by Cosmo Lee

Metalcore – is it still a hot topic, or has it burned out in a glut of sound-alike bands? Trivium’s “Ascendancy” proves there might be life left in this sound. The demonic vocals, angelic choruses and twin guitar leads are all there. But what sets Trivium apart from their peers is an unabashed ‘80’s thrash influence. The tempos are faster, the scale is more epic and the band has both the balls and the chops to take extended instrumental breaks.

Despite the abundance of chops on display, the riffs and vocals are insanely catchy. Rarely has mile-a-minute thrash metal been so damn hummable. Songs like “Ascendancy” and “The Deceiver” feature flawless vocal harmonies, while “Dying in Your Arms” sounds like Jimmy Eat World on steroids.

In this balancing act between pop and metal (the real deal kind, not the ‘80’s teased hair version), Trivium resemble their greatest influence: Metallica. Of course, Metallica never wrote songs with screamed vocals and not until the Black album did they lock into standard song structures. But they became the biggest metal band in the world through near-perfect songwriting and the best hooks in the business – basic pop music elements. And while many bands cite ‘80’s thrash as an influence, everyone has imitated Slayer, not Metallica. It’s easy to cop a riff, but it’s harder to write a song on the scale of classic Metallica – not that bands haven’t tried (see Megadeth’s entire career).

Trivium certainly have the Metallica elements down. The machine-gun riffs in “Rain” recall “One”, the guitar harmonies in “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” are straight out of “…And Justice for All” and when the song breaks down to a single note thump, one half-expects to hear the “Die by my hand” chant of “Creeping Death”. Not only does singer/guitarist Matt Heafy sometimes sound like a young James Hetfield, he even holds his guitar like Hetfield!

Now here’s the kicker: the average age in the band is 20. While most kids that age are declaring their college majors, Trivium is out on the road playing with bands like Iced Earth, Fear Factory and Slipknot. Modern Fix only half-jealously asked vocalist Matt Heafy and bassplayer Paolo Gregoletto what that’s like.

Trivium has toured with much older bands, like Danzig and Machine Head. Has your youth been a factor in getting respect from bands or in other aspects of touring?
Matt: Oh yeah it has. When bands that we’ve idolized see that we’re doing at an early age what their lives have been dedicated to, in comes much respect. They know better than anyone the amount of work required for this lifestyle.
Paolo Gregoletto: I think we have received a lot of respect from a lot of the older bands that we have played with, like Chimaira, Iced Earth, Machine Head, Danzig and Fear Factory. Once we prove that we can play, and play well, and prove to the older bands that we are gracious for the opportunity – they treat us really well, like good friends.

When fans see you live, they only see a few minutes out of your day as a touring band. What’s a typical day on the road like for Trivium?
Matt: I’ll chart it out for ya:
1. Wake up in hotel, shake all other guys into waking. If anyone is too hungover to move... I’ll throw water on them
2. Hit the long drive to venue. Maybe hit a Subway or truck stop food to eat
3. Show up, load in, get our precious waters and minimal rider
4. Get shit on stage
5. 2 hours before show, begin workouts for the day. 30 mins preshow vocal warmups
Change, stretch, round everyone up
6. Line check
7. Play
8. Protein shake after show. Crew breaks shit down
9. Party hard
10. Drive to hotel
11. Repeat
Paolo: A typical day for us is usually 5 to 10 hours of sleeping very uncomfortably like sardines in a can, eating gas station food, driving in the tour van to the next venue & watch tons of movies. Then we play, and usually have a little party after the show. Repeat.

What’s your instrument practice regimen like? Do you find time to practice on the road, or does performing naturally keep the chops up?
Matt: Recently I’ve been working out more than practicing. The shows keep me pretty warm. 10 minutes of guitar, 15 of vocals, an hour of workouts.
Paolo: We all try and practice at least an hour a day. Its a big deal for us because we always try to improve our playing.

In “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation,” was it a conscious decision to go old-school when the rhythm guitar drops out, leaving only twin guitar leads? I had brief flashbacks of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.”
Matt: Not a pre-planned thing at all. It totally just happened completely naturally. I love the Boston comparison. Thanks! I love Boston.
Paolo: We totally wanted an old school feel for that part of the song, cuz most bands forget about that kind of stuff in writing songs today. The first Boston album rules by the way – everyone should own a copy.

Is it true Trivium formed to cover Metallica at a high school battle of the bands? If so, what song did you play, and how did the battle go?
Matt: That night we played 2 originals & Metallica’s “For whom The Bell Tolls”. We were the only metal band. People totally loved it, but we didn’t even place though.

What was it like recording at Morrisound Studios (Florida studio famed for recording old school death metal like Death and Morbid Angel)?
Matt: Contrary to popular belief, we only did drums there. The rest of the album was tracked at Audiohammer Studio in Sanford, FL with Jason Suecof. But doing drums at the studio rocked, there is so much important metal history in that room.

What are your top three favorite riffs of all time?
Matt: In no particular order – the main riffs for each of the following- “Dead Eternity” by In Flames - “Master of Puppets” by Metallica - “Du Hast” by Rammstien
Paolo: #1 The first heavy riff in “Battery” by Metallica
#2 - the main riff in “Holy Wars” by Megadeth
#3 - the main riff in “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden

www.trivium.org

2005 “Ascendancy” (Roadrunner)
2003 “Ember to Inferno” (Lifeforce)