Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine’s spat was blown out of proportion, says support act: “Whatever was going on, they were professional enough to keep it from affecting the tour”

Bullet For My Valentine x Trivium — (Image credit: John McMurtrie)

One of Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine’s support acts on the Poisoned Ascendancy co-headline tour says that the two bands’ public beef was “blown out of proportion”.

In May, it was announced that the Poisoned Ascendancy run, which was originally promoted as a “world tour” set to last from January to December 2025, would wrap up after only four months and legs on two continents.

Amidst uproar from fans, Trivium bassist Paolo Gregoletto and lead guitarist Corey Beaulieu blamed the early finish on Bullet frontman Matt Tuck. Bullet responded in a statement, explaining that they wanted to focus their efforts on finishing their upcoming studio album.

Now, talking exclusively to Metal Hammer, Bleed From Within singer Scott Kennedy says that there was no sign of dissension between the two bands when they supported them on the second half of their North American leg from April to May.

“I didn’t see anything,” Kennedy claims, “and I will say, and this is not just me trying to be nice, it was definitely blown way out of proportion [compared to] what it actually was. It wasn’t as bad as it was being made out to be online.”

Even though Trivium’s online bashing of Bullet started just before the Poisoned Ascendancy US shows finished, Kennedy adds that the bands were able to stop any squabbles from impacting other artists and crew on the tour.

“I love both camps,” he continues. “I wouldn’t say that any one side was wrong, in my opinion. Both sides were great to us and great to work with, and whatever was going on, they were clearly professional enough to keep it from affecting the tour.”

In an appearance on American TV network Fox40 on Monday (September 29), Trivium frontman Matt Heafy addressed the premature end of the Poisoned Ascendancy tour, saying, “And you know the old saying ‘it takes two to tango’ – well, our dance partner dropped off after three months of touring.”

He added (via Blabbermouth): “We’ve had people say, ‘Hey, what was the drama with this story?’ It’s just we wanted to play shows and someone else didn’t. So we’re gonna keep playing shows. That’s why you’re gonna see us at Aftershock [festival in Sacramento, California].”

Trivium will play Aftershock on October 4 and have a North American tour set to kick off in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on October 31: the same day the band are due to release a new three-song EP, Struck Dead. Jinjer and Heriot will act as support on the package. See dates and details via the Trivium website.

Meanwhile, despite stating that they wanted to put all their efforts into recording, Bullet announced an Asian and Australian headline tour shortly after the end of the Poisoned Ascendancy shows. The band will make five stops in October with support from While She Sleeps. Get all info via their website.

Before the Poisoned Ascendancy run, Bleed From Within toured with Bullet in 2021 and Trivium in 2023. The band released their new album, Zenith, to critical acclaim in April. They are currently touring Europe and will play at La Rayonne in Villeurbanne, France tonight (September 30). See their full schedule via their website.

Artists

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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