Order Silence in the Snow here.

Trivium will be touring the U.K., Japan, and Australia this March-April 2016. Get the dates on the band’s Facebook page.

Rock Hard \m/

Just under a week from now, Trivium will release their seventh studio album, Silence in the Snow. To help build anticipation, the band has released a couple of behind-the-scenes videos in which they talk about some band reinvention in terms of how they write and record. As well, there’s some talk about the oni skull that adorns the new album’s cover.

Watch part 1 and part 2 of the BTS videos here and here.

Silence in the Snow will be released on October 2nd.

Rock Hard \m/

That’s better. This is more like the Trivium I’ve come to know and love over the years. It’s not quite as “raw” as I like my Trivium, and I’d be lying if I said that David Draiman’s influence was completely removed from “No Way to Heal,” but it still has that Trivium glean on it — even if they switched their brand of polish.

Currently, “No Way to Heal” is locked for streaming at www.artistdirect.com, so you’ll have to head over there to hear it. Once you do, I think it’s fair to say that bassist Paolo Gregoletto is phenomenal on it. The growl vocals are a little weaker than usual, but they’re still nice. All in all, “No Way to Heal” is a tight track and shouldn’t be missed if you’re a Trivium fan.

As you may or may not know, but Disturbed’s David Draiman produced the upcoming Trivium album, Vengeance Falls, which is due out on October 15, 2013.

We recently had the chance to sit down to talk with Trivium guitarist Corey Beaulieu, who had plenty to say. We’ll have the interview up as soon as we can wrap our head around it.

If you’re digging the new Trivium sounds, pre-order the album and other cool shit at: store.trivium.org

Trivium on tour

Trivium is also on tour right now with DevilDriver, After the Burial, and Sylosis:

LEG 1 – September & October

09/30 – Philadelphia, Pa. – Theatre Of Living Arts
10/02 – Charlotte, N.C. – Fillmore
10/03 – Cleveland, Ohio – House Of Blues
10/04 – Pittsburgh, Pa. – Stage AE
10/05 – Detroit, Mich. – Harpos
10/07 – Charlotte, N.C. – The Fillmore
10/08 – Atlanta, Ga. – Masquerade
10/10 – Oklahoma City, Okla. – Diamond Ballroom
10/11 – Wichita, Kansas – The Cotillion
10/12 – Denver, Colo. – Summit Music Hall
10/13 – Albuquerque, N.M. – Sunshine Theater
10/15 – San Francisco, Calif. – Regency
10/16 – Los Angeles, Calif. – House Of Blues
10/17 – San Diego, Calif. – Soma

LEG 2 – November

5 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market
6 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
7 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
8 Salt Lake City, UT In the Venue
9 Grand Junction, CO Mesa Theatre & Clu
b 11 Lawrence, KS Granada
12 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
13 Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theatre
15 Louisville, KY Expo Five
16 Sauget, IL Pops
18 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
19 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
21 Pensacola, FL Vinyl Music Hall
22 Jacksonville, FL Freebird Live
23 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
24 Orlando, FL House of Blues
26 Nashville, TN Exit/In
27 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
29 Clifton Park, NY Upstate Concert Hall

December

1 Norfolk, VA The Norva
4 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom
5 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
6 Ft. Wayne, IN Pierre’s
7 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
8 Chicago, IL House of Blues
10 Dallas, TX House of Blues
11 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
13 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theater
14 San Diego, CA Soma

Rock Hard \m/

The state of metal in 2013: It’s in a great place and it’s also in a bad place. I think there is so much… manufactured nonsense out there. …When I think of hardcore, when I think of metal, and things that I love, bands that I love from those genres, in my head I know what they should sound like. And I can see all these bands copycatting off of each other’s copycatting and not quite making anything… of their own. They just keep copying a form of a copy. …Where are the kids picking up a guitar saying, ‘Hey, I wanna be like Iron Maiden’ or ‘Hey, I wanna be like Metallica’? Instead it’s bands that are putting weird dance music in with heavy music. …For me as a metal fan, I’m missing out and where are the young kids picking up guitars and starting a metal band?

– Trivium’s Matt Heafy on today’s heavy metal

trivium “brave this storm”

If you’re a Trivium fan, you’ll want to take advantage of the free download of “Brave this Storm,” available via the band’s cool micro-site at 02.trivium.fm.

Honestly, it’s better than I expected given Disturbed’s David Draiman as the album’s producer. On first listen, I felt that the track hardly resembled Trivium aside from Matt Heafy‘s vocals. After a few more listens, I have to admit that there is a Trivium sound there, but it’s buried under Draiman’s influence. So, yes, my initial fear that Trivium would end up sounding like Disturbed is partially confirmed here.

Like I said before, I understand that bands need to explore, grow, and evolve. I just hope the October 2013 release of Trivium’s Vengeance Falls doesn’t prove to be like Metallica’s black album, signalling a new mainstream era for the band.

My overall impression: I don’t like “Brave this Storm.” Let’s hope Trivium can “brave this storm” and get back to what they’re really about.

Rock Hard \m/

trivium paolo gregoletto – credit: paolo-gregoletto.allaxess.com

Trivium‘s new album is expected to drop later this year. And as I reported a while back, it’s being produced by David Draiman of Distrubed. I have no qualms in hiding the fact that I dislike Draiman to my core and think it’s a horrible mistake for Trivium to have him on board as producer. It’s not even the fact that I’m sure Draiman will make a more commercially ready product out of Trivium, it’s just that Draiman’s product sucks.

I wonder if this will be Trivium’s turning point, similar to Metallica‘s when they had Bob Rock produce their self-titled black album.

Trivium’s bassist, Paolo Gregoletto, spoke to Roadrunner Records recently about the forthcoming album:

“It never has any filler or dead spots, and I think David really being a fan of Trivium, and really seeing our growth as a band along the way, helped out, because it wasn’t like he was coming in and not really knowing what our band was about. He really understood what we’ve built as a band over the last seven, eight years, and how important it is to really respect all of that and to keep that stuff that’s made us Trivium, and just better it — bigger melodies, bigger hooks, bigger riffs, everything.”

“Sonically, he wanted us to make a thicker-sounding album, and he definitely really pushed [mixer] Colin [Richardson] and [engineer] Carl [Bown] to make this our biggest-sounding record. And I think they did an amazing job, to be honest. We’ve worked with Colin for so many records now, and he’s totally outdone himself.”

Yes, Trivium has always had big melodies, hooks, and riffs, but to make them bigger and then thicken them up will make them sound a lot more like Disturbed, which is a brand of metal that’s as thick and as common as the pancake batter at Denny’s.

If you care to read the rest of the interview, go to www.roadrunnerrecords.com.

What do you think of Draiman producing Trivium? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.

Rock Hard \m/

Will David Draiman Ruin Trivium?

It’s no secret that David Draiman, and Disturbed, is a polarizing figure in music – you either love him or hate him. Far be it for us to cast judgment, but we will, but the idea of Draiman producing the upcoming and as-of-yet unnamed Trivium album sounds like a bad idea.

In an interview posted by Roadrunner Records, Matt Heafy describes how the two parties came together and talks of the mutual respect between Trivium and Draiman. Understandably, bands need to explore and expand their horizons, as fans we’re collectively in agreement on that. But sometimes collaborative choices don’t work out for the best (Lou Reed and Metallica come to mind). The fear here is that Trivium will end up sounding like Disturbed.

Now, if Draiman is truly a fan, as Heafy describes in the interview, then hopefully he won’t try to mold Trivium into something that it’s not. In the interview, Heafy assures us that while Draiman was very hands-on, he was aware of what he was doing:

“We looked at it as a partnership, as all of us working together to make the best songs possible. And with David, he had input on everything. What was amazing was, he never wanted to cross the line – he never wanted to change who we were. That was a big thing he said early on, ‘I want this to still very much be Trivium, but we’re gonna take it to the next level.'”

Whatever, let’s avoid the whole, “ohh-ak-ak-ak-ak” thing, please. That shit is annoying.

The interview is in-depth and worth the read since Heafy shares quite a bit. Let’s just hope the next Trivium album is as interesting.

Let us know what you think of Draiman producing Trivium; will it affect the band negatively?

Rock Hard \m/

So, what did we talk about? Girls, of course! Actually, not at all. What didn’t make the cut was stuff about each band member’s heritage, foodie stuff, and beer stuff. Heafy is a pretty big foodie, so much so that he keeps a blog, kiichichaos. And, as so many of the other bands mentioned to us at Heavy MTL, Heafy also commented on the outstanding catering at the event.

The material that you will get to hear and see in the video includes stuff about metal as a lifestyle, Heafy’s top 5-ish horror films, zombie survival tips, Randy Blythe opinions, and more.

Rock Hard \m/

I personally think Trivium is one of the best things to happen to metal in a long time. My opinion is borne of the idea that the band has the ability to appeal to both kids (aka, the new generation of metallers) and old men (aka, the OM, or Original Metallers). Plus, we’ve interviewed everyone in Trivium, and they are all some of the friendliest bastards I’ve ever met.

Rock Hard \m/

The dressing rooms at the venue were full, as a lot of interviews were going down with two heavy-hitting bands getting ready to tear that stage apart, so Paolo took me onto Trivium’s tour bus (that’s the hum you hear on the audio). I was a little nervous getting onboard, I mean, I’m not a chick, I don’t like Reeses Pieces, and that’s their home on wheels. It was a bit odd, walking through their “bedroom,” which was six bunks (three stacked on each side). Anyway, we found our way to the lounge area at the back of the bus, sat down on some brown leather sofas and had a heart to heart.

Without giving too much away, we covered everything from album charts to Nick to some news on the next album to where Matt gets his inspiration to reading material to barcades to horror.

I’d love to be able to say that the tour bus was a debaucherous mess with half naked women running about, but these days that probably only exists in this rock fans head. Big thanks to Paolo and Dean at Roadrunner.

Rock Hard!