If there’s one thing Paolo Gregoletto and Corey Beaulieu wants fans to know about Trivium, it’s that they’re “focused and ready to kick some ass.”
The group is currently sharing the stage with Slipknot and Coheed and Cambria on the All Hope is Gone tour. They released their fourth album Shogun in Sept. 2008, which debuted at 24 on the Billboard 200.
“We were all really motivated to write a really kick ass album,” Beaulieu said. “The energy and how everyone was just having a good time making and really enjoying themselves comes though in the recording. The songs have a certain light to them that reflects that we’re just really focused and motivated to write an album that we’re proud of.”
Trivium departed from producer Jason Suecof during the recording of Shogun, working with Nick Raskulinecz, who has been behind past albums of Stone Sour, Coheed and Cambria, Shadows Fall and Danzig.
“[Jason] is always going to be a part of the Trivium history, but I think we needed to take the next step, and logically it was time to get someone else to grab the reigns of the Trivium beast,” Gregoletto said. “I think Nick really brought us together not only a four friends but as a band. He really worked some magic in the studio.”
Trivium saw mainstream success with 2004’s Ascendancy.
“We’ve done our best to not rehash old material, but at the same time you’ve got to keep the elements of what makes Trivium Trivium on the album,” Gregoletto said. “[Shogun] defiantly could have followed the formula of the second CD…but we went the opposite way, which is kind of a ballsy thing to do, especially since Ascendancy was our breakout record. We took a chance and just went with our instincts.”
For Beaulieu, the band’s evolution from record to record has been very natural.
“Over time, things that peak your interest might be different than things that you did five or six years ago,” he said. “We’re always trying to find something fresh that keeps everyone’s excitement up and really enjoying the creative process of writing songs.”
Though they weren’t looking to repeat themselves, the old tried and true method of songwriting is one thing has stuck with them.
“I think the way we got through the process of recording was almost like being in the garage again, back to the roots of how you really make music,” Gregoletto said. “You just jam, and that’s where the best ideas and the best creative process come from. We’re still finding out a lot about ourselves as writers.”
Like the generations of rock bands before them, heavy metal became a part of the band members’ lives at an early age.
STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
“Ever since I first heard metal, it just instantly hit, ‘That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear,’” Beaulieu said. “It’s got that sound that makes you just want to rock out and head bang. Growing up watching old Metallica videos, it’s like, ‘That’s the way you’re supposed to do it’ on stage instead of just standing there like you’ve got lead shoes on.”
Trivium take the lessons of their rock ‘n’ roll forefathers with them every night in the ongoing challenge of up-and-comers to continually win over new fans.
“Sometime you go out there and people are just watching, I don’t take that personally like they hate us or anything,” Gregoletto said. “It’s just that they’re not really sure what to do yet. You have to kind of give them the incentive. It’s hard to not want to rock out when you see dudes on stage who really look like they’re having fun, head banging, running around, jumping around. You just have to create that energy. You have to make people want to see more.”
Things look about the same from Beaulieu’s view on stage.
“For being an opening band, and then for Slipknot being such an intense live band, I think we do a good job of getting them in the show mode,” Beaulieu said. “A lot of people don’t know us, but I think the way we’re going out on stage and kind of bum rushing them, they’re taking notice.”
