Trivium have recorded an absolute masterpiece of an album with Ascendancy. The haunting Beneath The Remains like opening of "The End Of Everything" had me sucked in from the start and it sets the tone for this thrash metal classic. Trivium are comprised of 18-20 something year olds and they are by far some of the best metal musicians I have ever heard. Their sound draws influence from late 80s and early 90s thrash such as Slayer and Metallica along with the before-mentioned Sepultura. Combined with this is a style of very melodic yet brutal modern day metal. The guitar work on this album is maybe the best you'll hear of any metal band in recent memory, with harmonies abound, hyper fast riffing and soloing that comes with every song. The production and sound of this release is nothing less than perfect and I just cant stress enough how great the musicianship is.

Most songs stick to the same formula but it works. A few songs seem to blend in but after repeated listens they to distance themselves rather well. "Pull Harder On The Strings Of your Martyr" is perhaps the strongest, while the title track, "Like Light To Flies" and "Dying In Your Arms" are not far behind at all. Several tracks even seem to have an underlying Swedish metal influence with the melodic guitar work and ultra-fast structure. There are no fillers on this disc. Yes there are many different influences you can hear from this band but everything combines to create the sound of Trivium. After you hear this band a few times it should be quite easy to set them apart from the numerous other metal and metalcore bands of this day and age: some good, some bad, some great. Trivium is the later and more. Trivium along with Shadows Fall and a select few are the future of metal as we know it. It's gonna be a blast to see these guys play live on Ozzfest 2005 and they have to be my pick for this year's Ozzfest breakthrough artist.

With all that said, after I've had about five listens or so, Ascendancy joins the ranks of classic thrash and metal albums of the past and present such as Seasons In The Abyss, Rust And Peace, Master Of Puppets, and most recently, The War Within. Believe me, it's that damn good! If Ascendancy doesn't get a 10 out of 10 then nothing does.