Steven Tovey of Ghost Cult magazine recently conducted an interview with bassist Paolo Gregoletto of Florida metallers TRIVIUM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Ghost Cult: Being a fan of the band, it's interesting to see how "Vengeance Falls" fits into the overall journey. "Ascendancy" established the core sound, "The Crusade" added classic metal, "Shogun" was dark and heavy, then "In Waves" and now "Vengeance Falls" follow a more linear path from each other, being more melodic, more straightforward TRIVIUM albums. Was this a conscious decision? Gregoletto: Since the beginning, it's just been let's get together, write riffs and get the music together, but never to a set plan. This time around we really wanted to have a clear vision well before going in. Every day on tour and during writing we were talking about what we wanted to get out of this record; who we are, what we stand for, and all the things we've done previously, what we loved about each of the records, what we could have done better, and what "Album 6", this far into our career, should be. So, (this time) we wrote towards a specific goal. Ghost Cult: You worked with David Draiman (from DISTURBED, who produced the album), a decision which caused a "mixed reaction" online, to say the least. Were you aware of the controversy around it, and did you approach working with him with any caution because of that? Gregoletto: When David first approached us, we were really surprised. We didn't know he wanted to produce us, or even that he produced other bands. When we decided to work with him, we knew that there'd be a stronger reaction than any other time because no other producer we've worked with has been in a multi-platinum band, so, yes, we knew there was going to be a reaction, good and bad. When we showed him the demos, and talked to him, and saw the excitement from him to want to work with us and the ideas he had, we all agreed that the music would speak for itself. We've always been a band that has done unexpected things here and there, and this album is one of those moments. I feel you can't make something unique and exciting if you don't try to get out of your comfort zone. People will say what they want before they hear it, we just had to make sure we produced what we were talking about from our first meeting, then that would say everything for us. We all feel very confident we achieved what we were talking about in the beginning. I'm not just pleased with what came out, I'm totally blown away with it. Ghost Cult: There is a much greater emphasis on the vocals than any previous album and the comparison that sprang to mind is Bob Rock working with James Hetfield on the "Black" album
Gregoletto: Definitely. This is the album where Matt (Heafy, vocals/guitars) fully comes out as "The Vocalist." Before, Matt would write as a guitarist first. When you play an instrument and you sing, I think you can use the instrument before thinking about the vocal stuff, and this time he turned that around and the vocals were a big focus. "In Waves" was the start of that, but this time Matt really stepped up to the challenge of taking the lead of a song. Of any record we've done, this is one where the vocals are the dominant feature. There's still the riffs and the technicality we do, but the vocals are in your face. When people hear it for the first time, they're not expecting the vocals to be so powerful and upfront. It's all about the balance. We love our extreme side as much as any of our fans, but we love the melodic side, and all our influences are so varied from very, very extreme metal to very melodic metal, and everything in between. For us, it's now not about trying to throw everything and a kitchen sink, but finding what works best for the song. Basing a song around him, the vocals sometimes being the key feature, was something that all of us had to learn how to do. But in the end, by doing that we were able to craft the songs into something much, much bigger than when we started demoing them. Read the entire interview at Ghost Cult magazine.
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