Matt Heafy discussed the hostile treatment Trivium faced from fans and other major bands in the early stages of their career, speaking on Nik Nocturnal Podcast.
The Trivium frontman described a difficult period when the band was working to establish themselves in the metal scene. He reflected on how gatekeeping in the industry has changed over time, and explained what made those early years so challenging for the band.
Heafy said, “And what’s cool is I’ve noticed that’s okay now. It’s less gatekeeping in that way nowadays. But I remember us it’s like we came out with this technical as f*cking record. Yeah, Ascendency is hard to play. Suffocating sight, dude. If you can play that on a rhythm, you’re an okay guitar player. If you can’t, I don’t know what to say.”
“But we just wanted to prove something. We’re like, okay, well, these people don’t believe that we can do it. And also, our time was different. We were bullied by our favorite bands, bullied by our bands fans, spit on for entire shows, bottled waited out for the by our van, by our bus, death threats, getting threatened by other bands, Brent Hinds from Mastodon throwing his own piss at us with fill in the beer bottles on Ozzfest, like all sorts of crazy shit.”
“Like I could write books and books and books and not saying that I want people to go through that now, but I’ll see the kind of stuff that like kind of sets off a feud these days like, oh, the comment section like I’m going to I’m going to fight you and that never happens.”
Heafy recalled a specific show where the band had to win over a divided audience. “I mean, back in my day, like we co-headline with Slayer with the original lineup of Slayer, co-headlined with them and survived and did well. I remember we played Manchester, came out there. How the f*ck everyone doing? Half the crowd’s cheering. Half the crowd’s booing. All right. Everyone that loves us makes some noise. Half the crowd. Everyone that hates us makes a noise loud. I was like, ‘Ha, I even got you to make noise for us.’ And by the end of the show, we had everybody probably maybe maybe 5% we didn’t have into them, but let’s say 95% that we had into us. It’s like it was a battle for freaking our lives.”
He also detailed conflicts with other bands during festival appearances. “Like supporting Maiden 06 in the UK after our UK success. You know, doing that Ozzfest show, getting asked to egg Maiden, us refusing, staying on Ozzfest, playing the trooper every single day on Ozzfest after refusing to egg maiden, have Maiden flags up on our cabs every day, and then getting bullied by Ozzfest staff. It’s like, dude, it’s been a wild f*cking ride. And we’re still young. We’re still as young as the young bands. Maybe not the youngest bands, but some of the young modern bands. We’re the same age.”
Heafy made these comments while reflecting on how the metal music scene has evolved since Trivium’s early years.
When Trivium emerged in 2005, they quickly became targets within the metal community. The band released Ascendancy on March 15, 2005 through Roadrunner Records, and the album’s technical difficulty became a point of pride for the band as they worked to prove their legitimacy to a skeptical industry. Early UK press attention to the album lasted about nine to ten months, but during that period the band faced resentment from other bands worldwide over claims they would become the next Metallica without having paid their dues.
At Ozzfest in 2005, where Trivium had paid $30,000 to secure a spot on the bill, festival crew members asked them if they wanted to egg Iron Maiden. Rather than comply, the band refused and doubled down on their support for the UK metal legends by wearing their t-shirts onstage and covering The Trooper during their sets. Heafy recalls that Ozzfest staff responded by bullying the band, driving golf carts at them and shooting dirt in their faces. During the festival run, bassist Paolo Gregoletto nearly faced arrest at one of the shows.
The hostile environment extended beyond Ozzfest. In 2006, Trivium was on tour with Lamb of God, Machine Head and Gojira when their sound guy walked out on them, adding to the challenges they faced early in their career.
Years later, the atmosphere changed. When Trivium toured on a co-headlining bill with Slayer alongside Mastodon and Amon Amarth, Brent Hinds from Mastodon approached Heafy in their dressing room and told him that Trivium had proven themselves over the years and that he respected them. This marked a turning point in how the band was perceived by their peers in the metal community.
