Track By Track: Trivium

Vocalist/guitarist MATT HEAFY takes AP track by track through the new TRIVIUM album, In Waves.

“Capsizing The Sea”
This track was built off the bridge guitar riff of the middle of “In Waves.” One day, [bassist] Paolo [Gregoletto] mentioned that I should record that bridge section, on a clean tone, onto a new blank track. At first, I didn't understand the purpose. But eventually, after layering some of the bridge parts, we added the chorus riff of “In Waves” on top.

The next thing that occurred was us layering tons of different guitars with different tones and tunings, all [of which were] playing the theme of the song. The “war drums” were [created by using] drum sticks wrapped in napkins and duct tape beating down on flipped-over kick drums and toms. The snare and stick-click percussion was laid on top—[and] finally, the distorted, out-of-tune, real piano [was added] on top.

“In Waves”
This song's initial demo form was brought up to us by Paolo. By this point, we had tracks like “Built” and “Inception,” but nothing like “In Waves.” This song was the turning point for the album. From that original demo and the many variations to come, we were able to branch off and create what eventually became the song. This was intentionally displayed worldwide first to show people they were getting something unexpected.

“Inception Of The End”
“Inception” has been around since the Slipknot support tour Trivium did. The main verse riff was originally a pre-chorus lodged into a rather tech-y, thrash-y song. When I showed the song to everyone, eyes lit up on the part that eventually became the verse of the track. “Inception” has gone through maybe 5 to 10 or so changes in structure, lyrics and delivery combined. It has definitely turned into something very familiar Trivium, but with a whole new flare.

“Dusk Dismantled”
“Dusk” is a song whose final lyrics weren't fully realized until shortly before the recording process. This song came from the ashes of several other songs of the collective In Waves bunch—up to 40 songs at one point—and ended up being one of the most intense songs on the album.

“Watch The World Burn”
“World” was the final full-band song written for the album. The album was constantly at a state of being pushed back, due to unforeseen circumstances. This was not an easy thing for us to stomach while being so ready to start the album up: At one point, we were prepared to fully do the album ourselves just to get it done. Thankfully, due to all the waiting, we were able to work on the songs a lot more, and also create “World.” This song has one of the most open verses we've ever had musically, and it fuses seamlessly into the rest of the album.

“Black”
With “Black,” we pulled out an old riff from an unused song, which is a rarity for Trivium to do, and it worked out perfectly. The chorus of “Black” is actually what was intended to be the original verse part of “Shattering,” off the God Of War III album. This track is easily one of the heaviest songs on the record, while still utilizing almost no screaming.

“A Skyline's Severance”
“Skyline” is a song that has been getting a ton of great feedback via the album's leak. In Waves leaked about a week before the actual release, which is actually a record. Most bands leak two, two-and-a-half weeks before release. People have quoted this song as being one of the heaviest Trivium songs to date.

“Built To Fall”
“Built To Fall” encompasses everything that is In Waves. This song has melody—musically and vocally, rhythmically and thematically.  The song will be the next video [from the album], and it will be the next consecutive video in the story-line based videos that will be across all of In Waves.

“Caustic Are The Ties That Bind”
A song that was almost cut at multiple points, the final version of “Caustic” is something really remarkable. The outer parts of the song encompass all that is Trivium. However, tucked away in the middle of “Caustic” is another song. The clean, building middle section breaks down into one of the most simplistic guitar and vocal things Trivium has done, while still capturing immense melody and emotion.

“Forsake Not The Dream”
One of the oldest songs on the album, this track's potential wasn't fully realized until [we were] actually in the studio, whereas several of the other tracks were pretty much complete in song organization before recording. “Forsake” musically hasn't changed too much from the demo versions, but it was all in the delivery as far as the song went.

“Chaos Reigns”Absolutely one of the most intense songs on the album. You'd expect something with a title like this to be musically chaotic, but again, simplicity was king on this track. It’s catchy without using one second of clean vocals. The recording of this song was a turning point for the vocals on the album.

“Of All These Yesterdays”
This was the hardest song on the album to arrange and record vocals to. Musically, we had the parts down from the very beginning, but with a song like this, variations in structure are endless. So it was quite the challenge to find the final structure. Five to ten revisions of structure, and two-and-a-half complete re-records of the vocals make this song clock in with the most hours of work put in. It’s one of the most significant songs on the album.

“Leaving This World Behind”
A perfect end to the album. We used the middle of “Dusk,” pulled out instrumentally and then I yelled old lyrics/poetry that seemed to capture the vibe of the outro of the album.