Having secured a contract with the German imprint Lifeforce, the band issued its debut album, Ember to Inferno, in October 2003 with a lineup that included vocalist/guitarist Matt Heafy, drummer Travis Smith, and bassist Brent Young. The debut was well-received, and Trivium signed with Roadrunner Records for their next effort. Ascendancy appeared in March 2005, at which point the band's roster had shifted to include Heafy, Smith, bassist Paolo Gregoletto, and guitarist Corey Beaulieu. The album was reissued in May of the following year with four additional tracks and a bonus DVD. Trivium then visited the U.K. in June for the 2006 Download Festival, followed by multiple European headlining gigs and a stint with America's traveling metal/hardcore fest Sounds of the Underground. The tour saw them playing alongside other heavy-hitting bands like As I Lay Dying, GWAR, Cannibal Corpse, and Terror.

Crusade appeared that fall, featuring a newfound emphasis on singing (previously, vocalist Matt Heafy had relied on screams and throaty growls). Despite the band's active defense of Heafy's vocal approach, Trivium received much criticism for their shift in sound; accordingly, they wasted no time in returning to a scream-filled thrash style with 2008's Shogun. In 2010, Trivium announced drummer Nick Augusto would be replacing the departing Smith. Later that year, the band went into the studio to begin work on their fifth studio album, In Waves, which was released in the summer of 2011 and saw the group bring a bold new approach and maturity to their songwriting. However, feeling that the album's gestation process had been overlong and that they had produced too much material, they decided to focus on quality rather than quantity in the on-the-road writing sessions for their next record. The band tapped Disturbed's David Draiman to produce, and the metal veteran took a real hands-on approach, bringing a newfound sense of melody to Trivium's sound. The finished album, entitled Vengeance Falls, was released in October of 2013; it received enthusiastic reviews from critics, and charted well in the United States, the U.K., Japan, and Europe.

Trivium underwent yet another personnel change when they parted company with drummer Augusto in May of 2014. He was replaced by drum tech Matt Madiro. Late in the year the band entered the studio to begin work on their seventh album with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette and mixing engineer Josh Wilbur. The title track, "Silence in the Snow," was issued as a video single in July of 2015, with the album followed on Roadrunner in early October. The album was their first to land on the Active Rock Top 10 and secured them headliner status for The European festivals Summerbreeze and Bloodstock. In late 2016, Trivium partnered with Cooking Vinyl to re-release their Ember To Inferno in several variations. The two deluxe editions contained the band's earliest demos including "Ruber" (a.k.a. the Red Demo), "Caeruleus" (a.k.a. the Blue Demo) and "Flavus" (a.k.a. the Yellow Demo), all recorded when Heafy was between 16 and 17 years old. ~ Johnny Loftus