TRIVIUM's 'Vengeance Falls' Cracks U.S. Top 15

"Vengeance Falls", the new album from Florida metallers TRIVIUM, sold 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 15 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record — which was produced by David Draiman (DISTURBED, DEVICE) — arrived in stores on October 15 via Roadrunner.

TRIVIUM's previous CD, "In Waves", opened with 22,000 units to land at No. 13 — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's 2008 effort, "Shogun", premiered with just under 24,000 copies to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.

In a recent interview with ARTISTdirect, TRIVIUM guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy stated about "Vengeance Falls": "Going into this record, the initial goal was to write the absolute best songs we possibly could. We didn't go into it thinking, 'We need to be technical, we need to be brutal," or anything like that. It was about making the best possible music. Looking at it in retrospect, I feel it does encompass TRIVIUM fans have loved over the years through our first five records. Then, it expands upon those tools with the new music. It's a great summary of everything we've done, taking the listener to another place at the same time. I think it's really awesome it does. Maybe 'Ascendancy' and 'Ember To Inferno' were similar, but 'The Crusade' was the exact opposite. 'Shogun' was technical. 'In Waves' was simple. This one has everything, which I really appreciate."

Asked what Draiman brought out of him, Heafy said: "We've never had a producer who was also a singer in a touring metal band before. That was a huge thing for us.

"Lyrics were a huge thing for me. I've had producers before who would say, 'Oh, this doesn't rhyme.' Never before have I had a producer say, 'What does this song mean to you?' I remember the very first time he asked that, I said, 'Well, I leave every song up to the interpretation of the listener.' He was like, 'No, but what does it mean to you?' That was great, because, if from there I didn't have a direct answer, he'd be like, 'Maybe you should think about rewriting some of these parts.'

"I've never been more proud of lyrics than I am on this record. We delved into these lyrics more than ever before to figure out what I'm trying to say.

"The vocal coaching was huge for me too. I've had vocal coaching from a couple of different teachers, but it didn't make sense to me coming from someone who wasn't in a band and didn't know how to translate it into metal. When it came from David, whether it was proper standing, breath technique, or other etiquette, it worked.

"Taking care of my voice is something I learned from David in 2011 on the Australian tour with DISTURBED. He told me about cut-off times, when to stop eating or when to stop laying down when you're playing a show. I carried those things to this day, as well as breath control and proper technique, like where to push from and where not to push from. Those are things people can see I'm using every day on our shows."

TRIVIUM's "Strife" video was filmed in July at Studio One in Orlando and was directed by Ramon Boutviseth, who has previously worked with NONPOINT, DARKEST HOUR, INCUBUS and ALL THAT REMAINS, among others.

TRIVIUM is currently touring North America with DEVILDRIVER and AFTER THE BURIAL.