Matt Heafy identifies influential metal albums

Trivium frontman Matt Heafy identified three influential metal albums during a recent appearance on The Garza Podcast. He categorized his selections into three distinct stages of his musical development: metal, death metal, and metalcore.

Heafy selected Metallica’s ‘Black Album’ as his entry point into the genre, though he noted ‘Master of Puppets’ as a personal favorite. For the death metal influence, he chose In Flames’ ‘Reroute to Remain’, citing it as the first record that demonstrated the ability to combine screaming and singing within the same band.

To represent metalcore, Heafy named Heaven Shall Burn’s ‘Whatever It May Take’. He highlighted the band’s ability to maintain a heavy sound while addressing sociopolitical and societal subject matter through their lyrics.