BLACK VEIL BRIDES WITH ASKING ALEXANDRIA AND BLESSTHEFALL

Black Veil Brides

As the devilish mash-up of religious imagery and romance in their name suggests Black Veil Brides are possessed of a fascination with the dark. They follow in the boot steps of metal, punk, and rock trailblazers like KISS, Billy Idol, and the Misfits. A burning fire of determination engulfs the very heart of the band, sparking new and revelatory rebellion, while deeply entrenched in the rich traditions of hard rock.

Black Veil Brides have championed the cast aside, the marginalized, and the misunderstood since the band’s inception. The bold defiance of those who would underestimate the dedicated legions who steadily face down untold obstacles was there when Black Veil Brides was little more than the dark and detailed fever dream of an artistic kid in a small town. It persists in the fully realized Hollywood incarnation of the band whose faces grace magazine covers, whose image is the object of devotion and obsession, and whose anthems are cherished and sung in unison by an international audience of diverse iconoclasts who will never give in.

Vale, the fifth album from hard rock’s most exciting young band marks the culmination of all that has come before. Focused intensity and cinematic storytelling brought out the best and brightest in melody, power, and accomplishment. Roughly translated from Latin, “vale” means “be well” and “be strong,” themes that are central to the message that drives the album. Black Veil Brides’ fifth record closes a chapter for The Wild Ones, characters that came alive on the band’s 2013 album Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones, with the musical precision and unified rock n’ roll restlessness they captured on their self-titled 2014 follow-up.

The band’s authentic music and unapologetic attitude have certainly connected. Black Veil Brides videos have been watched more than a half billion times on YouTube. Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones and Black Veil Brides debuted in Billboard’s Top 10, a dazzlingly impressive feat for a young rock band.

Singer Andy Biersack has over 3 million followers between Instagram and Twitter. Social profiles for the band in general and for guitarists Jinxx and Jake Pitts, bassist Ashley Purdy, and drummer Christian “CC” Coma represent another ten million fans.

In an age where new rock bands with broad appeal to youthful acolytes and grizzled veterans alike are in short supply, the list of magazines that have devoted multiple cover features to Black Veil Brides reads like a detailed itemization of the neighborhood newsstand. Kerrang!, Rock Sound, and Alternative Press in particular have invited the band to grace their covers multiple times. Revolver, Big Cheese, Aquarian, and several other publications have been longtime supporters, as well.

They’ve shared the stage with likeminded contemporaries like Avenged Sevenfold and dominated on numerous Warped Tour treks, international tours, and festivals, like Download UK, Rock Am Ring, and Rock on the Range. They’ve earned countless trophies and nominations at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, the Kerrang! Awards, and the Alternative Press Music Awards (which Biersack hosted in 2017).

Black Veil Brides burst onto the worldwide stage with the scrappy music video or “Knives and Pens,” which passed 100 million views on YouTube in recent months. An unbreakable connection forged with fans in the burgeoning dawn of social media caught the attention of Hot Topic, where Black Veil Brides shirts flew off the walls. We Stitch These Wounds was followed by the band’s major label debut, Set the World on Fire (2011), produced by Josh Abraham (Linkin Park, Velvet Revolver, Weezer).

Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones marked the band’s first entry into the Top 10, debuting at #7 on the Billboard 200. Produced by collaborator and confidant John Feldmann (Blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Good Charlotte), Wretched and Divine included “In the End,” which amassed another 100 million views on YouTube and climbed all the way to #3 on the Billboard Rock Charts.

Black Veil Brides, the band’s self-titled fourth album, followed in 2014. Bob Rock, who made several multiplatinum albums with Metallica including the Black Album, the biggest selling album of the Nielsen Soundscan era, contacted the band to produce it. “Heart of Fire,” “Faithless,” and “Goodbye Agony” joined the BVB set list alongside fan favorite anthems like “Perfect Weapon,” “Coffin,” and “Fallen Angels,” as captured by the Alive and Burning DVD filmed at a triumphant sold-out L.A. show.

New songs like the twin-guitar fueled up-tempo rallying cry that is “My Vow,” the victoriously stomping metal anthem “The Outsider,” and the powerful ballad “When They Call My Name” are set to reignite the Black Veil Brides faithful anew, while enrapturing new devotees in kind. Reuniting the band with Feldmann, Vale mines the depths of self-reflection to climb bold heights of renewal, musically and lyrically. It’s a siren call to inspire inner strength and to fiercely embrace individuality.

Decadence, perseverance, and grandiosity all have a place within the beating black heart of the band, alongside stripped down and raw sensibilities and reckless energy. Black Veil Brides are conquering antiheroes, ambassadors for the disenfranchised, and most importantly, champions of kickass rock n’ roll abandon.

ASKING ALEXANDRIA

Danny Worsnop – Vocals
Ben Bruce – Lead Guitar
Cameron Liddell – Rhythm Guitar
Sam Bettley – Bass
James Cassells – Drums

Rock is dead? That’s fake news. Asking Alexandria is all the evidence we need.

ASKING ALEXANDRIA, alive with vibrant potency and empowering authenticity, stand in joyous defiance of the tired cynicism that would declare the death of rock.

Asking Alexandria have earned a place among the most streamed, downloaded, watched, and altogether listened to bands in a generation, combining the innovation of modern active rock with the traditional attitude of the culture’s trailblazers.

No matter what the pundits proclaim, clearly the real fans are onto something else. The social media accounts representing Danny Worsnop (vocals), Ben Bruce (guitar), Cameron Liddell (guitar), Sam Bettley (bass), James Cassells (drums), and the band overall constitute a combined follower count well over 10 million strong.

They’ve shared the stage with Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, Alice In Chains, and Avenged Sevenfold; toured in support of Slipknot, Korn and Bullet For My Valentine; co-headlined with Black Veil Brides; joined Warped Tour and Rockstar Mayhem; played every major rock festival in the world; and headlined sold out theater tours.

Asking Anthems “The Final Episode” and “Not the American Average” were both certified gold by the RIAA for single sales in excess of 500,000 each. The music videos for those two singles alone amassed over 100 million views on YouTube. “The Death of Me,” “Moving On,” and “A Prophecy” together account for over 100 million more. The videos from The Black were viewed 70 million times.

The amount of ink spilled in cover stories splashed across Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, Revolver; the massive plays on satellite and an increasing number of terrestrial radio stations; the number of Tumblr blogs, Reddit threads, and Snapchat stories revolving around the band’s antics; all of it tells a story about passion, dedication, and what’s possible when destiny beats back death.

Made with producer Matt Good, Asking Alexandria’s self-titled fifth album is an unbridled celebration of acceptance, of the strength of diversity and the freedom of “leaning into the crazy” (as Worsnop puts it), instead of struggling for conformity.

“I’ve been away a little while,” Worsnop sings in “Alone in a Room,” with the kind of urgency, reflection, self-confession, and authenticity the band’s fans have come to rely upon. Tracks like “Hopelessly Hopeful” and “Rise Up” follow suit, traveling through powerful extremes of big verses and bigger choruses, with confident force.

The hard rock, heavy metal, post-grunge, punk angst, and stadium worthy grandeur that has become Asking Alexandria’s signature sound remained in full effect on The Black, which featured a replacement vocalist yet maintained a connection to diverse rock audiences weaned on everything from Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold to Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses, while giving Asking Alexandria another Top 10 US debut.

The five albums in the Asking Alexandria catalog are chapters in an ever-evolving tale of devastation, renewal, and survival. Scrappy upstarts surviving on Ramen noodles and booze in an RV parked outside a Walmart made the modern metalcore classic Stand Up and Scream (2009), surpassed in bravado and ambition by the melodic and chaotic fury of Reckless & Relentless (2011) and the career-redefining From Death to Destiny (2013), which shot to #1 on the Rock and Metal charts in the U.K. and cracked the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 in the United States upon its release.

The band’s fifth and most incendiary album marks the full-length return of the underground’s own Mick n’ Keith, Axl n’ Slash, Roth n’ Hagar; the long-awaited recorded reunion of this generation’s own toxic twins, Worsnop and Bruce. They’ve been mates since their teens. Every bit of history, swagger, and tumult is brilliantly mined to full throttle extent on the band’s most ambitious album yet. The record boils with the unique combustible chemistry all five of them share. By the same turn, it is tangibly shot through with newfound freedom, camaraderie, and revelry.

Asking Alexandria comes full circle with a new lease on life that’s respectful of their past while charging forward into the future, reverent of the prominence the band maintains in each of their lives while allowing breathing room for its members.

The endurance of the greatest British band to call the United States home is testament to the strength of timeless perseverance and stamina. These five young men are proud torchbearers, leading a worldwide audience whose devotion demonstrates a simple truth revered by generations of fans: nevermind the bollocks.

“Into the Fire” offers a beautifully combative, contradictory, and unrelentingly powerful message to the true believers who have stood by this band through thick and thin. “I wouldn’t take back a moment / Not one miserable moment / I’ll give it all ‘till there’s nothing left,” Worsnop sings. It’s most assuredly a genuine promise.