TRIVIUM

What do you want to achieve as a guitarist, and how do you go about getting your sound?

MATT HEAFY I want to be as good a player as I can, and to completely master the instrument. Aside from that, I’d love to influence new, up-and-coming players, just as my idols influenced me. My sound is a little bit of my slightly too-hard picking and, of course, my Gibson Les Paul Custom with EMG 81/89 pickups into a Maxon OD pedal, my beastly Marshall DSL100 and my Marshall JCM900BV 4x12. It’s a rather simple setup, but it rules.

What recorded performance represents your personal best?

HEAFY Our album Ascendancy. I’m very proud of the entire thing. As for my solos, I’d have to say “Falling to Grey” off of Ember to Inferno. It’s very fluid and legato and gives off a sense of reluctance in between the runs. It almost has its own shy emotion in between bursts of fast shredding.

What song best represents your band?

HEAFY “Declaration” [from Ascendancy]. It’s got a little bit of everything that is Trivium: parts that are fast and angry, and others that are slow and melancholic; elements of foreshadowing and irony; and best of all, constantly moving juxtaposition.

Which guitarists on the tour or among your peers do you most admire, and why?

HEAFY Corey [Beaulieu], my cohort in evil. His style is such a throwback to Eighties styling. It’s fast, flashy and cool, and that’s something you really don’t hear these days. Among my peers, I’d say Michael Amott [of Arch Enemy]. His style is brimming with feeling and emotion.

What is the future of metal?

HEAFY A circle that will eventually repeat and leave us in the good days of thrash and speed metal, a total revisitation to the glory days of bands like Metallica, Testament, Megadeth and Slayer.

FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES

What do you want to achieve as a guitarist, and how do you go about getting your sound?

BRIAN DENEEVE I’m trying to achieve a melodious orgasm using a few Les Pauls, Telecasters, Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifiers and Mark II heads, and a bunch of other tricks and trinkets.
JONATHAN COX I’m looking to create my own musical voice. I’m interested in using unique chord voicings with as many strings as possible, rather than the standard power chord. I also use a ton of effects: old stomp boxes that tend to crap out on me only onstage, at big shows, in front of a lot of people.

What recorded performance represents your personal best?

DENEEVE Our new record. I feel that we really stepped up our playing on this one and I’m very proud of it.

What song best represents your band?

DENEEVE “The After Dinner Payback” mixed with “No Trivia” [both from The Fiction We Live] combined with Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”

Which guitarists on the tour or among your peers do you most admire, and why?

COX My favorites among our peers include Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewitz of Killswitch Engage. They are amazing musicians and are note-perfect every night. They’re also the most down-to-earth, fun dudes I’ve ever met.

What is the future of metal?

COX Whatever happens, you’re going to see a massive return to shred, the likes of which has not been seen since the glory days of Yngwie Malmsteen. So learn your diminished scales right now, or die!

PIG DESTROYER

What do you want to achieve as a guitarist, and how do you go about getting your sound?

SCOTT HULL I’m finding a lot of a guitarist’s sound is in the type of strings he uses. I used Dean Markley strings forever, but I recently switched to D’Addarios. They are snappier and have that “piano” sound to them. I like a really gristly, scooped-out metal sound. I get it using the old Ampeg VH-140c and its later ancestors, the Crate GTX3500. Metal isn’t to be heard; it’s to be felt…right in your solar plexus.

What recorded performance represents your personal best?

HULL Our latest album, Terrifyer.

What song best represents your band?

HULL “Towering Flesh” [from Terrifyer] has speed, tech, breakdowns and density. It embodies in one song everything we’ve tried to do. Ironically, because of the guitar layering, we’ll probably never be able to play it live.

Which guitarists on the tour or among your peers do you most admire, and why?

HULL Brent [Hinds] and Bill [Kelliher] from Mastodon blend technique and songwriting skill. I think the reason theyare blowing up is because songwriting has become a less important goal than technique in metal, but these guys have both.

What is the future of metal?

HULL In all honesty, I hope it’s Mastodon. And I’m not just saying that because they’re getting us into Ozzfest, either.

CLUTCH

What do you want to achieve as a guitarist, and how do you go about getting your sound?

TIM SULT I want to achieve a natural, warm guitar tone. I’m not into processed guitar sounds, but I have no problem with effects. It seems like bands are really into an “Eighties”–type guitar tone right now, but I have more of a classic-rock tone.

What recorded performance represents your personal best?

SULT I like the playing on both of our live albums, Live in Flint, MI and Live at the Googolplex.

What song best represents your band?

SULT “Big News Pt. 1 and Big News Pt. 2” [both from Live at the Googolplex]. It’s heavy, funky and has lots of room for improvisation.

Which guitarists on the tour or among your peers do you most admire, and why?

SULT Matt Pike from High on Fire. He’s a great old-school– style player who reminds me of a cross between Tony Iommi and Tom G. Warrior from Celtic Frost. He is, in a word, heavy.

What is the future of metal?

SULT Check out the lineup for the Sounds of the Underground Tour. That’s the future of metal.

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