Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has made no secret of his influences over the years. Everyone from Metallica and Slayer to death metal pioneers Death and black metal icons Emperor have shaped the singer/guitarist’s music over the years. But there’s one, less obvious band who proved to be an early influence on Heafy, shaping a key track on the Florida metallers’ breakthrough 2005 album Asendancy.
Speaking exclusively in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer ahead of Trivium’s upcoming joint tour with Welsh metallers Bullet For My Valentine, Heafy looks back on the making of Ascendancy. Released in March 2005, it turned the youthful Florida four-piece into the hottest new name in metal – something rubber stamped by a now-legendary appearance at that year’s Download festival.
“Recording the album? It was easy, it was effortless,” Heafy tells Hammer. “We came into the studio having everything prepared beforehand, jamming in our storage place and singing and screaming the words. It was just a super-exciting time, full of hopes.”
The frontman also explains the stories behind each of the Ascendancy’s 12 tracks. Talking about the album’s final song, Declaration, he reveals one of the unlikely inspirations that shaped it – British stadium rockers Muse, and specifically their third album, 2003’s Absolution.
“This song is nuts,” says Heafy of Declaration. “You can hear a second of the Muse Absolution influence in the middle, but it’s also kind of Emperor IX Equilibrium in the verse.”
Heafy adds that Declaration centres on the idea of compassion and unity. “What I love is that it’s showing the champion of all walks of life that I’ve always been. Being a human being filled with compassion, empathy and humanity, I’ve had friends of all types, all races, all sexualities, all everything. How could you not want your friends or other people to just be able to enjoy life?
“So that’s what this song is about. This is a very violent, angry call for being a champion of all who deserve it.”
In the same interview, Heafy reveals the future Ascendancy song which helped Trivium bag their deal with Roadrunner following the band’s independently released debut album, Ember To Inferno.
“My dad was our manager, and he got an email from [Roadrunner A&R executive] Monte Conner, and he’s like, ‘You guys have the bones of what’s going to be something great with Ember…. You’re not there yet, but you’re close.’
“My dad, with great foresight, was like, ‘OK, he thinks we’re there. You guys go write three songs. We’re going to make a video for it and pay for it all ourselves.’
“So my dad paid for all this stuff, got studio time. We did the work; we wrote the songs and amongst ourselves we picked Like Light To The Flies as the music video. We sent it to Roadrunner and Monte’s like, ‘Oh, OK. You already did that. Yes. We will sign you now.’ They signed us immediately – that song changed my life.”
Read the full interview with Matt Heafy in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now. Buy it on newsstands or order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
A special bundle issue, featuring the new issue of the magazine with a unique cover plus a limited edition T-shirt not available anywhere else in the world, is also exclusively available through the Louder online store – but hurry before they all go.
