The Crusade (album)

The Crusade is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. It was released on October 10, 2006 through Roadrunner Records and was produced by Jason Suecof and the band themselves. The album marked a significant musical departure from the metalcore sound of preceding album Ascendancy, with the band instead bringing their thrash metal influences to the fore. Accordingly, vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy sings with primarily 'clean' vocals throughout "The Crusade", rather than utilizing the 'screaming' style heard on Ascendancy.

The Crusade
Studio album by
Trivium
ReleasedOctober 10, 2006 (2006-10-10)
RecordedAudio Hammer Studios
Genre
Length57:25
LabelRoadrunner
Producer
Trivium chronology
Ascendancy
(2005)		 The Crusade
(2006)		 Shogun
(2008)
Singles from The Crusade
  1. "Detonation"
    Released: June 2006[1]
  2. "Entrance of the Conflagration"
    Released: September 6, 2006[2]
  3. "Anthem (We Are the Fire)"
    Released: October 2, 2006[3]
  4. "The Rising"
    Released: April 2007[4]
  5. "Becoming the Dragon"
    Released: October 2007[5]

The Crusade peaked at number 7 in United Kingdom and was later certified silver in for sales in excess of 60,000 copies. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on its release, selling 31,000 copies in the US in its first week.[6] It has sold over 100,000 copies in the United States.[7]

Background

Before the album was released, three songs from the album were released on the band's MySpace: "Detonation", "Anthem (We Are the Fire)", and "Entrance of the Conflagration". Music videos for "Entrance of the Conflagration", "Anthem (We Are the Fire)", "The Rising", "To the Rats", and "Becoming the Dragon" were produced and released on Roadrunner's website.[8]

"Anthem (We Are the Fire)" was a hit for the band in the United Kingdom, with the track debuting at number 1 on the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and spending several further weeks in the top 10.[9] As of 2019, the single is also the band's only track to break into the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 40.[10]

The track "Detonation" is available on the Xbox 360 release of the video game Guitar Hero II as downloadable content while the track "Anthem (We Are the Fire)" is featured on Burnout Dominator, Sleeping Dogs and Saints Row 2.[11][12]

Composition

Influences, style and themes

The album represents a drastic change in style from their previous album, Ascendancy, abandoning the metalcore genre and featuring a style described generally as thrash metal[13][14][15][16][17] and reminiscent of thrash metal band Metallica's 1980s albums,[18] along with progressive metal[19] and speed metal.[17] As a result, vocalist Matt Heafy used much less screaming and more of a clean vocal style similar to James Hetfield throughout most of the record.[18] Heafy justified this by noting that "the four of us were never into bands that scream and we don't like any of the current bands that scream, so we asked ourselves why we're doing it."[20] Growled vocals would return as a regular attribute on the band's proceeding album, Shogun, although screaming can be found at some points in The Crusade, most notably in "Becoming the Dragon".

Lyrical themes on the album include famous killings. "Entrance of the Conflagration" is about Andrea Yates's murder of her five children, "Unrepentant" is about Nazir Ahmad's murder of his three daughters and stepdaughter, "Contempt Breeds Contamination" is about the death of Amadou Diallo, and "And Sadness Will Sear" is based upon the murder of Matthew Shepard.[21] Another common theme on this album is unity or "being united" with songs like Anthem (We Are the Fire) and The Rising. Another lyrical theme that is noticed is in the song "Becoming the Dragon," which is based on the Japanese mythological story of the dragon (how the koi will swim up the waterfall known as "Dragon's Gate" where it is thus transformed into the mythological beast).

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
Blabbermouth.net8.5/10[17]
IGN8.1/10[22]
Sputnikmusic[23]

Track listing

All lyrics by Matt Heafy, and all music by Heafy, except where noted.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Ignition" 3:54
2."Detonation" 4:28
3."Entrance of the Conflagration" 4:35
4."Anthem (We Are the Fire)"Heafy, Paolo Gregoletto4:03
5."Unrepentant"Corey Beaulieu4:51
6."And Sadness Will Sear" 3:34
7."Becoming the Dragon" 4:43
8."To the Rats"Gregoletto3:42
9."This World Can't Tear Us Apart" 3:30
10."Tread the Floods"Beaulieu3:33
11."Contempt Breeds Contamination" 4:28
12."The Rising"Gregoletto3:45
13."The Crusade" (Instrumental) 8:19
Total length:57:25
iTunes and "Anthem (We Are the Fire)" single bonus tracks
No.TitleMusicLength
14."Broken One"Gregoletto5:50
15."Vengeance"Beaulieu3:38
Total length:66:50

Personnel

Trivium[24]

Additional performers

Production

Charts
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 14
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[26] 54
Canadian Albums Chart 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27] 64
French Albums (SNEP)[28] 115
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 23
Irish Albums (IRMA)[30] 12
Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] 86
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart 46
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[32] 31
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[33] 61
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 41
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 92
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 7
US Billboard 200[37] 25

References
  1. "Trivium Detonation (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  2. Entrance of the Conflagration (track listing). Trivium. Roadrunner Records. 2006. RR PROMO 953.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. "Trivium Anthem (We Are The Fire) (EP)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  4. "Trivium The Rising (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  5. "Trivium - Becoming the Dragon". Metal Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  6. "TRIVIUM's 'Vengeance Falls' Cracks U.S. Top 15". October 23, 2013.
  7. "TRIVIUM Guitarist Says Next CD Will Be Mixture Of 'Crusade' And 'Ascendancy'". BlabberMouth.
  8. "Roadrunner Records Trivium". Roadrunner Records Official Website. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  9. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/rock-and-metal-singles-chart/20061008/111/
  10. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/20061008/7501/
  11. "Saint's Row 2 Soundtrack". 1UP.com.
  12. "Burnout Dominator Soundtrack". About.com.
  13. "Trivium - The Crusade Review". Last Rites. October 11, 2006. Retrieved September 27, 2006.
  14. Whish, Bill (February 19, 2007). "Trivium The Crusade". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  15. "Album Review: Trivium - The Crusade". Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  16. "The Crusade - TRIVIUM". 9 October 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  17. Kaye, Don. "CD Reviews - The Crusade Trivium". Blabbermouth.net.
  18. Schiller, Mike (October 24, 2006). "Trivium: The Crusade". PopMatters. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  19. Jurek, Thom. "The Crusade - Trivium". Allmusic.
  20. "Matthew Heafy: "Our Crusade Is To Make Trivium Something Enormous In The World"". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-09-24. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  21. Thompson, Ed (October 12, 2006). "Trivium - The Crusade: Trivium - The Crusade". IGN.
  22. "The Crusade - Trivium". IGN. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17.
  23. Stagno, Mike. "The Crusade - Trivium". Sputnikmusic.
  24. "Trivium: Vengeance Is Fine". Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  25. "Australiancharts.com – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  26. "Austriancharts.at – Trivium – The Crusade" (in German). Hung Medien.
  27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Trivium – The Crusade" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  28. "Lescharts.com – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  29. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  30. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 41, 2006". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  31. "Italiancharts.com – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  32. "Charts.nz – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  33. "Norwegiancharts.com – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  34. "Swedishcharts.com – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  35. "Swisscharts.com – Trivium – The Crusade". Hung Medien.
  36. "Trivium | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  37. "Trivium Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
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