Trivium's third release sees more growing and maturation, and pretty much cements them as a professional, capable, and lethal force is the new millenium's metal scene. The biggest change here is in the vocal style. Almost totally gone are the shouty moments, as well as the totally smooth and clean episodes. Whether inspired by the band's cover of "Master of Puppets" on a recent Metallica tribute or not, that is exactly who vocalist Heafy sounds like 90% of the time here -- James Hetfield. This isn't a bad thing, though -- the dude has proven he can "sing" no matter what style he embraces, and he sounds good here, as well. Another interesting parallel is that the music (and to an extent, songwriting) also parallels Metallica of the mid/late '80s, mostly circa 'AJFA'. The band adequatly manages to mix this somewhat tighter style with their earlier trademarks of brutality, thrash, and melody.
While the minor change in vocals and/or style may turn off some of the group's earliest fans, the fact remains that 'The Crusade' is well-executed, talent-laden, and attacking metal. Another observation would be that the spontanuity and variety isn't quite as abundant as on 'Ascendancy'; again, that's a difference, and not necessarily a drawback. When a band starts getting compared and nitpicked against its own songs and releases, then it's definitely doing something right...
Virtually every track can be checked off as "good" when listening to them -- you won't be hitting the skip button too many times on this one. "Entrance of the Conflagration" is excellent and breakneck, with great verse music and rhythms. A mid-song thrash session highlights "Becoming the Dragon," "Tread the Floods" is strong, and the title song is an 8-minute instrumental cut.
"Unrepentant" is one of the better examples of the Metallica tendencies that are on display; a song that strays away from the thrash mold is "The Rising," which crawls with a pulsing vibration. Everything else that wasn't mentioned is good as well -- the last two songs are bonus tracks, with "Vengeance" being the better of the two.

TRACK LIST:
1. Ignition
2. Detonation
3.Entrance of the Conflagration
4. Anthem (We Are the Fire)r
5. Unrepentant
6.And Sadness Will Sear
7. Becoming the Dragon
8. To the Rats
9. This World Can't Tear Us Apart
10. Tread the Floods
11. Contempt Breeds Contamination
12. The Rising
13. The Crusade
14. Vengeance
15. Broken One