Rob caught up with Corey Beaulieu from Trivium before their headline show in Wolverhampton to talk about their latest album 'In Waves', The Defender Of The Earth tour and much more.

You released your latest studio album ‘In Waves’ back in August, are you happy with how the album has gone down with your fans and the press?
Corey Beaulieu, Guitar) Yeah it was great, we did the press tour before the record came out, and got a positive reaction, and the fans seem really into it, its outsold Shogun even though its only been out a few months, its going well, we spent a lot of time on it, were really happy with it, and its nice to see the fans and press behind it as well.

How did you find creating ‘In Waves’ compared to your previous albums?
It was pretty easy when it came to the creativity part of it, we got a new drummer, which I guess made the writing part a lot easier, we had a lot of fun with it and a lot of time away from touring to work on it, we did some experiments with the song writing, we wrote some stuff that we didn't use just to experiment with the direction we were going in, it was a lot fun to do, the creative atmosphere we were in was awesome, it probably hasn't been that way since Ascendency.

What would you say your favourite tracks from ‘In Waves’ are and why?
Its hard, the ones I kind of lean towards are Caustic Are the Ties That Bind and forsake not the dream, I like those songs as they are kind of melting pots for what we do as a band, its got the heavy stuff, fast stuff, melodic stuff, the songs are more traditional Trivium songs, with crazy guitar pyrotechnics, forsake has more elaborate guitar playing on it, its a lot of fun to play and write.

When it comes to writing new material how do you guys go about it? Is it a massive jamming session or do you sit down and have a good discussion first?
We kind of have basic ideas, we want the next record to be dark heavy, but we have melody in there too, but overall have a vibe for what were going for, we all write a lot of stuff, usually its starts with us all writing some stuff, just riffs that we will show each other, then some one will say I got something that will fit with that riff, we write on tour, we get a bunch of idea, we have all the stuff written, then when we get in the rehearsal space, a put it together, we jam it out see what fits. If we didn't write stuff on tour, it would take a lot longer to put out an album

You are currently on the road headlining the Defenders Of The Faith 3 tour, how was the first show last night in Southampton?
It was really good, I guess the Southampton crowd has a different vibe to here or Manchester, compared to last time they were more rowdy last time, in Manchester they go nuts, it was great turn out for such a crowded time of year, a lot of bands competing for the same crowd, its been a lot of fun, last night was a lot of peoples first time seeing us, so from the last time, a lot of people have gotten into us, it was weird seeing half the crowd being their first time.

You have In Flames, Rise To Remain, Ghost and Insense supporting which makes up one massive diverse package, how have you found touring with them so far?
Its been a great tour, the European shows were great and packed out. Its really cool to have the bands we have, its good to have a diverse line up, everyone s got their own thing going on, if every band sounded the same, they would attract the same people to the shows, but it doesn't really pack out venues so having a variety brings in a diverse crowd and gives bands a chance to play in front of people that wouldn't normally listen to them.

You are well known for putting on an amazing show, what’s your set looking like for this tour such as set list and stage show?
For the stage show we got lighting towers its simple stuff, there's no gear on stage, but its an elaborate lighting show. As for the set list, before the tour started we did six warm up shows, to figure out what we were going to play, the bulk of the set is from ascendancy and in waves, then a song off embers, crusade and few from shogun. We want people to hear stuff from the new album and as ascendency was huge over here, we want to give people what they want too from that,

Are you looking forward to certain shows from the tour more than others?
Usually when we play over here, we look forward to playing Manchester, its our spot, regardless of what's happening, it sells out, we have some super hardcore fans there. London's always fun because its the big show of the tour, you got all the press and record labels there. Its a hectic day doing all the press and stuff like that, after the show is done its kind of a relief really due to it being a long draining day.

You play guitar for Trivium, when did you first pick up a guitar and who was your guitar rock hero’s when you were growing up?
I started playing when I was 14, Slash got me interested in heavier music and guitar, When I heard Metallica that really got to me, and that was the riff style I wanted to play, it was heavier from GnR, then it was more thrash stuff and maiden, the more I got into the music the more I got into guitar.

The festive season is nearly here do you plan to have a much earned rest over the festive period?
Once this tour is done, we fly home, then we don't do anything till new years, where we do a local show, we doing a radio station show, then we have 10 days off then its a co headlining tour with In Flames, were pretty much on that tour till July.

Can we expect to see Trivium head back over to the UK next summer for some festival shows?
Yeah, but that's stuff still being sorted out, were down for other festivals but not the UK Yet, it would be cool to play on the same day as Metallica at download when they play the black album, nothing is confirmed yet, we've never done sonisphere, it would be cool to do something different.

Where do you hope to see yourselves in a year’s time?
We got a lot of touring to do, we got a lot of support shows, trying to broaden the fan base, by the end of the year we hope to have reached more people for when we come back, hopefully it'll be at bigger shows, there's a lot of work in progress and stepping stones to reach the next level.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or Giraffe which one would you be and why?
Hmmmm, maybe a zebra, its got black on it so it looks cooler, but it does get eaten by loins and shit, a giraffe is a little goofy.

Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
Thanks for coming to the shows, check out the new record, buy it, well be back next summer at some festival, and thanks for the support.

Interview by Robert Lawrence