Orlando-based metal band, Trivium, has been delivering knockout albums for the past two decades. Now they are releasing their new album, “What the Dead Men Say” on April 24 through Roadrunner Records. Brutal Planet Magazine has heard the album and can give fans affirmation that it is amazing. We had the chance to interview Trivium about the upcoming release:
BRUTAL PLANET: “What the Dead Men Say” is your ninth studio album. How has your experience in the recording studio changed over all these years?
PAOLO GREGOLETTO: We’ve mostly stuck to the same fundamentals of recording and writing our albums since day one — write riffs, practice, demo, and then record at the studio. I think the one thing that has changed from album to album was who the producer was and that definitely can have a hand in how the process works out. Currently we are back to how we did it in the beginning and just jamming a shit load before we hit the studio.
The first single, “Catastrophist” is a solid hit that has been getting great reviews. Can we expect the rest of the album to have a similar sound?
I think the tone of the album is very consistent but each song really has its own identity. You will not get any redundant songs on this album.
The music video for “Catastrophist” was released only a couple weeks ago and has over a million views on YouTube. Tell our readers where it was filmed and the concept behind the video.
The narrative part of the video was filmed in England while our part was filmed in Orlando at the same time. The director, Ryan Mackfall, came up with the concept after listening and reading the lyrics to the song. I think the concept is open to interpretation but if you dive into the lyrics I think you could make some good assumptions on the overall theme.
Are there any songs on the album that have a personal story or meaning behind them?
Every song is personal whether it’s a reflection of events in the world or our own lives. I think Sickness Unto You was the most personal for Matt because it was dealing with an important loss in his life.
You’re one of the few bands that can pull off flawless covers consistently. Last year you recorded “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” by Type O Negative and “Kill the Poor” by the Dead Kennedys. Have you ever thought about doing a covers album? What are some other songs you’d like to record?
I think we have plenty to make a pretty slamming playlist of covers and maybe we can just keep doing them and adding it to that. I’m not sure we’d produce a full album of covers at this point, but maybe we’ll get inspired and try something down the road.
The world has really been changing over the last month. How has COVID-19 changed Trivium’s plans? We’ve already seen the canceling of the shows in Asia; will the U.S. tour with Megadeth and Lamb of God be affected?
We are all in a holding pattern with our tours and there is no definitive answer that we can give until there is a plan in place to effectively deal with the virus and the fallout from it. I think we are going to have to accept that the world is going to be dealing with this for a lot longer than any of us want to admit, but we’ll get through it eventually and I can’t wait till we can hit the road again.
