Trivium

support Sanctity + Annihilator
author AP date 04/05/07 venue Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, DEN

It's not often that a concert of this genre sells out in Denmark, but tonight's thrash metal mayhem managed to pump Pumpehuset full of metalheads, emokids and their grandmothers (I kid you not). Despite Trivium's shaky performance record here, the atmosphere was expectant and the crowd was anxious to hear the band that has claimed to eventually become the best band in the world. Trivium's two support acts, Sanctity and Annihilator made use of our broad spectrum of ratings while it was clear that most of us were there for one band.

Sanctity

Sanctity kicked off the night but delivered a wavering show, the causes of which were mostly out of their hands. Trivium's massive stage setup left little room for exuberant showmanship, and because of the recency of the band's debut release, there was no hope of relying on the audience to save their set either. Consequently only a few long hairs swirled while Sanctity pounded through their songs and despite their attempts to inspire the crowd to do so, no one sang along. On the other hand, Sanctity put in a good effort and played a good variety of songs that served as excellent warm-up to Trivium's coming performance.

Annihilator

Annihilator suffered the same issues as Sanctity regarding space, but did nothing to redeem themselves. Old school thrash fans would probably like to lynch me for saying so, but Annihilator played some of the most uninteresting metal I have ever heard. The audience was blessed or cursed - depending on the old school character of the listener - with a long set of songs that utilized what seemed to be no more than three riffs in all. When the band wasn't recycling these riffs, it had been left up to the lead guitarist to unleash some pretty impressive solos with his Flying V. Towards the end of the set, the generic flow was interrupted by stupid howling served to us by the vocalist; at this point most of the audience was a) laughing at the band or b) walking towards the bathrooms c) in the bathrooms or d) purchasing and consuming beer. I belonged to groups b) and c) respectively, after which I returned expecting to see roadies cleaning up the mess that was Annihilator. Wrong, unfortunately.

3

Trivium

I'd like to extend a notion of gratitude to the Pumpehuset crew and Trivium's roadies for being so swift about removing the warm-up set and whipping up an impressive stage set-up in no time. It wasn't long until the lights faded and smoke machines began to pump their magic while a few blue spotlights criss-crossed large posters of Trivium's artwork placed on either side of Travis' massive drum set elevated from the rest of the scene. I wasn't able to tell where the instrumental music was from and my pondering was interrupted by Travis manning his throne and the rest of the band following in due.

The opening riffs of "Entrance of the Conflagration" then exploded out of the amps and the headbanging that had been more or less absent during the first two performances began. Standing directly in front of the stage, the sound was crystal clear and this song sounded even better live than it does on record. Upon completing their entré, Matt greeted the audience with "hvordan går det?" before progressing into "Detonation". The crowd was into the show and the band could tell, with most of the audience singing along from the first verse. I never realized this many Danes digged Trivium. The twin-harmonies and solos were delivered with incredible precision, with Matt and Corey not missing a single note, and Matt's singing sounded better than ever.

But this wasn't going to be "The Crusade" party; aware of the crowd's acquaintance with the band, Trivium launched into "Ember to Inferno", inspiring the evening's first moshpit and impressive crowd-participation. When "Like Light to the Flies" followed, the entire front of the venue had undergone a transformation and was becoming less and less safe by the second. Moshing, dancing and singing along all the while nearly lost my shoe, and clinging onto it, nearly broke my knee too – what more could one ask from a metal show?

Trivium continued with what would be a Best of set, with equal weight placed on all three albums. We were treated to "Unrepentant", "Requiem" and "Ascendancy" with "To the Rats", "Drowned and Torn Asunder", "Anthem (We Are The Fire)" and "Dying in Your Arms" following. At some point Travis' insane drumming skill exceeded the drum set's capabilities and a cymbal fell off. This was the perfect breather for us; even if the band referred to "Dying in Your Arms" as the break song dedicated to the ladies, there was no change in the crowd's tempo. While we waited for a roadie to fix the drum set, Matt had no jokes to tell, and began playing a Manowar cover with Corey (not sure which). As soon as the cymbal was in place, Travis gave the cover a beat but Matt soon interrupted it with a "no, seriously", and the familiar riffs of "Anthem (We Are The Fire)" sounded from the amps. I never thought too much of this song, but I can tell you it sounded incredible live. It was then "Ignition" that took its turn to move the crowd, after which the band thanked the crowd and exited the stage.

Anyone with a little knowledge about Trivium's discography would know that the band would not leave out two particular songs, so there was no doubt about an encore. It was "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" that really got the crowd moving, forming an enormous circle pit spanning the entire front of the venue, while "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" expectedly finished Trivium's show for the night. And what a show it was, miles and miles beyond what Trivium had to offer at Roskilde Festival last year, and as I imagine, their Road Rage performance in 2005.

Setlist (not in correct order):

the

  • 1. Entrance of the Conflagration
  • 2. Detonation
  • 3. Ember to Inferno
  • 4. Like Light to the Flies
  • 5. Unrepentant
  • 6. To the Rats
  • 7. Ascendancy
  • 8. Requiem
  • 9. Drowned And Torn Asunder
  • 10. Anthem (We Are The Fire)
  • 11. Dying in Your Arms
  • 12. Tread the Floods
  • 13. Ignition
  • --Encore--
  • 14. A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
  • 15. Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr

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