean singing. “Betrayer” earned the band their first Grammy Award nomination in 2019 for the Best Metal Performance.

# 3 – Shogun

“Shogun” is one of the most popular Trivium songs ever. The song is contained in the band’s 2008 album, Shogun. The album was the last to feature Travis Smith as the original drummer, and it was their first to be produced by Nick Raskulinecz rather than Jason Suecof since the band needed fresh ideas.

# 2- In Waves

Although most Trivium fans believe that Shogun was their best album, I always think In Waves was a step higher. The number two track in our list of the best Trivium songs was a sign of what we should expect in the album, which has a similar name to the title track. The track was a tribute to victims of the tsunami in Japan.

# 1- Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr

The top song in our list of the greatest Trivium songs is the second single from their 2005 album, Ascendancy. “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” is usually played as the last song in the band’s sets, a testimony of how popular the song is. No wonder Metal Hammer referred to it as one of the biggest metal anthems of the decade.