Talent and charisma are key ingredients for any professional musician, but without dedication and perseverance, many bands quickly fade to black. Then there are those like Orlando, Florida band Trivium, who are so determined, their behavior borders on insanity.
The day before Hurricane Charlie decimated Florida, Trivium were playing the Masquerade in Atlanta. While they knew they were up against their own Perfect Storm, they decided not cancel the next night´s show in their hometown. "We drove a van with a trailer right through the eye of the hurricane," 18 year old singer and guitarist Matt Heafy says. "[Drummer] Travis [Smith] drove the whole way and he was like Tom Cruise in ‘ Mission: Impossible´ or something. He just kept going and we made it for the show." Showing his dedication Heafy says "we all live for this band. We wake up, practice a little bit on our own and then go to band practice and play for hours and hours. That´s all we do, and all we want to do for the rest of our lives."

The same type of dedication and youthful exuberance goes into the band´s music. Ascendancy, the group´s second album, their first on Roadrunner Records, is filled with carefully crafted songs that surge with energy, passion and originality. Like their solid 2003 debut Ember To Inferno, Ascendancy is rooted in ‘80s and 90´s thrash, recalling the glory days of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and Testament. But, the new disc doesn´t stop there, incorporating aspects of melodic death metal and even prog-rock. Twin guitar harmonies and point/counterpoint dynamics abound, twisting around vocals that alternate from melodic and pained to caustic and full of rage. "We had so much more to work with this time," says Heafy of the Jason Suecof-produced disc. "I had great guitar sounds, Travis is playing like a machine and the vocals are so much more multi-dimensional."

While the first album, lyrically, addressed romantic disillusionment and child abuse, this time the songs confront spousal abuse, suicide, depression, tyranny and freedom of speech. However, even at his most poignant, Heafy prefers expressing gut emotion to preaching. "I´ve found that when you have a negative aspect in your life, you can find so much negativity in other people´s lives around you, and in the world. For me, it´s good to write about the negativity to get some of it out of my system."

Trivium formed in 2000 after the band´s original singer saw Heafy perform the Offspring´s "Self Esteem" with a drummer at his high school talent show. The band members chose the name Trivium, which is Latin for the intersection between the three schools of learning: grammar, rhetoric and logic, because they liked the way it implied an open-mindedness to different styles, and summed up their musical aesthetic. After a couple of gigs at parties, the original singer quit the band and Heafy took the wheel. For the next two years, the band honed its sound, and in 2002 Heafy won the Best Metal Guitarist Award at the Orlando Metal Awards. Trivium headed into the studio in the beginning of 2003 to record their first high-quality demo disc. From this, German label Lifeforce signed Trivium and sent the band into the studio to record Ember To Inferno.

After going through various lineups, the band finally found guitarist Corey Beaulieu, who compliments Heafy´s precision playing with solid riffs that help anchor the songs. Landing a bassist was even more difficult. Numerous players came and went before Paolo Gregoletto, who has jammed with Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, was brought in just in time for the tour with Machine Head. Feeling so strongly about the group, their music and their dedication to their craft, Paolo left another group to be a part of Trivium.

By July 2004, Trivium had 80 percent of the material for Ascendancy written and fine-tuned. Then in September, the band headed into Audiohammer and Morrisound Studios with Suecof, where they recorded the songs. As much as Trivium enjoyed their studio experience, they´re happiest on the road. In the past year they´ve embarked on tours with Machine Head and Iced Earth as well as played dates with Killswitch Engage, Fear Factory and others, and won over new fans with every show. "What´s cool about a tour is every night´s a party," Heafy says. "It´s not always because everyone´s drinking, but people are getting along well and hanging out. The energy from the crowds is amazing."

With their second album finished and on the shelf, Trivium look forward to spending most of the year on the road – which doesn´t mean they´re not constantly working on new material.

BIO SANCTITY

Even before the release of their debut album, Road to Bloodshed, Asheville, NC metal quartet SANCTITY earned respect and recognition from two generations of heavy metal royalty. First, Trivium frontman Matthew K. Heafy saw Sanctity and was so blown-away that he helped get them a record deal. Then, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine caught Sanctity’s performance during a show with DragonForce and immediately offered them a vaunted spot on the second outing of his Gigantour festival. "He came backstage and asked us personally to do the show," drummer Jeremy London recalls. "That was such a huge honor because we all love Megadeth and Dave has been one of our idols all of our lives."

It´s easy to see why the top names in metal are going to bat for Sanctity. Road to Bloodshed, the band´s debut, is a blistering blend of technical thrash and old-school metal powered with plenty of attitude and grit. Filled with steely, staccato guitars, trampling beats and roaring vocals, the songs marry complex arrangements and musicianship with granite-heavy grooves and unforgettable hooks. "We all grew up listening to Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Pantera, and no one´s really playing music in that classic thrash style anymore," London says. "But at the same time, we like to write songs that aren´t dated and will stand the test of time."

In an increasingly lethargic music scene, Road to Bloodshed is a shot of adrenaline and a bold etching in the pages of metal history. Fan-favorites “Beneath The Machine” and "Zeppo" feature harsh, tuneful vocals backed by a fast, crunchy guitar rhythm, hammering beats and melodic leads. "Seconds" starts with singer Jared MacEachern crooning "Your life is ending seconds at a time" before launching into a violently surging medley of frantic drums and guitar. Then the band goes into "Billy Seals," which follows a symphonic intro with an electronic rhythm that has machine-gun ferocity and timeless thrash riffage. "Everything we do is a collaborative effort," London explains about how the diverse songs coalesce. "Usually [guitarist] Zeff [Childress] will come up with a riff, and then he and I will work the song out a bit. Then Jared will come in and help shape it and give it a dynamic voice."

"Most of the vocals require a real aggressive style, but we definitely have our melodic side, too," MacEachern adds. "I sang in church choir between the ages of 5 and 13, so I try to put some of that in there as well." One reason Sanctity sound so tight and in tune is because Childress and London have been friends since they met in their first grade class. Over the years, they jammed together, then started a band in the seventh grade. Individually, they bounced from band to band playing a variety of styles until they were sophomores in high school. They decided to play together again and make music they were actually proud of. "I was in this southern rock band I was really sick of, so Zeff and I decided to start playing metal," recalls London. "I was playing bass at the time, and he had me switch to drums." For the next two and a half years, Sanctity went through several vocalists and bassists and played numerous local shows. But the turning point came when MacEachern saw one of their gigs at his college.

"I was blown away instantly," he says. "They were really exciting to watch and I started really getting into it, so I jumped onstage and did “Creeping Death” by Metallica with them, and there was this instant connection. Right after the show they said, ´Hey, we need a singer. Wanna come by practice and try out?´ So I dropped out of college and joined the band."
Sanctity wrote a batch of songs, self-released a pair of EPs and toured exhaustively, playing 190 shows in 2005 alone. At one of the concerts, they shared a bill with Trivium and Fear Factory, and before they went on, they asked the guys in Trivium to check them out for some constructive criticism. Fortunately there was little to criticize and Trivium were way more than constructive.

"We´ve really liked those guys since their first album, so their feedback meant a lot," London says. Heafy recommended us to Monte Conner at Roadrunner. Monte gave us a call and we sent him our two EPs and we put a live DVD together." Conner liked what he heard and asked Sanctity to write some new songs and record him a high-quality demo. London called Heafy, who turned them on to Trivium´s producer Jason Suecof.

"We did a big benefit show to raise the money to record the demo," London says. "600 people showed up. For the other half of the money, we took a loan out, so we went in with Jason and did “Zeppo,” “Seconds” and “Lost to Ego” and sent them back to Monte. "He really liked the songs, but he said he wanted to hear more to see where our music was going. We then went back to the studio with Jason to do four more songs." Those tracks, "Road to Bloodshed," "Once Again," "Brotherhood Of Destruction" and "Billy Seals" demonstrated real musical growth and proved Sanctity could continually deliver the goods. Seeing that, Conner flew out to see them live, then signed them to the label.

With a deal in hand, Sanctity returned to Suecof´s studio in Sanford, Florida to finish writing their first full album. Along the way, they lost their bassist and re-hired Derek Anderson who had filled in previously, but that´s not what locked the band´s creative brakes for nearly a month. "We were just working so hard to write songs and were really working against ourselves because we were trying so hard," MacEachern says. "So we took a week off and relaxed and let the music do what it does on its own. And from there everything went really smoothly." With the songs for Road to Bloodshed finally written, Sanctity went back into the studio with Suecof in high spirits. "It was so easy and so much fun," London says. "Jason really brings out the best in everybody. He has a good ear and can hone in on the small things that might need to be changed. I tracked 14 songs in 12 hours and Derek did his bass parts in three hours. The guitars and vocals took a little longer, but in comparison to other bands, we worked really fast and had a great time." "It´s our first record and I´m super excited about it," says McEachern. "But I´m looking ahead and I can´t wait to do our second, third and fourth record. I look at this all as the beginning of an amazing process that I´ve been waiting for my whole life."

From the acrobatic beats and squealing guitar harmonics of "Road to Bloodshed" to the off-time riffing and abrupt bursts of "Brotherhood Of Destruction," Sanctity have tapped into something equally virulent, vibrant and relevant and created the kind of album that causes chills from the first to the 100th time you listen to it. Sanctity may consider bands like Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica to be primary points of influence, but ten years from now, a new generation of bands could easily be getting the same type of inspiration from Road to Bloodshed and the many Sanctity offerings to follow.

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