In a new interview with Louder Sound, TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy talked about touring with MEGADETH on “The Metal Tour of the Year,” with also featured LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED.
“It’s been incredible. I would have been excited to see 4,000 people a night,” he said. “Lo and behold, 9,000 people showed up to see us in Austin, TX, which is insane for four bands who play metal and are essentially from the underground world.”
Asked if their shows always go so well, Heafy said: “No. I mean, I was doused from head to toe with a hot bottle of piss before our second Download show in 2006. No one had an extra towel, so I had to play covered in someone else’s piss. That sucked. Falling through the stage sucked. Losing my voice sucked. Doing shows with tonsillitis and food poisoning. I’ve had it all.”
When asked “who’s the band to beat on this tour,” he responded: “I feel like all four are firing on all cylinders but, man, MEGADETH is just unbelievable. Every single detail of their show is meticulous, and Dave Mustaine is still flawless. There is no one else on the planet like him. Am I competitive on a tour like this? Of course, there’s the ‘humility’ answer: I do believe that everyone rises up together. But I also want this, more than anyone else I know.”
He also talked about with themes he writes today, saying: “The title song [‘In the Court of the Dragon’], I started writing about Norse mythology, and Thor battling Jormungandr at Ragnarök. But Paolo [Gregoletto, bass] said, ‘We should create our own mythology instead.’
“When he said that, it really set off this spark in my mind. Something I’ve been tapping into recently is my Japanese side. Y’know, like the Japanese storm god Susanoo battling Yamata No Orochi, the eight-headed serpent of the sea. My favorite characters are Raijin and Fujin, the gods of thunder and wind: that’s probably going to be my next tattoo. I’m also making a children’s book about Japanese folklore.”
