Matthew K. Heafy, frontman of modern thrashers Trivium has shared another new acoustic play through of a classic Trivium album. A few weeks back Matt, who is releasing a solo acoustic album via Roadrunner this year, released an EP of acoustic covers from Ascendency, followed by Shogun. and In Waves. Now he has released In Silence In The Snow (all Roadrunner) covers. Check out the stream on Matt’s YouTube and the setlist below!
No metal band is complete without an inane photo shot. Usually, this features several hairy blokes standing in a quarry, forest, graveyard or branch of FarmFoods (Editor’s note: unless you are Morrissey). They will be tilting their heads at an angle, their useless arms hanging at the side like flaccid eels, or folded in a sort of passive-aggressive way. Their t-shirts will not be tucked in. They will all be staring at you like you’re in a carpet warehouse and they want you to pick a shagpile. Apparently, this makes you want to buy the album.Continue reading
There’s a different feeling about a Trivium show these days. Packed to the rafters with a second generation of fans picked up since their refinement and reinvention on In Waves and the successful follow-ups Vengeance Falls and latest opus Silence In The Snow (all Roadrunner), the Floridian thrashers seem very comfortable in their skin. And with good reason, as since entering the second phase of their evolution they have found themselves, no longer chasing the ephemeral but secure with their sound and who they are.
And it is with this calm confidence and assurance that Matt Heafy addresses the throng, self-deprecating tongue never far from cheek. He gently chides the crowd for being passive between songs despite their enthusiasm during tracks, indulges in classic metal encouragement getting everyone to “sing the guitar part, like Iron Maiden” on a flawless ‘Strife’ (and everyone does), addresses theSpinal Tap-esque number of drummers they go through and mocks his own appearance around the Shogun era.
A secure leader, equally his vocals have never sounder better, as he delivers note perfect cleans across the board, while still dipping into some welcome aggressive harsher tones on the older material. Corey Beaulieu is clearly enjoying connecting with a happy crowd while ripping out a slew of metal hits,Paolo Gregoletto is a head-bobbing pocket-dynamo, chipping in with some great harmonies and a ruthless pounding undertone, and new sticksman Paul “Wanky” Wandtke brings the beat, looking every inch a Steel Panther, adding showmanship, power and humour from behind the kit.
And it’s the set that makes you realize just how many great tunes Trivium have under their belt at this stage of their career. Whether it’s the more vocal-led ‘Silence In The Snow’, or the machine gun ‘Rain’, the, um, anthemic ‘Anthem (We Are The Fire)’ or the mix of it all in mid-set highlights ‘Through Blood And Dirt And Bone’ and ‘Ghost That’s Haunting You’, they’ve now reached a consistent, slick and career-high level of performance in the live arena. Flanked by huge white skulls with glowing laser eyes, by embracing their classic heavy metal roots, by the time a bowel-punching ‘In Waves’, complete with every voice bellowing the title closes things up, Trivium have calmly proven they are what we always thought they’d be; an excellent heavy metal band.
Their supports are still in the process of finding their places in the world, with Jamie Graham clearly hungry to bully and cajole every youthful face in the venue to join their cause. Backed by mammoth slabs of head-punching excellence, like ‘Hollow’, ‘Turmoil I’ and ‘Turmoil II’, it’s a successful venture as Heart of a Coward prove last year’s stunning Deliverance (Century Media) belongs in larger venues. Meanwhile, As Lions deliver plenty of promise in an engaging and triumphant opener slot that sees a band with only one song in the public domain convert new recruits by their hundreds; Austin Dickinson a strong presence with a versatile and dominant voice backed by hooks, riffs and people waiting to lap them up.
The next time each and every one of these three bands heads anywhere near you, do yourself a favour and indulge in their quality live fare, you won’t be disappointed.
STEVE TOVEY
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Trivium kicks off their headline tour tonight at The Music Farm in Charleston, SC. Following a string of US dates the band has booked a string of festivals in both the USA, and several major European fests appearances this summer. All dates are below. The band is supporting 2015’s Silence In The Snow (Roadrunner) album.
Trivium headline dates in the USA:
Jan 08: The Music Farm – Charleston, SC
Jan 09: Capone’s – Johnson City, TN
Jan 11: Chameleon Club – Lancaster, PA
Jan 13: The Chance – Poughkeepsie, NY
Jan 14: Asylum – Portland, ME
Jan 15: Pearl Street – Northampton, MA
Jan 16: The Lost Horizon – Syracuse, NY
Jan 18: Dallas Nightclub – Kitchener, ON
Jan 20: The Machine Shop – Flint, MI
Jan 21: Route 20 Outhouse – Racine, WI
Jan 22: Boondocks Pub – Springfield, IL
Jan 23: The Vanguard – Tulsa, OK
Jan 25: Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO
Jan 26: Jake’s Backroom – Lubbock, TX
Jan 27: Trees – Dallas, TX
Jan 29: Tricky Falls – El Paso, TX
Jan 30: The Pressroom – Phoenix, AZ
Feb 01: Roxy – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 02: Fulton 55 – Fresno, CA
Feb 03: Ace Of Spades – Sacramento, CA
Feb 07: Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
Feb 08: Venue – Vancouver, BC
Feb 10: Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB
Feb 11: Marquee – Calgary, AB
Feb 12: O’Brians – Saskatoon, SK
Feb 13: The Pyramid Cabaret – Winnipeg, MB
Feb 15: Majestic – Madison, WI
Feb 16: Rusty Spur – Fort Wayne, IN
Feb 17: Blue Note – Columbia, MO
Trivium festival dates
Apr 23: WJRR Earth Day Birthday – Orlando, FL
Apr 30: Welcome To Rockville – Jacksonville, FL
May 01: Fort Rock – Fort Myers, FL
May 07: Carolina Rebellion – Concord, NC
May 14: Northern Invasion 2016 – Somerset, WI
May 20: Rock On The Range – Columbus, OH
May 21: ROCK’N DERBY FESTIVAL- Schaghticoke, NY
Jun 03: ROCK AM RING – Mendig, Germany
Jun 04: Rock im Park – Nuremberg, Germany
Jun 09: GREENFIELD FESTIVAL – Interlaken, Switzerland
Jun 10: Nova Rock – Nickelsdorf, Austria
Jun 11: Download Festival – Paris, France
Jun 17: Graspop Metal Meeting – Dessel, Belgium
Jun 23: Nummirock Metal Festival – Nummijärvi, Finland
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There aren’t many bands to achieve the success levels that Trivium have that have to subsequently prove themselves over with each album. While the shadow of the decade old Ascendancy (Roadrunner) continues to loom over their career, that familiar feeling of deja-vu pervades as the Floridians unveil their seventh album, Silence In The Snow (also Roadrunner), once again to a backdrop of doubters and people gleefully awaiting a failure to show their mettle.
There is often negativity and scepticism attached to bands changing their style, but Trivium’s new music sounds more sophisticated and almost effortless. The introductory track ‘Snofall’, delicately crafted by Ihsahn to reflect the melodies of the upcoming title track, is dark and haunting; intriguing the listener, yet not giving away exactly what direction Trivium are going to take with their new sound, and the beautiful melodies are able to reinforce the themes of loneliness and of course… snow. The snow theme seems to have put off a lot of people, as if snow is only related to Frozen or Christmas. Although it may make a good Christmas present, this album is anything but tacky…
Title track ‘Silence In The Snow’ had its live debut earlier this year on the bands’ summer shows and since then it has been frequently gracing the airwaves and segues from the introduction before duplicating the same chaos as ‘In Waves’ with its melodic stomp. ‘Blind Leading The Blind’ is one of the strongest songs on the album and the guitar work is extremely effective: the simplistic riffs contrast well with the technical guitar solos.
‘Until The World Goes Cold’ opens with a haunting guitar riff, and progresses into a slow yet bass-heavy song. There are no fast-paced or shredding guitars, as the track shows Trivium’s softer side. Matt Heafy’s clean vocals are stronger than ever, and there is more of a focus on the lyrical content, with the heavy vocals of previous albums left by the wayside; exploring themes of legacy and fading away in ‘Dead And Gone’, singing “I feel I will die a forgotten man, just a number.”
Trivium have been criticised in the past for trying too hard to create music that they think everyone will like, however, Silence In The Snow should change perceptions and sets up a future direction. With less of a focus on trying to be the heaviest, it is much easier to enjoy their sound for what it really is: decent metal music which does not need harsh vocals.
Heafy’s improved vocals are the focus throughout, a path which is a continuation of the route travelled on Vengeance Falls (Roadrunner), so if you are looking for an extremely heavy album then you will be disappointed. Allow yourself to enjoy the increased emphasis on song-writing and melodic refrains, however, and Silence In The Snow will resonate with you.
7.5/10
JULIA CONOPO
Trivium is streaming their new album Silence In the Snow in full now. The album comes out this Friday, October 2nd from Roadrunner Records. You can hear it at this link:
Trivium has released a new video for the song ‘Until The World Goes Cold’, from their forthcoming album Silence In The Snow, due out on October 2nd from Roadrunner. You can watch the clip at this link or below:
Trivium will start the campaign for Silence In The Snow with a co-headline lot on The HardDrive Live Tour with Tremonti:
Trivium tour dates on The HardDrive Live Tour with Tremonti
Sep 09: Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Sep 11: House Of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Sep 12: The Ritz Ybor – Tampa, FL
Sep 13: The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
Sep 15: Ziggy’s – Winston-Salem, NC
Sep 16: Ziggy’s By The Sea – Wilmington, NC
Sep 18: The Webster – Hartford, CT
Sep 19: Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom – Hampton Beach, NH
Sep 20: The Emporium – Patchogue, NY
Sep 22: Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, ON
Sep 23: Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
Sep 25: Baltimore Sound Stage – Baltimore, MD
Sep 26: Agora Theatre – Cleveland, OH
Sep 28: The Crofoot – Pontiac, MI
Sep 29: Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL
Sep 30: Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN
Oct 02: The Sandlot Entertainment Complex – Green Bay, WI
Oct 04: Pop’s – Sauget, IL
Oct 06: Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX
Oct 07: Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
Oct 08: Alamo City Music Hall – San Antonio, TX
Oct 10: Club Red – Mesa, AZ
Oct 11: Hard Rock Live – Las Vegas, NV
Oct 14: The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
Oct 15: Knitting Factory – Reno, NV
Oct 17: Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
Oct 18: Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA
Oct 20: The Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
Long-running neo-thrash band Trivium will release their new album on October 2nd from Roadrunner Records. Entitled Silence in the Snow, the band has already released the video for the title track You can see the video at this link or below:
Front man Matt Heafy commented on the track:
“Hey pals! I’m so stoked this is out! For those of you wondering – this song was written for Shogun, and is basically almost the same as it was, so Shogun fans rejoice; didn’t like Shogun? You may not dig this.
But know that since I was 12 I wanted to be a great singer, I screamed because I couldn’t sing. I am proud and excited to finally be able to do what I love the way I love.
Don’t love it? Our old stuff still exists. Love it? Awesome. I love both sides of you all regardless.
I hope you all are great.
You all rule,
– MKH.”
Silence In the Snow track listing
01. Snøfall
02. Silence In The Snow
03. Blind Leading The Blind
04. Dead And Gone
05. The Ghost That’s Haunting You
06. Pull Me From The Void
07. Until The World Goes Cold
08. Rise Above The Tides
09. The Thing That’s Killing Me
10. Beneath The Sun
11. Breathe In The Flames
Trivium will team up this fall on the Hard Drive Live Tour with Tremonti.