Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has revealed an interesting anecdote about a recent time none other than Iron Maiden founder, bassist and lead songwriter Steve Harris compared his band to Metallica.
Trivium supported Maiden on the latter's 2022 North American leg of their epic Legacy Of The Beast tour, and near the end of the run, he had a unique interaction with Harris that has stuck in the singer/guitarist's memory.
“It’s funny," he tells WRIF Radio's Meltdown show (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). "We did the Maiden run and Steve Harris came in at the end to thank us for being on the bill. We’ve toured with them before a lot. He looks around and he’s, like, ‘You guys play a lot, huh?’ I was, like, ‘Yeah, we just love to make sure we’re nice and warm.’ And he was, like, ‘The only other band I’ve seen do that is Metallica.’ So the fact that Steve Harris compared us to Metallica in a small way, it’s another one of those amazing, amazing little instances. I’ll never forget that.”
Trivium were famously compared to Metallica when they first broke internationally with 2005's Ascendancy album - something Heafy later admitted he himself played a part in.
"We really blew up in the UK first and we got our first cover feature when we were like 18," he said back in 2016. "The quote on the front was from me because I was a confident 18-year-old, and had been in the band for six years at that point. The quote was something along the lines of ‘Trivium: The next Metallica‘ and at that moment it really worked out for our band in the UK. But other bands started seeing that and saying ‘Who the hell is this young band calling themselves the next Metallica?’”
While comparing themselves directly to the biggest band in the history of heavy metal might have been a tall order, Heafy can at least rest knowing that when it comes to putting in the hard hours, the two bands are apparently a lot closer than some might think. According to Steve Harris, anyway - and who are we to argue with him?
Trivium and Iron Maiden both tour Europe next year.
