Trivium frontload the album with quality, the first three rabble-rousing tracks striking a perfect balance of the aforementioned elements. “Brave This Storm,” the title track and “Strife” all stand as state-of-the-art metallic anthems, the only downside being they set perhaps too high a standard to live up to. Still, the more plaintive tone that prefaces “At The End Of This War” stands as a nice counterpoint to its thrash-happy parts and burly breakdowns, and closer “No Hope For The Human Race” is a stirring affair. Even when they fail to quite deliver the good,s just about every track still wields aspects that make them worthwhile. The lively chorus and guitar solo of “To Believe” give the song the kick in the ass it needs; the more mournful parts and dynamic leads of mini-epic “Wake (The End Is Nigh)” elevate the otherwise flat song. Lingering in far bleaker lyrical territory than on any of their previous records makes for compelling listening, too, though there is an edge of hope—or maybe salvation—lurking intermittently behind the darkness
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