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The music video for "Like Light to the Flies" debuted at MTV2's Headbangers Ball on September 25, 2004 and features the original demo of the song, which was included on the MTVcompilation albumHeadbangers Ball Volume 2. Likewise, demos of songs "The Deceived" and "Blinding Tears Will Break the Skies" were included on the re-release of Trivium's debut album Ember to Inferno, nearly a year before Ascendancy was released.
Speaking to Kerrang! about the songs' lyrics, Matt Heafy said: "Definitely, some of the lyrics are about my personal insecurities and my social issues and disorders, and there's a thing about quietness in the music industry – people assume you're a dickhead if you don't want to talk, and that was definitely said about me. Being in a band forced me to have to get over my awkwardness around people and you can really see what I was going through in there."
Upon its release, the album received critical acclaim. In a very positive review, Johnny Loftus of AllMusic said about the album, "Ascendancy aligns real-deal thrash with powerful modern influences. But at all times it's a platform for Trivium's own crazed talent."
Accolades
In 2005, Ascendancy won the "Album of the Year Award" from Kerrang! magazine.
In August 2009, Ascendancy ended up No. 22 in Kerrang!'s "21st Century's Greats" list.
In October 2018, Ascendancy ended up No. 11 in Metal Hammer's The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the 21st Century list.
Commercial performance
Since its release, Ascendancy has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. In the U.S., the album peaked at No. 151 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 4 on the Top Heatseekers charts, and has sold over 140,000 units. In the UK, it peaked at No. 79, and shipped over 100,000 copies, attaining Gold status, without entering the UK top 75.
A demo of the song "Blinding Tears Will Break the Skies" was included on the Ember to Inferno re-release and later re-recorded and included as a bonus track on the re-release of Ascendancy.
A demo of the song "The Deceived" was also included on the Ember to Inferno re-release and was later re-recorded and included as a track on Ascendancy.
The entire Ascendancy album was originally recorded in Drop D♭ tuning. However, because of an error, everything ended up out of tune, so the band tuned up to Drop D.
Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr (track listing). Trivium. Roadrunner Records. 2005. RR Promo 813.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation (track listing). Trivium. Roadrunner Records. 2005. RR Promo 868.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
