Myths are great. You don't have to into Dungeons and Dragons to appreciate a good tale. Hell, take a look on social media, and people are constantly mak...
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Myths are great. You don't have to into Dungeons and Dragons to appreciate a good tale. Hell, take a look on social media, and people are constantly making up their own under the guise of 'fake news'. Even Trivium are no strangers to digging into the world's myths, notably on 2008's 'Shogun', but this time around, they're the ones with legendary pen in hand.
'In The Court Of The Dragon' is not only Trivium's foray into the dizzy heights of double-digit album releases, but also them slapping down some solid proof of their stoic charge to the top of metal's ranks. It's also easy to forget that it's not actually been that long since releasing 'What The Dead Men Say' just last year.
Unable to tour it, they instead ended up hunkering down in their shiny new hangar in Florida, focusing on creating their tenth outing.
Bassist Paolo Gregoletto has been integral to getting the band to this point. Since joining back in 2004, at the height of the initial Trivium mania, none are more positioned than he to note that "this album is a sum of everything we've learned over the years."
Indeed, Trivium appear to keep hitting stride after stride, and 'In The Court Of The Dragon' is no exception. Loosely tying things together with their own mythology and massively luxurious classic painting to boot, the metaphorical dragon of Trivium has smoke unfurling from its nostrils, ready to breathe the big roar.
"I feel like we're in a spot now where everyone is in a good place, where I think we know we're not trying to reinvent Trivium," Paolo says. "We're not trying to be something else, but we have a lot of possibilities when it comes to what we can do." This is where leaning into a bit more than just writing some songs comes into play. The epic portrait of the album's artwork, which has been displayed at various venues in promotion, ties the songs about feasts of fire and phalanxes together.
"The painting is the representation, but there's enough mystery to it to where you can really kind of fill it in, to be whatever you think it's going to be about. But it's kind of our own, like I said, so that was the easiest way I could describe it to someone, and I feel like sometimes having like a real short explanation of what we're trying to do."
Sure, what they're trying to do here is offer a new level of Trivium. Knowing they're a fair way into their careers now, where most have failed to launch, Trivium are on the constant up and up. This also means they've focused on just what it is about their band that draws people in.
"We have to spend the time figuring out what that is, and there are just certain things that our band does well and people associate with it," Paolo reckons. "Matt screaming is such an integral part of our sound that at this point, we've done the experimenting with how much singing or screaming works in our music, we know now there's not going to be another all-singing album from Trivium.
"So, instead of trying to hypothetically become some other band, it's about making the best of what Trivium does and I think we've really started to hit that well because people sense the energy is really there. Similar to our early records, what people liked about them is there's just this energy in there. Obviously, we're not the same band as we were, and of course, Alex [Bent, drummer who joined in 2017] being in the band, it's always going to feel new having a new member, but we also have a new way to have that energy and still progress a little bit beyond that."
"We're not trying to reinvent Trivium"
Paolo Gregoletto
An air of potential sub-conscious escapism came while writing 'In The Court Of The Dragon', but as for what the bigger picture details may be on this narrative, it's something Paolo isn't too focused on delving into since that would enter the realm of a concept album. Not that he has anything against those, mind you, it's just that creates a restrictive arena that forces a point of view, and that's not what Trivium are about.
Now that they're back on the road, they can serve the most important one: bringing their energy to the masses. Yet, while most bands are still toting that one record they could not celebrate, Trivium now have two in tow.
"['What The Dead Men Say'] is getting its live debut just as the new songs are. I feel like with like streaming and stuff now people just dive into this stuff if it's there and if it's good, it gets the listens." He mentions the albums lead single 'Catastrophist' "has almost 20 million streams on our Spotify, and we hadn't played that song live until like three weeks ago, so it's got most of its listening in while we weren't touring. It's definitely different, but I feel like the next two years of touring is going to just be touring for two albums, in a way."
'In The Court of The Dragon' being Trivium's tenth release, means they've also been dealing with this changing landscape. The one where a single you release can reach astronomical numbers without you having to set foot on a stage being par for the course. Once they were teenagers, the world at their feet, and now they're adults with a hangar and even bigger ambitions, the world at their fingertips. Streaming is a massive part of their identity (Trivium have also built an ardent game streaming following, with vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy having amassed 230,000 followers on Twitch). Is there much of a reflection period for Trivium, or are they still ready to live by the sword, die by the sword?
"The early days were crazy. I think, when we were like 18-19, you've got to have a little bit of a crazy outlook on what you want to do because when you're in a band, you've got to have some big dreams to keep you going when it's not the most comfortable," he says. "But now, we appreciate where we're at. We're very grateful for the fans who have stuck by us, and it's nice to be able to kind of like look at what you're doing and being very proud of it and enjoy it."
Wary of becoming the kind of band that turns the reality from dream to droll, Trivium aren't hanging around with a reminiscent glint in their eyes. Instead, they are appreciative of being able to go from hot upstarts with targets on their back, to titans.
"Any time I've ever seen bands that are successful but they don't enjoy it, I've never wanted to be that. I want to enjoy this while we have the chance, and that's why we're always going out, hanging out together and going to dinners. If the last two years have taught us anything, it's that it can go away a lot quicker than you think. We were all forced to have this hiatus, so we made the best of it."
Perhaps that's why Trivium are no longer a band with something to prove. They're now fully-fledged kings of the world; the one that threatened to feed them to the wolves as quickly as it drew them in. 'In The Court Of The Dragon' has no ulterior motive; it's just a band playing music with the sole intention of escaping reality. The same way its fans yearn to, and in the same way that people have sought out myths and legends for millennia. They're now fully in control.
"It's good for us because if we're going to tell a myth that's our own, then we have a lot more creative liberty to do whatever we want with it, and it's just fun," Paolo says. "The last two years have been obviously a big bummer all around for everyone, and it just felt like going that way with lyrics felt better than trying to be topical. It was nice to just dive into something else and be very focused on it, and I hope that when people are listening to it, it comes across as a band just having a lot of fun and trying to make something exciting and a lot of riffs. With a lot of stuff to go through!"
Taken from the November issue of Upset. Trivium's album 'In The Court Of The Dragon' is out now.
