Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has been involved with Emperor guitarist and vocalist Ihsahn for many years working on a new project.
The project now named Ibaraki, has finally completed its debut album. Formerly named Mrityu, Irabaki’s first album will feature a guest appearance by Behemoth vocalist and guitarist, Nergal.
Heafy appeared on the Jamey Jasta Show and spoke to Jasta about the project. He said,
“During this (lockdown) I was able to finally finish my black metal record with Ihsahn from Emperor. He’s been producing and co-writing that with me for about 11 years, and it finally comes out in the middle of next year, which should be fun.
It used to be called Mrityu, which I got from Ashtanga yoga, it means the concept of life and death, same thing as the ouroboros, same thing as the Japanese Enso, the idea that life and death are always symbiotic with each other. I didn’t really know what to write about lyrically, and I was talking to Ihsahn because I’ve always loved Scandinavian mythology, Norse mythology, and Swedish mythology, I wish I could write about Thor and Jörmungandr, I love these stories.
He’s like, ‘Yeah, but Matt, those have been done a lot, and you have your own rich history to tap into with your Japanese side…’ And then a lightbulb went off, I was like. ‘I need to just write about that.’ I started writing all the lyrics about Japanese stories because that’s something that hasn’t really happened.
There isn’t really a band that writes about Japanese folklore or the Shinto gods and goddesses and fictitious stories of Japanese history. So I changed the band name to Ibaraki, which is actually Trivium‘s mascot – an easter egg in there – and the entire project is Japanese-themed. The art, the lyrics, I’m actually singing in Japanese, Ishahn‘s on the record, Nergal‘s on the record.”
Watch for this record to drop mid 2022.
Trivium‘s tenth full-length album, In The Court Of The Dragon, will be available on October 8th, and catch Trivium as part of the Metal Tour of the Year with Megadeth, Lamb of God, and Hatebreed!
https://youtu.be/BQqZDEbkI0E
