“THE CONCEPT OF RHYTHM GUITAR HAS BEEN LOST IN MODERN METAL.”

The new album from Trivium is a master-class in complex riffing and balls-out shredding. Guitarists Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu reveal how it was created – with what they call ‘organic improvisation’...

- Amit Sharma

Trivium guitarists Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu are no strangers to fingertwisting riffs that snake around the fretboard and lightning fast leads used to great effect. But on the Florida quartet’s tenth album, In The Court Of The Dragon, they’re really going for gold. The album is widely acclaimed as the finest work of their career. It’s also by far their shreddiest to date. And for that, Matt pays tribute to his fellow guitarist...

“The stuff that Corey’s playing on this record is insane,” Matt says. “When I first heard the solo for the title track I was wondering how the hell he played it! He’s incredibly talented. We’ve always told him to go nuts and he’s always kinda held back, I don’t know why. But he decided to let go... And he’s a monster on this record. That’s why I felt even more comfortable playing ‘dad rock’ solos with more doublestop bends and pentatonics!”

Corey explains it very simply: “These songs had the foundation for some crazy sh*t, so I figured I’d go balls out! On other records, I might have stayed away from really fast runs because it would be seen as easier to go there instead of being more melodic. But this time, a lot of parts wouldn’t have made sense without some shred! So I just said, ‘Alright, fire me up!’ The Shadow Of The Abattoir is probably the most intense solo... There’s a lot of picking in that one!