Heriot Amped to ‘Prove’ Their Mettle at Boise Gig With Trivium Tonight as Part of First US Tour
British metalcore thrill-seekers Heriot eked out their first song, “Cleansed Existence,” five years ago – and, after very long last, they’re winding their way through the U.S. in style with like-minded metal legends Trivium. In addition to introducing itself to America, Heriot is supporting its new album, Devoured by the Mouth of Hell, which came out in September 2024 via Century Media.
Guitarist and vocalist Debbie Gough answered a handful of questions we tossed the band’s way a few weeks before the gig. Here’s our exchange:
Hiya, Debbie. Did you decide to come here simply because of routing, or were there other reasons why you’re choosing to grace this city for the first time?
Hey! This is our first time over to the States, so it’s also our first time playing Boise! We’re really pleased the routing allowed us to visit here.
Aside from integrating new material, is your set on this tour gonna be different in any other ways than in tours past?
For this tour, there is definitely an element of seriously having something to prove since we’re on tour with such a huge band! Not that we ever don’t play with the intention of delivering our best, but there is a lot of weight behind playing with a band like Trivium, who have such an important legacy in metal.
What vision did you have for Devoured by the Mouth of Hell going into the making of it? In what ways did it turn out as you expected and in what ways did it not?
Prior to Devoured by the Mouth of Hell, we’d not really dived too deeply into ‘what does Heriot sound like?’. With this record, it was a conscious intention to cement what our own sound is and I feel we achieved that. Songs like “Visage” and “Opaline” were a real surprise for us whilst making them as we never realized we’d be a band to make such atmospheric moods alongside the chaotically heavy tracks! We are still as heavy as ever, but I feel like we uncovered a really interesting layer to our sound with this album.
What are you most proud of in terms of the new album? What sides and aspects of Heriot does the record reveal that even devoted fans hadn’t been aware of before?
As I mentioned in the previous question, I think I’m most proud of the more abstract songs like ‘Visage’ and ‘Opaline’. When this band first started, we could never have imagined making tracks that aren’t composed of breakdowns or circle pit riffs etc. We all love making heavy music, and we will never ever be a band that isn’t based on that. However, to open up our musical range a bit further is something that felt really rewarding.
Which came first, the thematic concept of the record or the songwriting for it? If you could elaborate a bit, that’d be appreciated.
We didn’t consciously create the record with a particular ‘concept’ however, the further along we got with the creation of the album, the more we realized that the individual song themes were somewhat linked. Devoured by the Mouth of Hell is the idea of you being consumed by whatever your worst version of reality is – I guess whatever you consider ‘hell’ to look like. It rests on the idea of ‘hell’ being more metaphorical and applicable to many different scenarios rather than just flames and pitchforks and the devil cutting you up!
What item/request on your tour rider might surprise people the most?
Honestly, our rider is quite boring. We have the usual ginger and lemon tea, ginger shots, Redbull, etc. … I couldn’t think of anything that people might be surprised by! But I’m open to recommendations.
What’s the craziest show you guys have performed thus far?
My favourite show to date would be our headliner at The Fleece in Bristol. We played that venue opening up for Rolo Tomassi and to go back and sell it out on our own, headlining was an immense feeling. People were stage diving, we had fans in chain mail, crowd-surfers, pits all evening – you name it, it was happening! That was definitely a special moment for us.
What’s the lamest show you guys have performed thus far?
We’ve had many, many lame shows! But not because of anything the crowd did or didn’t do. It’s normally technical problems making everything turn into a nightmarish hell! We have one show in particular that was absolutely horrific – but I won’t mention it here!
What’s the best show you’ve ever attended?
One of the best recent shows I’ve been to was END in Manchester at Revive Fest. That band is one of the tightest around and their guitar tones were absolutely face-melting. The crowd had been a little tame throughout the day, but as soon as END played, it was feral. Every man was out for himself and it was fantastic!
[Ed. note added 12.7.25: Kudos to whoever culled together these three young, vibrant, positive-minded bands for this tour. Their sounds are distinct but adjacent enough to each other’s style. Not to mention the participating musicians are all clearly nice, aren’t trying to piss off anyone and are working hard to ensure their crowds are consistently entertained.]
See Heriot play tonight alongside Trivium, Jinjer and at Revolution (technically in Garden City, very close to Boise). Get tickets here. Doors open at 6:30, with the show set to start an hour later.
If you live outside Boise, take note of Heriot’s other U.S. tour dates:
12.1: Salt Lake City @ The Union Event Center
12.3 Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium
12.5: Albuquerque, NM @ Revel Entertainment Center
12.6: Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
12.7: Fayetteville, AR @ Ozark Music Hall
12.9: Springfield, MO @ The Shrine Mosque
12.10: Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
12.12: New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore New Orleans
12.13: Dothan, AL @The Plant @ 18:00
12.14: Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live Orlando
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