MATT HEAFY Says 'Shogun' is TRIVIUM's 'Make-Or-Break' Album

MetalSucks recently conducted an interview with Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu of Floridian metallers TRIVIUM. An excerpt from the chat follows.

MetalSucks: What about worrying about listener reaction? When "Ascendancy" came out, there wasn't a lot of anticipation for it. There weren't a lot of people who had interest. Now that you guys are one of the big bands out there today, everybody is anticipating the new album ["Shogun"]...

Corey Beaulieu: I think with the last record there was more of an actual anticipation, I guess, because we already had a record and then everyone kind of wanted to hear what the next record was. And we made the complete opposite record, so now since we've had the last two records sound completely different, no one really knows what the new record is going to sound like.

So with this record, we kind of kept everything a secret and didn't let anyone know the title for the longest time or hear the songs or whatever. We were kind of really secretive about it and kind of created this buzz without even doing anything. Our fans didn't know what was going on. Everyone nowadays can know the fucking name of the album before they even record the damn thing. So we kind of wanted to keep some kind of mystery and excitement behind it, because you didn't know what anything was. So I think that kind of helps get and keep people's curiosity levels up.

Now with people, not everyone, but like a select amount of people getting a chance to hear some tracks or something like that... the response has been pretty overwhelming. Everyone who has heard it has totally dug it. Roadrunner has been fucking stoked on it and they all are like, "Dude, this is the best record you guys have done" and stuff. So it's, you know, the response and reactions after people have heard it, we're pretty psyched and pretty happy. Everyone's really taken to it. So now we're really excited to see what our fans think. Now we really want them to hear it. It's really fun to hear what the fans think, and if they love it then it's going to be even better.

Matt Heafy: This album is like the make-or-break record. The last one had a lot of anticipation, I guess, but that one didn't have quite so much pressure. I think this one is the make or break record. So if we weren't coming into it prepared we'd be like "Oh fuck, you know this could be it. This could be the one." I think people who like "Ascendancy" are really curious to see what this one is going to sound like, since we just did two records that are very different, and now I think three records that are very different from each other, although "Ascendancy" and "Ember" are kind of comparable. It's going to be cool because we wrote on and off for about a year, demoed for 6 months out of that year... I mean there was so much going into the songwriting process this time. We went from 27 songs in garage band form down to like 20 tracks, like really good demos — demos that sound almost as good as a record, and then we whittled that down to 15, rewrote those songs and had Nick [Raskulinecz, producer] do new demos with us. So each song had been demoed like five different times to kind of "grow" the song. We were so prepared this time. The [actual] record, the tracking part was a piece of cake.

MetalSucks: How do you guys temper fan reaction? Do you take it personally or seriously when fans say "Your new record sucks" or "The TRIVIUM guys are sellouts" or whatever?

Heafy: I think that stuff is always going to happen no matter what profession you're in. I think a lot of bands get really bogged down or worked up about that kind of stuff, but I think you realize that that's just a part of the life. You know, I think that when bands start writing to what certain people say. like "Oh you guys should play this stuff" or "You shouldn't sound like this band" or "You should play this or that." I think when you start doing that and getting away from the core of whatever the band believes in, the original idea behind your band back when you had no fans... when you start getting away from that, that's the real definition of "selling out." To try to make people happy... the way that bands did it right the first time was to make the music from the heart, for the band and that's it. I think that's the best way to do it. That's the way we've been doing it. And with people who are like "Oh I love 'Ascendancy' not 'The Crusade'," or "I love 'The Crusade' and not 'Ascendancy'," when you hear stuff like that... Look, we're still playing stuff at the shows from every record, you still own that record, you still listen to that CD [that you love] and not that one [that you hate], so it's cool. And our diehard fans, it's like if they don't feel something as much, they won't be like "I don't like it." They're more like "Yeah I really love this." [Laughs]

So, you know, we talk to our fans the same way we talk to our friends, so it never hurt our feelings if they say "I think you should have done this." We'll take and listen to constructive criticism, but still always do what we believe in.

Beaulieu: It's also good like back home in Florida, a lot of our friends, especially the big group of people that Travis and myself hang out with, they've been supporting the band and coming out to the shows since the first shows we ever did. So they've kind of followed the band since we first started, and they always come out to all the shows, and one of our friends got "The Crusade" guy [from the album cover] tattooed on his side. And no matter what party we go to at someone's house, there's always at least two people wearing a fucking TRIVIUM shirt. That's like their whole wardrobe that our friends have. They've even got, like, TRIVIUM slacks.

So we had the new record and we went over there and just put it on the iPod player and played it for them. We were like, "Hey we got some new stuff, want to hear it?" And their reactions were just like "Oh my God, this is it." They loved it. They are like actual friends, but they're also big fans of the band as well, so we gauged their reactions. So it was kind of cool to get a small test reaction or a small group of people that you value their opinions. So everyone that I played it for was just like, "Wow." That was great. Hearing that, you're like "Alright, cool." Now it's like, let's get it out to a lot more people and hopefully that kind of small reaction is the kind of reaction that everyone else has. So I guess everyone is anticipating hearing it, and we're anticipating getting it out so people can hear it. So we're really excited to finally get something out for people to hear... it's about time someone else hears it.

MetalSucks: Do you have any reservations about, you know, being support for SLAYER? Their openers usually have a hard time...

Beaulieu: Yeah, we've heard those stories, but MAIDEN crowds are fucking just as tough. We heard so many horror stories of bands playing with them, and then we had a fucking dream tour when we played with MAIDEN.

Heafy: Yeah. Some other bands we know that have played with MAIDEN were like, "Dude, it sucked." But we had such a fucking blast. There were some shows it felt like it was our show... and then we were like, "Fuck, we get to watch MAIDEN now!"

Beaulieu: Yeah, they were telling us, "You guys have had the best reaction of any opening act ever for a MAIDEN crowd." They were telling us horror stories about people throwing fucking money and shit, like coins at them. By the end of the band's set, they fucking collected like fucking $60 in fucking change off the stage. So it's like, we heard the horror stories, but we're like "This isn't too bad." Maybe it's different for other bands, but for some reason, it just worked for us. We even played with MAIDEN in Jersey last month as a one off and even...

Heafy: We've heard Jersey horror stories for MAIDEN opening bands.

Beaulieu: That show was awesome, it was great. We had a good time, so I guess something that we do just kind of works for the old bands and stuff. So we've always heard stuff about opening for SLAYER, but we've heard it all before about MAIDEN. We just go into it, fucking slam people in the face and kick their ass, and come out fucking intense, trying to win people over and show people what we're all about and get people into it. We weren't fucking all intimidated by some fucking douchebag in the crowd who wants to think he's cool by fucking yelling at you. it's like, [sarcastic] "Wow, yelling at me is going to make me stop playing," y'know? It's like, "Whatever." It's not a big deal; it's not our first rodeo. It's not like we haven't had someone flip us off before. We don't really get offended. When people are getting into it, and then a couple of people maybe flip me off, it just fires me up even more. We end up playing better. So it's funny to see someone get so fucking irritated just from music. We're having a great time and that person is like "Oh my God!"

Heafy: It's weird. It's like, we're in a band, we're not changing lives, we're just playing music. It's rock n' roll and they're getting all worked up. We're going to have a good time.

But I'd rather have some kind of fire where you get the reactions "Man I fucking love this," or "I fucking hate this." It's much better than "Meh, they're okay. I'll get another beer. I'll be back."

To read the entire interview, go to www.metalsucks.net.