Long-running American mainstream metal act Trivium are absolutely no strangers to Australian shores, having toured here at least half a dozen times over the course of their almost decade-and-a-half-long career.
They have played the Soundwave Festival several times, but it has been quite some time since the last headlining tour of their own. That is set to change, however, this coming November, when the band returns for a full-blown headline tour of the eastern seaboard and Adelaide.
Speaking from his home in “kinda sunny” Florida, Trivium bassist and backing vocalist Paolo Gregoletto cannot wait to get back here, despite the 20-hour-plus plane ride they face.
“We’re really excited because this is the first time we’ve done a headliner in – I want to say five years. We’ve been really adamant to do it again, and just always getting on AJ [Maddah], every time we see him, if he’s over in the States, or if we see him at Soundwave, we tell him we really want to come back and do a headliner. The fans have been asking for it, so we’re really excited for it.
“[The flight] is long, but we always just look forward to getting down there. We kinda just get used to it. We’re numb to it now.”
What makes Trivium’s visit even more exciting for Aussie fans is that they are bringing legendary Swedish metal act In Flames with them – a band with similar appeal, whom they’ve toured with several times over the years and are actually a great source of inspiration.
“We’re very stoked to have them with us,” Gregoletto says. “They’re just one of those bands; not only has their career been a big influence on us, but [they’re] just really great guys, and a band we’ve done a lot of touring with throughout the years. We’ve become very close friends, and I’m sure the shows are going to go well and we’ll be hanging out a lot after and before the shows, because those guys do a lot of the same stuff we do. So we’re really looking forward to it, and the fact that we’re able to pair up together makes it even better for all the people down there.”
Trivium released their sixth album Vengeance Falls approximately a year ago, and while it gets harder and harder to write a live setlist, the band intends to cover as much ground as possible. Especially since this is a headline tour, as opposed to the abbreviated sets usually offered at festivals.
“Yeah, I was up in Orlando the other day with Matt [Heafy] and Corey [Beaulieu], we were actually working on new stuff,” says Gregoletto. “We were talking about the set – we’re going to get kind of an email chain going on and try to figure out what we’re going to do.
“We’re just going to try to play as much material as possible, and cover all the albums as best we can. And throw in a surprise or two as well. We have to balance it all out, but I think we’ve got a good idea what we want to do from the new record, and the old ones as well.”
This tour is also set to be the last leg of the Vengeance Falls album cycle before the band starts work on a new record early in 2015. “We’re talking about how we want to record and where – the beginning of the year is pencilled in as record-making time.”
Vengeance Falls out now through Roadrunner / Warner. Catch themalongsideIn Flames atUNSW Roundhouse onFriday November 21, tickets online.
