Friday, 24 October 2014
Saturday, 18 October 2014
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Bless the fall
A Christian-oriented screamo quintet with some hip-hop and nu metal influences, blessthefall started in Phoenix, Arizona, when high school friends Mike Frisby and Matt Traynor began practicing together in 2002. Guitarist Frisby and drummer Traynor found singer Craig Mabbitt and bassist Jared Warth on the local baby-band circuit and formed blessthefall in early 2004. Following a self-released three-song demo in the summer of 2005, guitarist Eric Lambert completed the final lineup of the band. An increased local live presence, including many shows played with fellow Phoenicians Greeley Estates, brought blessthefall to the attention of Greeley Estates' label, Science Records (an imprint of Record Collection), which signed the still largely teenaged band in 2006. Shows with bands like Norma Jean and Alesana followed before blessthefall's debut album, His Last Walk, surfaced in April 2007.
Shortly after the album's release, and in the midst of their debut European tour, Mabbitt announced he was leaving the band to spend more time with his family. Later, he pled to be allowed back into the band, but was replaced with Beau Bokan, formerly of Take the Crown. (Mabbitt later joined Escape the Fate.) With Bokan on board, the band toured before signing with Fearless Records in early 2009 and heading into the studio with Michael Baskette to record their sophomore album Witness. They toured Australia and New Zealand in support of the album before Mike Frisby left the band early in 2011 to be replaced by Elliott Gruenberg, formerly of Legacy. The band skipped that year's Warped Tour in order to focus on recording their third album, Awakening, which gave them their biggest hit to date, debuting at number 32 on the Billboard charts. Recording began on their fourth album in April 2013 and they finally made it onto the Warped Tour to promote the release
Shortly after the album's release, and in the midst of their debut European tour, Mabbitt announced he was leaving the band to spend more time with his family. Later, he pled to be allowed back into the band, but was replaced with Beau Bokan, formerly of Take the Crown. (Mabbitt later joined Escape the Fate.) With Bokan on board, the band toured before signing with Fearless Records in early 2009 and heading into the studio with Michael Baskette to record their sophomore album Witness. They toured Australia and New Zealand in support of the album before Mike Frisby left the band early in 2011 to be replaced by Elliott Gruenberg, formerly of Legacy. The band skipped that year's Warped Tour in order to focus on recording their third album, Awakening, which gave them their biggest hit to date, debuting at number 32 on the Billboard charts. Recording began on their fourth album in April 2013 and they finally made it onto the Warped Tour to promote the release
atreyu
Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/lyricist Alex Varkatzas, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist Marc McKnight and drummer/vocalist Brandon Saller. The band was originally named "Retribution", but later changed their name to "Atreyu" after the character of the same name from the fantasy book/movie ''The Neverending Story'', when they found out that another band from Hemet, California had been using their original name.
In 2001, Atreyu signed with Victory Records, later releasing in 2002 their first full-length album “Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses.” Music videos were filmed for the singles "Ain't Love Grand" and "Lip Gloss and Black." The latter video found significant airplay on “Headbangers Ball” in fall of 2003, gaining Atreyu some of its initial mainstream attention.
The group's second album, “The Curse,” was released in 2004, selling 450,000 copies. The band was then featured on the soundtrack to the film “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” with a cover of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name". Atreyu was also featured on the soundtrack to “Underworld: Evolution” with "Her Portrait in Black." "Right Side of the Bed" also appeared on the “Burnout 3 Soundtrack,” a racing video game.
In 2001, Atreyu signed with Victory Records, later releasing in 2002 their first full-length album “Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses.” Music videos were filmed for the singles "Ain't Love Grand" and "Lip Gloss and Black." The latter video found significant airplay on “Headbangers Ball” in fall of 2003, gaining Atreyu some of its initial mainstream attention.
The group's second album, “The Curse,” was released in 2004, selling 450,000 copies. The band was then featured on the soundtrack to the film “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” with a cover of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name". Atreyu was also featured on the soundtrack to “Underworld: Evolution” with "Her Portrait in Black." "Right Side of the Bed" also appeared on the “Burnout 3 Soundtrack,” a racing video game.
In 2006, Atreyu released its third studio album, “A Death-Grip on Yesterday,” on March 28, 2006. The album peaked at number 9 on the Billboard 200, with sales of 69,000. The band gained further fame when the first single, "Exs and Ohs", appeared on the soundtrack to Madden NFL '07.
In early 2007, Atreyu signed a record deal with Hollywood Records for America and an international deal with Roadrunner Records. With a new label, the band began to prepare its fourth studio album, “Lead Sails Paper Anchor” which was released on August 28, 2007, and debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 43,000 copies. The American release of the album had a bonus track, a cover of the song "Epic" by Faith No More while the European and Australian bonus track was a cover of "Clean Sheets" by The Descendents.
Atreyu's fifth studio album, “Congregation of the Damned,” was released on October 27, 2009. The album, which was produced by Bob Marlette (who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne and Airbourne) and mixed by Rich Costey (who has worked with System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine). The album debuted at #18 on the Billboard 200, selling 27,412 copies on its first week.
In early 2007, Atreyu signed a record deal with Hollywood Records for America and an international deal with Roadrunner Records. With a new label, the band began to prepare its fourth studio album, “Lead Sails Paper Anchor” which was released on August 28, 2007, and debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 43,000 copies. The American release of the album had a bonus track, a cover of the song "Epic" by Faith No More while the European and Australian bonus track was a cover of "Clean Sheets" by The Descendents.
Atreyu's fifth studio album, “Congregation of the Damned,” was released on October 27, 2009. The album, which was produced by Bob Marlette (who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne and Airbourne) and mixed by Rich Costey (who has worked with System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine). The album debuted at #18 on the Billboard 200, selling 27,412 copies on its first week.
Monday, 6 October 2014
I Killed The Prom Queen
I Killed the Prom Queen is an Australian metalcore band which formed in
2000 with mainstays JJ Peters on drums and Jona Weinhofen on guitar. The
band featured prominently on the Australian live music scene and toured
the USA, Japan and parts of Europe several times. They issued two
studio albums, When Goodbye Means Forever... (2003) and Music for the
Recently Deceased (2006) - the latter reached the top 30 on the ARIA
Albums Chart. The group split up in April 2007 when Weinhofen joined
United States band Bleeding Through and Peters joined Australian
hardcore punk group Deez Nuts. I Killed the Prom Queen reformed to play a
farewell tour in mid-2008 and released a live album and DVD, Sleepless
Nights and City Lights, which peaked in the top 50. In May 2011, the
band reformed for the Destroy Music Tour and indicated plans to work on a
third studio album.
Formation and Choose to Love, Live or Die (2000-2002)
I Killed the Prom Queen was formed in Adelaide, South Australia in late 2000, with the original line-up of Ben Engel on bass guitar, Simon O'Gorman on guitar, JJ Peters (Josef John W Peters) on drums, Lee Stacy on vocals, and Jona Weinhofen on guitar. Peters, Weinhofen and bass guitarist Leaton Rose had previously been members of local band Cur. Early in 2000, Weinhofen left Cur to form The Fall of Troy with vocalist Michael Crafter and then he formed I Killed the Prom Queen. Briefly known as Child Left Burning, the band's first performances were at the Adelaide Community Centre. The following year, Crafter joined to share lead vocals and soon after Rose replaced Engel on bass guitar.
The band are influenced by late 1990s hardcore bands Poison the Well, Converge, Hatebreed and Earth Crisis and Swedish melodic death metal groups like At the Gates, Soilwork and In Flames. In late 2001 and early 2002, the group recorded a four-track extended play titled Choose to Love, Live or Die, which was produced by Paul Degasperi and the band; with additional guitar supplied by Cain Kapetanakis. Originally slated to contain five songs, a computer glitch caused the fifth to be erased. In 2002, it was issued as an EP by 618 Recordings and re-released by Final Prayer Records label distributed by Missing Link Records. Following this, O'Gorman left to join Day of Contempt and Kevin Cameron joined on guitar late in the year. Choose to Love, Live or Die, was their only release to include both Lee Stacey's vocals and the higher-pitched Crafter vocals. The tracks were later re-recorded for their third EP, Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You (2005).
Split CD with Parkway Drive and When Goodbye Means Forever (2003-2005)
In 2003, I Killed the Prom Queen's bass guitarist, Rose departed (he later joined The Hot Lies) and Sean Kennedy took his place. They provided the track, "Homicide" for the punk rock compilation, Harder Core than You released by Blunt Magazine. Crafter was in Byron Bay and saw the first performance by local metalcore band, Parkway Drive - he was so impressed that he invited the group to record a split CD with his band. In May, Final Prayer Records issued I Killed the Prom Queen / Parkway Drive: Split CD with two tracks by I Killed the Prom Queen ("Homicide Documentaries" and "Death Certificate for a Beauty Queen") and two by Parkway Drive.
In September, the line-up of Cameron, Crafter, Kennedy, Peters and Weinhofen, recorded their debut studio album When Goodbye Means Forever... for Sydney hardcore label Resist Records, which was released in December. It was produced by Dan Jones, Anj and the group. Early in 2004, they toured Australia supporting United States bands Evergreen Terrace, Give Up the Ghost, and Boysetsfire. The album was released in the US by Eulogy Recordings in March, leading to extensive touring there. According to Carver, when entering Hawaii, "Three of us got questioned. They were asking us what jails we had been in, what our parents did and what our parents thought of our tattoos".
The band have supported Caliban, Evergreen Terrace, It Dies Today, Lamb of God, Silverstein, Bleeding Through, The Red Chord, Fear Before the March of Flames, Until the End, The Warriors, Between the Buried and Me, and On Broken Wings over four months. The group's next release was their third EP, Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You, on 7 March 2005. The recording included reworked older songs and a track, "To Be Sleeping While Still Standing", performed by The Fall of Troy (not to be confused with the US band of the same name), an earlier band including Crafter and Weinhofen, which only played two shows then broke up.
Music for the Recently Deceased (2005-2007)
In August 2005, I Killed the Prom Queen flew to Sweden to record their follow-up album, Music for the Recently Deceased. By late 2005, they had completed recording the album but in January 2006 Crafter was fired. Instead of releasing the album as it was, they decided to hire a new vocalist and replace Crafter's tracks. Ed Butcher, from United Kingdom band The Hunt for Ida Wave was recruited. New lyrics were written by Cameron and Butcher, while some lyrics that the whole band had contributed during the Crafter sessions were retained. Music for the Recently Deceased was produced by Fredrik Nordström, whose other credits included Dimmu Borgir, Darkest Hour, At the Gates and In Flames, and by Patrik J Sten.
The album was released on 31 July 2006 by Stomp Entertainment and peaked in the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The Australian tour in support of the album had over 50 concert dates in three months, from north Western Australia to the southern states and then along the east coast to Cairns. They followed with a support tour for US groups Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God,The Sydney show had 3,500 patrons at Luna Park, where I Killed the Prom Queen also played at the annual Come Together Music Festival. Shortly afterward Metal Blade released the album in the US, co-inciding with the group's appearance at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. Returning to Australia after their third tour of the US in three years, the group toured with The Haunted and Exodus and in December featured as the headlining act at the Metal for the Brain festival.
Break-up and Say Goodbye Tour (2007-2008)
In January 2007, I Killed the Prom Queen's vocalist, Butcher, flew back to the UK. The band announced that he had departed due to homesickness, Butcher later joined UK metalcore band Eternal Lord. Tyrone Ross from Mourning Tide, an Australian metalcore and hair metal group, temporarily filled the vocalist position during Japanese tour dates. Colin Jeffs of Bendigo-based band Heavens Lost, provided vocals on the European tour with Bleeding Through, All Shall Perish, Caliban.
In April, I Killed the Prom Queen announced their breakup, citing both an inability to find a permanent vocalist and Weinhofen's joining tour mates Bleeding Through. Shortly after a final Australian tour with Crafter returning on vocals was arranged for the following year. In May 2008, Stomp re-issued Music For The Recently Deceased in a limited tour edition - of 5,000 hand-numbered copies - for the Say Goodbye Tour. The release included a cardboard slipcase, two live tracks and four tracks with Crafter's vocals taken from the original album recording. The group toured in May and June, with most of the 18 shows selling out. The support groups were Bring Me the Horizon, The Red Shore, The Ghost Inside (band) and local acts from each city. A live album and DVD, Sleepless Nights and City Lights, was recorded at their Adelaide performance; it was released on 22 November 2008 and peaked in the top 50. I Killed the Prom Queen played their final show in Brisbane on 8 June 2008.
Hiatus (2008-2011)
After the Say Goodbye tour, Michael Crafter fronted Melbourne hardcore band Confession while also managing his own clothing label Mistake Clothing. Crafter also had short stints with Bury Your Dead and Carpathian as lead vocalist for both, at about the time of the Say Goodbye Tour. He appeared as a contestant on reality TV show Big Brother in 2008. Jona Weinhofen joined Bring Me the Horizon in 2009 and is their rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, programer and backing vocalist. He was a gutiarist of US metalcore band Bleeding Through and the former manager for Australian death metal band The Red Shore.
Kevin Cameron formed the progressive metalcore band In Trenches with frontman Ben Coyte. He was a touring musician for a number of other groups. JJ Peters is vocalist for his own hardcore project Deez Nuts and one half of the hip-hop duo Grips & Tonic - the other half is New Zealander Louie Knuxx. Sean Kennedy reduced his musical performances and lived with his girlfriend in Perth Julia Sassella-Otley until 2009, although he occasionally played bass for Deez Nuts on Australian and International tours, then moved back to Adelaide and became engaged to Lisa McMannus of Adelaide and he toured on Deez Nuts on their This One's for You Tour in 2010 and got kicked out of Deez Nuts.
Reformation and third studio album (2011-present)
In March 2011, I Killed the Prom Queen announced an Australian reunion tour with The Amity Affliction, Deez Nuts, and Of Mice & Men as part of the Destroy Music Tour in May. Replacing Butcher and Crafter on lead vocals was Jamie Hope (ex-The Red Shore). On the band's official Facebook page this re-formation was said to be ongoing - not just for one tour. Weinhofen is not planning to leave his other band Bring Me the Horizon but will remain in both groups. Likewise Peters will continue his work with Deez Nuts. In early January 2012 Jona Weinhofen confirmed that writing sessions for the new album has begun and aimed to release the album by later in 2012.
Formation and Choose to Love, Live or Die (2000-2002)
I Killed the Prom Queen was formed in Adelaide, South Australia in late 2000, with the original line-up of Ben Engel on bass guitar, Simon O'Gorman on guitar, JJ Peters (Josef John W Peters) on drums, Lee Stacy on vocals, and Jona Weinhofen on guitar. Peters, Weinhofen and bass guitarist Leaton Rose had previously been members of local band Cur. Early in 2000, Weinhofen left Cur to form The Fall of Troy with vocalist Michael Crafter and then he formed I Killed the Prom Queen. Briefly known as Child Left Burning, the band's first performances were at the Adelaide Community Centre. The following year, Crafter joined to share lead vocals and soon after Rose replaced Engel on bass guitar.
The band are influenced by late 1990s hardcore bands Poison the Well, Converge, Hatebreed and Earth Crisis and Swedish melodic death metal groups like At the Gates, Soilwork and In Flames. In late 2001 and early 2002, the group recorded a four-track extended play titled Choose to Love, Live or Die, which was produced by Paul Degasperi and the band; with additional guitar supplied by Cain Kapetanakis. Originally slated to contain five songs, a computer glitch caused the fifth to be erased. In 2002, it was issued as an EP by 618 Recordings and re-released by Final Prayer Records label distributed by Missing Link Records. Following this, O'Gorman left to join Day of Contempt and Kevin Cameron joined on guitar late in the year. Choose to Love, Live or Die, was their only release to include both Lee Stacey's vocals and the higher-pitched Crafter vocals. The tracks were later re-recorded for their third EP, Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You (2005).
Split CD with Parkway Drive and When Goodbye Means Forever (2003-2005)
In 2003, I Killed the Prom Queen's bass guitarist, Rose departed (he later joined The Hot Lies) and Sean Kennedy took his place. They provided the track, "Homicide" for the punk rock compilation, Harder Core than You released by Blunt Magazine. Crafter was in Byron Bay and saw the first performance by local metalcore band, Parkway Drive - he was so impressed that he invited the group to record a split CD with his band. In May, Final Prayer Records issued I Killed the Prom Queen / Parkway Drive: Split CD with two tracks by I Killed the Prom Queen ("Homicide Documentaries" and "Death Certificate for a Beauty Queen") and two by Parkway Drive.
In September, the line-up of Cameron, Crafter, Kennedy, Peters and Weinhofen, recorded their debut studio album When Goodbye Means Forever... for Sydney hardcore label Resist Records, which was released in December. It was produced by Dan Jones, Anj and the group. Early in 2004, they toured Australia supporting United States bands Evergreen Terrace, Give Up the Ghost, and Boysetsfire. The album was released in the US by Eulogy Recordings in March, leading to extensive touring there. According to Carver, when entering Hawaii, "Three of us got questioned. They were asking us what jails we had been in, what our parents did and what our parents thought of our tattoos".
The band have supported Caliban, Evergreen Terrace, It Dies Today, Lamb of God, Silverstein, Bleeding Through, The Red Chord, Fear Before the March of Flames, Until the End, The Warriors, Between the Buried and Me, and On Broken Wings over four months. The group's next release was their third EP, Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You, on 7 March 2005. The recording included reworked older songs and a track, "To Be Sleeping While Still Standing", performed by The Fall of Troy (not to be confused with the US band of the same name), an earlier band including Crafter and Weinhofen, which only played two shows then broke up.
Music for the Recently Deceased (2005-2007)
In August 2005, I Killed the Prom Queen flew to Sweden to record their follow-up album, Music for the Recently Deceased. By late 2005, they had completed recording the album but in January 2006 Crafter was fired. Instead of releasing the album as it was, they decided to hire a new vocalist and replace Crafter's tracks. Ed Butcher, from United Kingdom band The Hunt for Ida Wave was recruited. New lyrics were written by Cameron and Butcher, while some lyrics that the whole band had contributed during the Crafter sessions were retained. Music for the Recently Deceased was produced by Fredrik Nordström, whose other credits included Dimmu Borgir, Darkest Hour, At the Gates and In Flames, and by Patrik J Sten.
The album was released on 31 July 2006 by Stomp Entertainment and peaked in the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The Australian tour in support of the album had over 50 concert dates in three months, from north Western Australia to the southern states and then along the east coast to Cairns. They followed with a support tour for US groups Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God,The Sydney show had 3,500 patrons at Luna Park, where I Killed the Prom Queen also played at the annual Come Together Music Festival. Shortly afterward Metal Blade released the album in the US, co-inciding with the group's appearance at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. Returning to Australia after their third tour of the US in three years, the group toured with The Haunted and Exodus and in December featured as the headlining act at the Metal for the Brain festival.
Break-up and Say Goodbye Tour (2007-2008)
In January 2007, I Killed the Prom Queen's vocalist, Butcher, flew back to the UK. The band announced that he had departed due to homesickness, Butcher later joined UK metalcore band Eternal Lord. Tyrone Ross from Mourning Tide, an Australian metalcore and hair metal group, temporarily filled the vocalist position during Japanese tour dates. Colin Jeffs of Bendigo-based band Heavens Lost, provided vocals on the European tour with Bleeding Through, All Shall Perish, Caliban.
In April, I Killed the Prom Queen announced their breakup, citing both an inability to find a permanent vocalist and Weinhofen's joining tour mates Bleeding Through. Shortly after a final Australian tour with Crafter returning on vocals was arranged for the following year. In May 2008, Stomp re-issued Music For The Recently Deceased in a limited tour edition - of 5,000 hand-numbered copies - for the Say Goodbye Tour. The release included a cardboard slipcase, two live tracks and four tracks with Crafter's vocals taken from the original album recording. The group toured in May and June, with most of the 18 shows selling out. The support groups were Bring Me the Horizon, The Red Shore, The Ghost Inside (band) and local acts from each city. A live album and DVD, Sleepless Nights and City Lights, was recorded at their Adelaide performance; it was released on 22 November 2008 and peaked in the top 50. I Killed the Prom Queen played their final show in Brisbane on 8 June 2008.
Hiatus (2008-2011)
After the Say Goodbye tour, Michael Crafter fronted Melbourne hardcore band Confession while also managing his own clothing label Mistake Clothing. Crafter also had short stints with Bury Your Dead and Carpathian as lead vocalist for both, at about the time of the Say Goodbye Tour. He appeared as a contestant on reality TV show Big Brother in 2008. Jona Weinhofen joined Bring Me the Horizon in 2009 and is their rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, programer and backing vocalist. He was a gutiarist of US metalcore band Bleeding Through and the former manager for Australian death metal band The Red Shore.
Kevin Cameron formed the progressive metalcore band In Trenches with frontman Ben Coyte. He was a touring musician for a number of other groups. JJ Peters is vocalist for his own hardcore project Deez Nuts and one half of the hip-hop duo Grips & Tonic - the other half is New Zealander Louie Knuxx. Sean Kennedy reduced his musical performances and lived with his girlfriend in Perth Julia Sassella-Otley until 2009, although he occasionally played bass for Deez Nuts on Australian and International tours, then moved back to Adelaide and became engaged to Lisa McMannus of Adelaide and he toured on Deez Nuts on their This One's for You Tour in 2010 and got kicked out of Deez Nuts.
Reformation and third studio album (2011-present)
In March 2011, I Killed the Prom Queen announced an Australian reunion tour with The Amity Affliction, Deez Nuts, and Of Mice & Men as part of the Destroy Music Tour in May. Replacing Butcher and Crafter on lead vocals was Jamie Hope (ex-The Red Shore). On the band's official Facebook page this re-formation was said to be ongoing - not just for one tour. Weinhofen is not planning to leave his other band Bring Me the Horizon but will remain in both groups. Likewise Peters will continue his work with Deez Nuts. In early January 2012 Jona Weinhofen confirmed that writing sessions for the new album has begun and aimed to release the album by later in 2012.
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