Trivium

Trivium

Trivium is an American metal band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in the year 2000 by drummer Travis Smith. The band plays a mixture of Metalcore and Thrash Metal music. The current lineup features Matt Heafy on vocals and guitar, Corey Beaulieau on lead guitar, Travis Smith on drums and Paolo Gregoletto on the bass guitar. The band's name is the latin word for the unity of the three grammar subjects: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

2000-2003:Early Years

Trivium was formed by the Highschool friends Travis Smith , Brad Lewter and Brent Young. They discovered their soon to be frontman Matthew Kiichi Heafy at a talent show, covering Offspring and Metallica songs and took him into the band. They played some local shows together playing nothing but coversongs. When the vocalist Brad Lewter quit the band Matthew had to take part on the vocals unwillingly. The band recorded their first professional demo in 2003 and bacame signed by the German label Lifeforce Records. Trivium recorded their debut CD Ember to Inferno and let Corey Beaulieu join the band as their lead guitarist. Before their first tour with Machine Head the band replaced their bassist with Paolo Gregoletto and completed their current lineup.

Ember To Inferno

All the bandmembers were arround seventeen years old when they recorded this impressive debut CD. This record is a true Metal record musical wise but due to the sreaming vocals with clean sung interruptions it was counted as Metalcore. The album features heavy riffs in standard E tuning with a pounding bass and solid drum work; it has a very rough overall sound thanks to the production and frontman Matt Heafy's voice. The riffs and solos are solid and simple but broght together in a very professional manner. Listening Tips: Fugue, Requiem and Ember To Inferno.

1. Inception the bleeding skies
2. Pillars of serpents
3. If I could collapse the masses
4. Fugue (a revelation)
5. Requiem
6. Ember to inferno
7. Ashes
8. To burn the eye
9. Falling to grey
10. My hatred
11. When all light dies
12. A view of burning empires
13. Blinding tears will break the skies
14. The deceived

2004-2005: Breakthrough

Machine Heads' record label Roadrunner Records became interested in the band Trivium seeing them as Machine Heads' opener on their first tour. Roadrunner offered the band a Major Label deal and the band began to work on their second album and Major label debut in 2004. Their second album Ascendancy was released and showed the incredible skill of the still teenaged band. The records quality was only half of the publicity, the band also did over 250 live shows a year at that time. His amazing songwriting skills made Matt Heafy a teamleader in 2005's Roadrunner Allstar Sessions CD while his bands singles began to rotate on MTV's Headbangers Ball.

Ascendancy

The first major label record by Trivium shows what this band is capable of. Thanks to the constant touring ervery single member had become a far better musician than on the first record. The songs are even heavier than on the debut, thanks to the drop d tuning and Heafy's darker clearer vocals. The improvement on the instruments can be heard on the Incredible drum intro to Pull Harder... or on the bass solo to Gunshot.... The guitar work became a lot more progressive compared to the first record with now both guitarists playing incredible leads, fast riffs and harmonized guitar melodies. The biggest improvemnt can be heard on Heafy's clean vocals; it is no wonder that Ascendancy is considered to be Trivium's best record so far.

1. The End Of Everything
2. Rain
3. Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr
4. Drowned And Torn Asunder
5. Ascendancy
6. A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation
7. Like Light To The Flies
8. Dying In Your Arms
9. The Deceived
10. Suffocating Sight
11. Departure
12. Declaration

2006-Today: Career

In 2006 the band had finished their first headlining tour and has also played all the important festivals in europe. They entered the studio to record their third CD with a drastic style change. Their Metalcore influenced music from the first two records was replaced by old-school Thrash Metal in the style of the early Metallica, Matthew even switched his growling and shouts into clean singing. Although they made a drastic style change it did not corrupt their fame, it actually accelerated it. The band members are only arround 22 years old but have already become one of the most important metal bands of the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal. The band entered the studio in early 2008 and will release their fourth record in the late summer times. Rumors say that the record will incorporate their old style aswell as their new tharsh metal sytle.

The Crusade

Trivium did what most succesfull bands are afraid of: They completely changed thier musical style! From Growling and Metalcore riffs to old school thrash metal in standard tuning with all clean vocals. Courage was rewarded in this case, Trivium delivered a fabulous record with smashing riffs and tight vocal lines like the singalong part at the end of Anthem. Once again drummer Travis Smith topped his former performance and the bass sound became a lot deeper with bassist Paolo Gregoletto changing form Picking-style to fingerpicking bass. Heafy under went professional vocal training and is now capable of a clean vocal style that sounds very similiar to the voice of James Hetfield from Metallica. The music is once again topped of by the guitar duo Beaulieu/Heafy with soaring leads and lightning fast riffing.

1. Ignition
2. Detonation
3. Entrance Of The Conflagration
4. Anthem (We Are The Fire)
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

Musical Style

Trivium's music is a mixture between Metalcore and classic Thrash Metal. They have two guitarist and both of them play leadguitar and solos. They use E-standard and Drop D tunings for their records. Their riffs are very complex compared to other bands from their genre and they also use Iron Maiden like dual guitar solos and harmonies. Their bass was first played with a pick but has now changed to fingerpicking; for the bass solos the standard bass sound is overdriven by a distortion pedal and a bass wah. The drums evolved from standard rock drums to very tight and fast metal drums. The vocal style was frontman Matt Heavy growling/shouting, interrupted by clean sung passages. On the newest record the vocals are all-clean and second guitarist Corey took up the growling part of the ols songs.

Discography

Demo Tapes

   * 2003 - Demo 2003: The Cave (EP)

Studio Records

   * 2003 - Ember to Inferno
   * 2005 - Ascendancy
   * 2006 - The Crusade
   * 2008 - Shogun

Singles

   * 2005 - Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
   * 2005 - A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
   * 2006 - Dying in Your Arms
   * 2006 - Anthem (We Are the Fire)
   * 2006 - Tread the Floods
   * 2007 - The Rising

Musicvideos

   * 2004 - Like Light to the Flies
   * 2005 - Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
   * 2005 - A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
   * 2005 - Rain
   * 2006 - Dying in Your Arms
   * 2006 - Anthem (We Are the Fire)
   * 2006 - Entrance of the Conflagration
   * 2007 - The Rising
   * 2007 - To The Rats
   * 2007 - Becoming The Dragon

--ZakkWylde 22:35, 25 June 2008 (CEST)