Ever since they broke onto the metal scene after playing Download last year, Trivium have become bigger and bigger with every passing month. They inspire the same level of devotion from their fans that's normally reserved for more established acts, but in reality they're just four ordinary guys living out their dream determined to make sure their fans have a good time. When R13 spoke to guitarist, Corey Beaulieu, he said of the tour they'd almost just completed, "It's been awesome, all the shows have been sold out and the kids have been going crazy and stuff and it's been really good. And we had a good time."
When asked what the highlight of it is, he stops and thinks before pretty much revealing that he can't make his mind up. "London was great, we played two nights in London. Ireland was really cool. Manchester, and even last night I think it was a place called Folkestone, that was really awesome. Every show was really cool."
As much as Beaulieu thoroughly enjoyed himself on this tour, he's already looking forward to the Iron Maiden gig immensely: "We're really looking forward to that tour, y'know it's months away but it's going to be cool." Naturally, there's general excitement in the Trivium camp about this, with Beaulieu declaring, "It's a real honour to be able to open for them and it should do us good because they bring a lot of people out." Of course, that didn't stop them being a touch surprised as he adds, "It was like 'oh shit! Maiden!'"
Talking about Maiden, you can see a gleam in his eyes and it's easy to see that while he may be in one of the hottest metal bands around, he's still as much of music fan as the rest of us. "It's always been one of our big influences and we've listened to them for a long time... Saw Maiden at Ozzfest and they were only doing their first four albums and it's going to be cool to see them again, to see them play stuff I hadn't seen them play before."
Speaking of festivals, the festival on everyone lips is Download what with Metallica and Guns N Roses playing for the first time in years. Beaulieu says that, "Download should be great. Last year when we played, we were the first band on the mainstage and it did a lot of good for us, kind of broke us and we got to play to a lot of people."
It's a sign of how far they've come that they've been moved up the bill so far, they've bypassed a whole lot of other, more established acts: "We're in the last three, so it's us, Korn and Metallica so we've got a significant jump." As a massive Metallica fan, Download will present something of a first for him: "I've never had a chance to see Metallica so seeing them for the first time at Donington should be awesome."
It should be a perfect way to complement the 'Master of Puppets' collaboration Trivium did this year. "Kerrang! was doing a 20th anniversary thing and got hold of a whole bunch of us and asked us if we would cover and re-record songs." Riding their luck, the band got their wish to record the title track. Beaulieu explains, "In between tours we went into the studio and recorded a quick cover of it and it was really good. We're excited to see how the other bands, what they do - whether they change stuff or whether they stay true to the original song. It'll be cool to see other people's interpretations of their songs."
Although they stayed "pretty close to the original", Trivium "made it punchy and heavy, and really gave it a modern sound to it, but we also tried to stay true to the song and make sure that all the little details from the original were there and also add our own sound." Taking their cue from Metallica's live performances, they, "Added some harmony, the kind of stuff that wasn't there originally but was done live but not really on record." Beaulieu himself included, "Some guitar parts, and redid part of the solo. I took parts of the original and added my own parts and kind of blended them all together.
As if more proof were needed of how big Trivium have become, the sheer fact that they now have a pseudonym of Ember and the Infernos to keep smaller shows from getting too packed should be more than enough. On the last tour, when we were playing small club shows, they labelled it as that to keep it kinda secret. We were playing really small places when we did that, so there was a kind of craziness about it, so we did that a couple of times."
Craziness does indeed ensue, with a kind of shambolic, disorganised charm; "Last time, it got pretty elaborate - dressed up in these ridiculous costumes and played a bunch of retarded covers and then we went off and changed and played as ourselves." From the evidence of the London Ember and the Infernos gig, the fans "have a good time cos we play a bunch of stupid covers that most people don't really like. Kind of makes it easier and more fun."
So, there you have it, the future holds plenty of promise for the boys from Florida. They've gone home to, "Start our new record. Over the next two months, we're going to be recording our new CD and when we're done we're back on tour." The future's bright, the future's Trivium.