Matt Heafy Releases Acoustic EP of Trivium ‘Ascendancy’ Songs

Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has just released a four-track acoustic Ascendancy EP straight to YouTube.

The EP is part of a weekly rollout that began last Friday (Jan. 29), where the Trivium singer and guitarist will revisit select songs off each album (except for 2020's What the Dead Men Say) and present them in a much softer, intimate light.

First up was a reimagining of three songs off the band's 2003 debut, Ember to Inferno. "Pillars of Serpents," "Requiem" and the title track all showcased different elements of the early Trivium sound and were stripped down as just an acoustic and vocal performance.

Now, Heafy has turned his attention toward Trivium's breakout record, Ascendancy, which came two years later and only months after the frontman had turned 19 years old. Now, just a couple years shy of it being half a lifetime later (he just turned 35 in late January), he's adopted a considerably more mellow approach on a selection of songs that helped define the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, largely defined by the explosion of metalcore in the early-to-mid 2000s.

If you were hoping for a relaxed version of Trivium's iconic track "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr," you're out of luck, but there's still a nice mix of hits and deep cuts present on this EP.

Two of Trivium's most performed live tracks (via setlist.fm), "Rain" and "Dying in Your Arms," get the acoustic treatment, as well as "Suffocating Sight" and "Departure."

Listen to the Ascendancy acoustic EP below.

Up next week is The Crusade, so keep tabs on Heafy's YouTube channel for continued updates in the coming weeks as six more acoustic EPs are expected to be released in all.

Heafy, an avid Twitch streamer, also recently paired up with Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda to collaborate on a project. Shinoda took some of Heafy's recordings and edited everything into a brand new track. Watch the whole process here.