Early in June it was time for the Annual Roadrunner Roadrage Tour. This year, the headlining band was Trivium, with support from 3 Inches of Blood and Still Remains. Metalrage got asked to have a chat with Trivium's Corey Beaulieu (guitars), so lets read on to find out what he had to say to us!


How are you doing?
Good! We've been here before but not for a show. We flew in in Amsterdam for our first tour over here. Got to spend a good amount of time here, so we've got some fond memories of that. We actually hung out right over here, so when we got out of the bus it looked very familiar!

On your first tour, you guys played in a bar called the Altstadt in Eindhoven. You guys played with bands like Dew Scented and Prostitute Disfigurement, two bands who play a different kind of music.

Yeah it was definitly interesting, we knew that they (Prostitute Disfigurement) would be some weird kind of extreme metal. But for us it was cool, it was our first time out of the States. Those shows were pretty much the first ones out of our home state, so it was really fun.

I saw you guys play at Rock am Ring a week ago, how was that?

That was amazing. Alot of people, the crowd was really into it and the lineup was just great. A lot of cool people to meet and alot of bands to watch too. It definitly puts all the metalfests in the States to shame. So many people come out to see the bands play, its just a treat.

Did you happen to see the line up for the Download Festival in the UK?

Actually we're going to play there tomorrow. We're opening the main stage on saturday. We'll get there tomorrow so I hope I can catch Megadeth and Billy Idol..I guess. Megadeth is pretty much the only band on friday thats worth seeing. Unless you like Garbage. Saturday should be cool, alot of Ozzfest bands. Saturday and Sunday have some good asskicking metal, and we`ll be there all weekend so its going to be cool.

A few months ago Ascendancy got released, and the record is doing great. You guys suddenly became one of the more popular Roadrunner bands, if you can say it like that. Is there a big difference regarding your current situation and the one you were in two years ago?

Its pretty much the opposite. Two years ago we weren't really touring but we had a record out. No one really knew about it, and all that stuff. And now we're doing interviews every day, getting in big magazines, doing photoshoots and videos, going on tour all over the world and playing big festivals and stuff. The opportunities we have now are just crazy. It seems that constantly there is something coming up or there is something to do. There is not much free time, but its definitely fun. But every once in a while its nice to go home.

About the record. How do you guys write your music? You just go to the rehearsal space and play riffs all day until someone says "well that was a cool one?"

Sometimes. On Ascendancy, some songs evolved from some kind of jamming around and stumbling upon a riff, and someone would say "Hey that would be a good one for a song" and we would build on that. And with other songs, Matt (Heafy) will write on his own at home and would bring it in and we all try to put it together. It kind of depends on what we're feeling at the moment. So thats how the last record was done. I dont know if the new record will be any different because we're touring all the time.

A while ago I read something on the internet that you guys had a few new songs ready. I dont know if its a rumour or anything?

Well we recorded some stuff on the bus. We just like to write and create music. We're coming with new material all the time, but who knows if it will be on the next record. So when the time arrives to record the new record, we'll see what of the material ends up being used. We're just constantly writing so we have songs and material to work with. We like to stockpile as much material as we can. When the songwriting juices get going there is no point of wasting them.

We try to jam on some new stuff during soundcheck when we have the chance, but we dont have something like a "full song". Just parts of songs and riffs, which need to be put together. Which is going to take a while.

When will you be back in Florida?

We'll be going back on tuesday (5 days after this interview -ed). We've been over here for 6 weeks, and I`m ready to go home.

Do you think the next record will be "different" or have other influences?

We are pretty much sick of people labeling us a "metalcore" band, because..we dont like metalcore. We dont do breakdowns and anything like that, and we just want to be a metalband. So the next record is definitely breaking away from the metalcore thing. With the next record you'll have a hard time relating the music to metalcore. Its going to have more technical guitarplaying. We're listening to a lot of Dream Theater and stuff like that, we're trying to put the guitarplaying on a higher level and create a more epic kind of sound. Some songs will be typically Trivium, heavy rocking groove stuff, but some will be more on the technical, progressive side. It will still be easy for someone to listen to because of the melody. Another idea was changing the vocal style. Less of the brutal, screaming metalcore thing. More of a sort of James Hetfield-esque thing like on ...And Justice For All. We have some ideas we want to add to the new record instead of coming out with "Ascendency 2". It really has to be something on its own.

You dont hear that much. Most bands just say "We'll just do our best and see what we end up with".

We really want to make the next record better than the last one. We want to have new elements and influences, but still stay true to the Trivium sound. A fan expects to get good music, but we want that they get a record with something new on it. Instead of having 4 albums with very little musical difference. We'll be hard at work for that.

Do you guys have some big influences besides metal?

I know that Matt listens to a lot of stuff. A lot of different kind of music, like indie-rock. Regardless if its heavy or not, I like alot of music that has a dark melody to it. Sort of depressing kind of stuff. It doesnt have to be heavy. I also like alot of 80ies rock stuff like Skid Row and Motley Crue. Travis (Smith, drums -ed) likes alot of Southern Rock and Grunge, so everyone has his own stuff to chill out to.

But as an influence, you can hear some indie-rock song or a piano ballad and get a idea for it, and you try to apply it to your own kind of music. If you add something that wouldnt be cool for metal, but add guitars to it, it can turn out to sound pretty unique. I think outside of metal influences, they are not really intentional but they creep in.

If there was one song you would never play live, even if you would get a million dollars?

Well. I would play that song all day for a million! Yeah, I would play a shitty song for three minutes for a million dollars! I would do that, say "See ya" and go play some metal.

Okay, so lets rephrase that..A song you would never play out of your own, could be pop music, or a Blink 182 song..

Well I would play Blink 182 as a joke..Im trying to think of something retarded but I can't think of anything really. With alot of that popcrap you would have to give me a pretty hefty paycheck to play that, because I have some bills to pay. There is a lot of garbage, redundant popcrap out there. Most of it just sucks these days.
-thinks-
I don't even know if it has guitar in it, but that Fresh Prince/Will Smith song for which he got popular for? That was pretty dumb. "Ice Ice Baby" would be an embarassing one to play. A tricky question. I dont know, lets just stick to the stuff I like.

Ok, that was pretty much it. Any words for our readers?

Check out Trivium.org, Roadrunnerrecords.com, keep reading the magazines and support your local mags!

Allright, Thanks!

No Problem!