Courtesy Triune
Audio By Carbonatix
Cory Wolfe admits he and his bandmates aren’t you’re typical metalheads and really don’t listen to that much metal outside of the local scene they’re a part of.
The vocalist-guitarist of Boulder prog-core band Triune believes having a variety of outside influences allows for more creativity when it comes to writing in such alternative heaviness.
“A lot of times one of the last things we listen to is heavy metal,” Wolfe says, adding that he’s been on a South London jazz kick recently. “Just departures from what you would consider typical metal guys to listen to to put my mind somewhere else.”
Though he grew up on the OG deathcore of Suicide Silence and Whitechapel, Wolfe wanted to divert and do something a little less formulaic when he first started Triune in 2020 alongside guitarist Nic Pierce and landed in the realm of psychedelic progressive metal. Tool, Opeth, Mastodon and Gojira — bands known for melding nontraditional elements into metal — began to really inspire his latest project.
“My core ethos is metal can be one of my least-favorite genres, in a way. It can be, sometimes, ad nauseum,” he explains. “Playing that over and over and over for the last ten-plus years I was just getting more of a distilled view of what I actually really do like and wanting to dive more into what I really wanted out of music, which was more dynamics, a relatable message sometimes.
“Something that is a little more open to those who aren’t into 4/4 blastbeats and screaming vocals all the time,” he continues.
Courtesy Triune
Triune, which also consists of drummer Ian Conly and bassist Nick ten Wolde, put out its self-titled debut album last February in showcasing its surrealist sound. While a vinyl version is in the works, it’s loosely based around a mind-altering entheogenic journey, as the six songs are interconnected yet individual. There are moments of soaring guitar shredding, classic prog rock, piano, synth and enough tempo changes to cover every time zone. At nearly nine minutes, closer “Seraphim” is the most complex and complete version of Triune, according to Wolfe, especially looking ahead.
“It’s all about this DMT trip I had out in the desert, but it’s the last nail in the coffin of what we were doing and sent us forward into what we’re currently doing,” he says. “A lot of our newer work is going to be in that light, lots of odd time signatures, lots of grooves, synth work.”
The plan right now is to get into the studio over the next year or so, but Triune will be debuting a new song, “Only Human,” at its upcoming headlining show on Friday, January 30, at HQ. Talons, Spitting Image and Blackbile round out the all-local bill. Triune is bringing more than fresh tunes, as the band teamed up with local company Forever Spicy on three different hot sauces.
“We love spreading out a little bit of spiciness to the world while we play to help you remember the experience you had at the show when you’re putting it on your breakfast or whatever,” Wolfe shares.
Expect some figurative heat on the sophomore LP, too. Other than Wolfe’s jazz leaning, Conly has an affinity for bluegrass as a Lyons native, while ten Wolde is a classically trained upright bassist with slap-and-pop chops and Pierce prefers blues rock and John and “shredtastic solos,” as Wolfe puts it.
“We all channel that into this psychedelic heavy groovy progressive metal,” he says. “To avoid the saturation of the genre, we all feel a calling to do something totally different.
“I really like the idea of creating these soundscapes that maybe describe an otherworldly experience, however intense it might end up being,” Wolfe concludes. “I wouldn’t say necessarily our music is music to trip to, but it’s music that describes what the trip is like.”
Triune, with Talons, Spitting Image and Blackbile, 7 p.m. Friday, January 30, HQ, 60 South Broadway. Tickets are $14.
