HARD NOISE: TRIVIUM // No Rest For Sinners

American metal heroes Trivium only released their last album Silence In The Snow two years ago, but vocalist/guitarist Matt Heafy tells of a band who have evolved in that short time. The band is back with their eighth album The Sin And The Sentence.

It’s no surprise how hard Trivium has worked across their 20 years, constantly touring and releasing massive albums. But when Hurricane Irma hit the band’s home in Florida, Heafy worked just as hard to protect his home and family.

“It was rough,” says Heafy. “We knew that a hurricane was coming our way eventually, so we said, ‘Let’s prepare for this as if it’s going to be that bad’. I had to find a generator two hours away, I had to live off gasoline and propane for a couple of days, and we had no power for six days. I had to board the house windows up, which I’ve never done before; I had to learn how to do that from my next-door neighbour. Luckily nothing broke and we ended up being alright.”

As soon as power returned and the all-clear given, Heafy and his bandmates were back to promotion duties. “No rest for the wicked,” he jokes.

The path to The Sin And The Sentence wasn’t easy. In 2014, Heafy damaged his voice, leading to his powerful screams being absent on 2015’s Silence In The Snow while he relearned to sing and scream. Heafy also began formal guitar training, furthering his mastery of the instrument he taught himself to play. Heafy’s practising paid off, with his voice returning to its former fury, exciting album producer Josh Wilbur.

“I had Josh literally jumping up-and-down while I was recording vocals because he was just feeling it so much. He was in such a good mood, singing-along and head-banging, and standing up on the chair and yelling ‘Fuck yeah’ for every vocal take,” laughs Heafy.

Trivium previously worked with Wilbur when he mixed Silence In The Snow. The band loved his work ethic and positive energy so much they asked him to return, this time producing.

“I feel like that with this newest record it makes our entire career make more sense – The Sin And The Silence has all the best parts of records one through seven. It’s like The Sin And The Silence has such a cool mixture of everything we’ve ever done on one record.”
[MATT]

“He was just one of the greatest experiences we’ve ever had with a producer,” says Heafy. “He’s such a positive, happy guy. Originally he was a janitor at the studio Andy Wallace [engineer for Nirvana, Faith No More, and Run-DMC and Aerosmith’s Walk This Way] worked at. He said that since Andy Wallace worked at this studio, he was going to work at that studio, so he mopped floors, did coffee runs. He worked his way up, becoming second engineer, then first engineer, and now he’s a producer. I love that story because it reminds me a lot of ours. And I loved seeing a normal, determined, driven guy who just loves metal and gets it, and Josh gets our band.”

When Trivium began putting the album together, the band went in a number of directions, changing the album’s name and artwork multiple times. Things began to fall into place when they finished the album’s title track.

“When we were in the studio, we all felt like that one had something special,” Heafy says. “Our main visual artist Jon Paul Douglas really gravitated towards that song. Then my wife Ashley, who’s doing the packaging for the record, made a symbol for The Sin And The Sentence because she gravitated towards that song as well. Seeing how many people were being inspired by it, we felt there was something special to that. So we renamed the record to The Sin And The Sentence, and we let that song dictate where everything needed to go.”

Trivium’s sound has evolved across their seven albums. But Heafy feels that The Sin And The Sentence encapsulates the band’s discography, combining all the lessons they’ve learned in their career. With Heafy’s improved guitar and vocal technique, and the addition of new drummer Alex Bent, the band has evolved again.

“I feel like that with this newest record it makes our entire career make more sense,” says Heafy. “The song The Wretchedness Inside we actually ghost-wrote for another band on the [2013] Vengeance Falls cycle. The band never used it, I don’t know why. The Heart From Your Hate has a Silence In The Snow or The Crusade vibe to it. But then there’s a heavy, bouncy feel that we learned on Vengeance Falls. And The Sin And The Sentence is the complex, technical, long song with screaming and singing, catchiness, technicality, and little elements of black metal and melodic death metal. It’s like the album has such a cool mixture of everything we’ve ever done on one record.”

Trivium will soon embark on a US tour alongside Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy, something Heafy is excited for. Trivium last toured Australia in 2016. While there aren’t plans, Heafy is sure the band will return soon.

“There’s no concrete plans right now, but I’m sure we’ll be back for this record. We love it there too much. We have too much of a great fan-base, and it’s always like home when we’re there. I can’t wait to get back.”

WATCH > The Sin and the Sentence

The Sin And The Sentence is out now through Roadrunner Records.