TRIVIUM's MATT HEAFY: 'What The Dead Men Say' Is 'The Perfect Synopsis Of Everything We've Done In The Band'

In a new interview with with Higgo of Australia's "Distortion" radio show, which airs on Triple M, TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy spoke about the musical direction of the band's upcoming ninth album, "What The Dead Men Say". He said: "I feel like with this one, it's the perfect synopsis, in some way, of everything we've done in the band. From records one through eight, every single record was very different from each other — every single one. But eight, [2017's] 'The Sin And The Sentence', was sort of a recap of everything we've done, and I feel like nine is a recap of everything we've done from one through eight, including everything we've ever done. So I feel like this is a really good record to show someone what TRIVIUM is from the start. You can't really do that with every record — you can't show someone just [2006's] 'The Crusade' and have it make sense to what TRIVIUM was off [2005's] 'Ascendancy' or [2011's] 'In Waves'. You can't show someone just [2008's] 'Shogun' and make it make sense to what 'Ascendancy' was. And I feel like this one is the one where you can hear all the roots are present in what this music is."

Heafy also once again praised TRIVIUM's latest addition, drummer Alex Bent, who made his recording debut with the group on the aforementioned "The Sin And The Sentence".

"Alex is unbelievable, man," Matt said. "And what's so great is that no one goes, 'Why did you switch to Alex?' Everyone's, like, 'Oh, that's what you were looking for. I get it now.' He's insane. I was listening to 'What The Dead Men Say' two days ago, and you hear the drums, man. How does someone play like that? And he does. He does play like that. There is no studio magic. When we did 'The Sin And The Sentence', the first song he tracked was 'The Sin And The Sentence' and the very first take was one full take of the song, and that's what made the record. That's how good he is.

"Now, I'm not dogging on past guys — I'm just giving a comparison," he continued. "We've had drummers that have taken two weeks to record the drums, which is fine — that's how long it takes; it takes two weeks. Alex generally takes about two or three days to do an entire record. And with us, with 'What The Dead Men Say', we took 16 days to do absolutely everything across the entire record — that's all it took. We came in so rehearsed, we came in so practiced. Condition-wise, I try to treat everything I do — guitar and vocals — like an athlete would. I like to rehearse to a point where at any given moment, if I had to go on tour tomorrow, if I had to make a record tomorrow, I'm in shape to do it. And it's a year-round [process] — I'm always practiced, there is no time off, and I believe that's the same concept with everyone in the band."

"What The Dead Men Say" will be released on April 24 via Roadrunner Records.

TRIVIUM is scheduled to support MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD on a 55-date North American tour this summer and fall. Additional support on the trek will come from IN FLAMES.