Trivium "Ascendancy"

Ascendancy is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium; it was released on March 15, 2005 by Roadrunner Records.

This marks the first Trivium album to feature guitarist Corey Beaulieu and bassist Paolo Gregoletto. The album was produced by Jason Suecof and frontman, Matt Heafy. The album spawned four singles in "Like Light to the Flies", "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr", "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" and "Dying in Your Arms". Music videos for each of the songs were shot; a promotional video was filmed for the song "Rain".

A demo of the song "The Deceived" was included on the re-release of Trivium's debut album Ember to Inferno nearly a year before Ascendancy was released. Likewise, a demo version of "Like Light to the Flies" was included on the MTV compilation album Headbangers Ball Volume 2. Also, a demo of the song "Blinding Tears Will Break the Skies" was included on the Ember to Inferno re-release and later re-recorded and included as a bonus track on the re-release of Ascendancy.

Speaking to Kerrang! about the songs lyrics, Matt Heafy said: "Definitely, some of the lyrics are about my personal insecurities and my social issues and disorders, and there's a thing about quietness in the music industry – people assume you're a dickhead if you don't want to talk, and that was definitely said about me. Being in a band forced me to have to get over my awkwardness around people and you can really see what I was going through in there." Heafy considers Ascendancy his favorite Trivium album.

Since its release, Ascendancy has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. In the U.S., the album peaked at No. 151 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 4 on the Top Heatseekers charts, and has sold over 140,000 units. In the UK, it peaked at No. 79, and shipped over 100,000 copies, attaining Gold status, without entering the UK top 75.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Matt Heafy.

1. "The End of Everything" (Instrumental) Heafy, Jason Suecof 1:20
2. "Rain" Heafy, Corey Beaulieu 4:11
3. "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" Heafy, Beaulieu, Travis Smith 4:51
4. "Drowned and Torn Asunder" Heafy, Beaulieu 4:17
5. "Ascendancy" Heafy 4:25
6. "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" Heafy, Beaulieu 5:55
7. "Like Light to the Flies" Heafy, Beaulieu 5:40
8. "Dying in Your Arms" Heafy 2:53
9. "The Deceived" Heafy, Beaulieu 5:11
10. "Suffocating Sight" Heafy 3:47
11. "Departure" Heafy 5:41
12. "Declaration" Heafy 7:00

Total length: 55:11

Trivia:

- Debuted #4 on the US HeatSeeker charts and #151 on the US Billboard Top 200 charts, which also landed Trivium the title of 4th highest "new band" debut in Roadrunner's history

- "Washing Away Me in the Tides" appeared on the soundtrack to Underworld: Evolution (2006)

Recording information:

Recorded at Audiohammer Studios, Sanford, FL and Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL.

Mixed and mastered at Backstage Productions, Derbyshire, England.

Trivium "Silence In The Snow"

Silence in the Snow is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. It was released on October 2, 2015. It is the first and only album to feature third drummer Mat Madiro, who joined the band in May 2014 and before he had departed from the band in December 2015. It is the band's only album to date to not feature any harsh vocals. Michael "Elvis" Baskette was hired as the producer whom the band had met while recording In Waves album back in 2011.

The band premiered "Silence in the Snow" and "Blind Leading the Blind" on their headlining performance on Bloodstock Open Air. "Blind Leading the Blind" was later released as a single on YouTube August 13, 2015. On August 21, 2015 a music video was released on YouTube for "Blind Leading the Blind".

The third single "Until the World Goes Cold" premiered on Octane on August 26, 2015. The music video premiered on YouTube the day after. The single landed on No. 10 at Top 10 Active rock chart in February 2016, making it first ever Trivium single in the Top 10.

On September 25, 2015, a week prior the worldwide release, the entire album (including two bonus tracks) was officially streamed on Octane. Heafy, Beaulieu and Gregoletto were also participating in the radio program, breaking down the meaning of songs and commenting on the songwriting process.

The fourth single "Dead and Gone" was released with its music video on March 10, 2016.

Guitarist Corey Beaulieu cites Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio as the main influences for the album, as well as touring experience with Heaven & Hell back in 2007. He said the title song was written during Shogun sessions but was eventually cut from the final release, as the band thought it did not fit "Shogun's sound."

During the album's making, vocalist Matt Heafy worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson in order to improve his voice which he blew in 2014. The result of his training is a more melodic, clean singing style, making Silence in the Snow the first Trivium album not to feature any kind of unclean vocals at all.

Silence in the Snow marks the return of 7-string guitars, which have been previously used in The Crusade and Shogun.


AllMusic says that with Silence in the Snow, Trivium has completed their move towards arena rock, that they used the "building blocks of metal" to create a more popular sound.