Trivium formed in 1999 after the band's original singer saw Heafy perform Metallica's "No Leaf Clover" with a drummer at his high school talent show. The band members chose the name Trivium, which is Latin for the intersection between the three schools of learning: grammar, rhetoric and logic, because they liked the way it implied an open-mindedness to different styles, and summed up their musical aesthetic. After a couple of gigs at parties, the original singer quit the band and Heafy took the wheel. For the next two years, the band honed its sound, and in 2002 Heafy won the Best Metal Guitarist Award at the Orlando Metal Awards. Trivium headed into the studio in the beginning of 2003 to record their first high-quality demo disc. From this, German label Lifeforce signed Trivium and sent the band into the studio to record Ember to Inferno.

After going through various lineups, the band finally found guitarist Corey Beaulieu, a dedicated death metal buff who brought a new influence to the band's sound. Landing a bassist was even more difficult. Numerous players came and went before Paolo Gregoletto was brought in just in time for the tour with Machine Head. Feeling so strongly about the group, their music and their dedication to their craft, Paolo left another group to be a part of Trivium. Trivium signed to Roadrunner Records after good sales of their debut and began writing songs for their new album. In the year 2005 Trivium released their second album Ascendancy on their new record label Roadrunner Records.

The album was released March 22. At this time Trivium was on the Roadrage 2005 US tour, featuring bands such as The Agony Scene, Still Remains and 3 Inches Of Blood. In 2006 they released their next effort - The Crusade, which relied much more one clean vocals than growls in order to protect Matt's voice. Even though the album was a , Trivium recieved much criticism for their shift in sound. Therefore, in their 2008's record, Shogun, they turned to their familliar sound - thrashy riffs, lightning-fast solos and throaty growls. After Shogun was released, Trivium spent three years on the roads, switched their drummer Travis Smith with Nick Augusto and released a new song "Shattering the Skies Above" which was added to the soundtrack of the succeful video game God OF WAR 3.