[PRESS RELEASE]

The Metal Injection Livecast welcomed special guest Matt Heafy, guitarist of Trivium, who called into the show this week. Matt discussed the band's upcoming release, what fans could expect from the sound of the record, and revealed the current scheduled US release date for the album will be Tuesday, August 9th. Matt also took questions from Trivium fans, and shed light on advice for younger players looking to start bands and his opinion of the state of the music industry.

The interview can be streamed during this week's episode of the Livecast (interview starts at around 48:00) available at: http://www.metalinjection.net/podcasts/livecast/livecast-116

Roadrunner Records recently conducted an interview with Trivium front man Matt Heafy, for the label's new "Gear Nerd" series, where they interview musicians on their roster and ask them about their influences, and the specific instruments they use, among many other things. In the interview, Matt cites James Hetfield as one of his main influences *I remember, The Crusade*, stating "it was Hetfield who really brought me into metal."

An excerpt follows:

Roadrunner: So who would you say has inspired you the most; who were you looking up to the most when you first started out

Heafy: If it weren't for James Hetfield (METALLICA) I literally wouldn't be here. I mean, I know that there are a lot of other musicians, in that band as well, especially from the "Black Album" era, but it was Hetfield who really brought me into metal. To see their live shows and see what a commanding presence he was, and to see how good of a guitar player he is. So, he got me into everything, then I bridged out from there. Continue Reading [Part 1, Part 2]

In other Trivium news, the band posted the final "making of" webisode, where they documented the entire process of recording their latest song "Shattering The Skies Above" for PS3's God of War III soundtrack. All 3 parts are available after the jump!

Metal Hammer UK recently asked a number of musicians about their "top ten essential metal albums" for their current issue (on sale now!) including HIM, Killswitch Engage, Cypress Hill and many more.

Hammer, also posted a web exclusive for Trivium's front man Matt Heafy's top ten list, which you can read an excerpt from below:

"8) Killswitch Engage’s Alive Or Just Breathing is probably the most influential CD since it came out. It influenced everything from nu-metal to hardcore to melodic death to pop punk to emo. It’s basically everyone’s favourite record at one time or another. If it hadn’t been for this record we definitely wouldn’t have sounded the way we do." Click here to read the entire post

Matt is totally right, there is no denying the huge amount of ass kicking AOJB will ensue on your soul, once it's initiated. Seriously, Jesse Leach will eat your soul!

Make sure to visit Metal Hammer for all the latest heavy metal news, and exclusives