Sara Letourneau at Sonic Cathedral recently caught up with vocalist AMANDA SOMERVILLE to discuss her new metal project, TRILLIUM, and the debut album, Alloy. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Sara: As the album title implies, Alloy is a blend of different rock and metal styles. What kinds of rock and metal, or which artists, specifically inspired the music on this album?

Amanda: "You know, the whole 'naming specific artists for inspiration' thing, it’s tough. I’m a bit of a lone wolf; I just do whatever I want to do and what feels right. So, I wasn’t aiming for any particular style with any of the songs. It wasn’t conscious or contrived in any way. So, I guess I’m going to draw a blank on that. I’ve been inspired by all of the artists I’ve worked with throughout the years. I’m sure that has definitely been the biggest influence on me writing more heavy and dark songs. But, I think there are various types of rock and metal [on the album], like you mentioned. We find the gothic, and there’s some heavy metal and doom in there, as well as hard rock and modern rock. Some of it even floats toward the pop/rock side. So, I guess I can’t totally escape from being diverse. I can’t make one song after another that sound the same. I just can’t do it! But for me, I guess this is as uniform as I can be on an album. And as far as my inspirations go, I guess it’s just been the work that I’ve done in the metal scene for the last 11 years."

Sara: Because Trillium is so different from the music in your solo career, when you were first singing these songs in the studio, did you feel like they brought out a different side of you?

Amanda: "Yeah! It’s very fun, and this is exactly what I had with HDK, when I was like, 'Oooh, I like this!' I guess, in a way, singers and musicians – on the most basic level – are not much different from actors and actresses. We’re very theatrical. We like to play a role. You tell a story with the song that you’re singing. I think it appeals to me as like I’m playing a different role. I loved to dress up and play Cinderella or whatever when I was little. And I guess that, musically, it’s not much different. It’s fun to do something that you’re not necessarily used to doing and put yourself in a different role or a different position. But, it’s also a great emotional outlet. I think that’s why I can be in my normal, everyday life a happy and positive person, and that’s because I can pour all my outrage and my angst and doubt and all of the negative feelings into my music. And it’s really cathartic to sing [those songs]. I think there’s no better therapy in the world than to write and pour all your emotions into a song, and then be able to perform it and bring out those emotions in the performance. So, yeah, it’s always a really invigorating experience (laughs)."

Click here for the complete interview.

Alloy was released on November 4th in Europe and November 1st in North America. The tracklist is as follows:

'Machine Gun'

'Coward'

'Purge'

'Utter Descension'

'Bow To The Ego'

'Mistaken'

'Scream It'

'Justifiable Casualty'

'Path Of Least Resistance'

'Into The Dissonance'

'Slow It Down'

'Love Is An Illusion' (bonus track)

The first video from the album is for the track 'Coward' which can be viewed below: