Abriel

Overview

Originally called From Emperor To Citizen, Abriel was formed at the end of 2008 in San Francisco, California. The band has headlined a self-funded regional tour as well as played with bands like The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying, Winds Of Plague, VersaEmerge, All Shall Perish, Suicide Silence, A Day To Remember, and many others.

Beginning-2009

In August 2007, guitarists Sean Hartman and Tim Wrobel from Fortuna, California, a small town in Northern California decided to move down to San Francisco with an arsenal of songs ready to start a band. After a year of going through many drummer and vocalist auditions, near the end of 2008 they found Boston, Massachusetts native Alexa Rae to provide both singing and screaming vocals. This is when the band decided to go with the name Abriel. The band recorded a two song demo and released the first single, "Show Em' Your Hips," that December. At this time, the band did not have a drummer so Hartman switched to drums for the first two shows and recorded albums. The band's first show with a full line-up with Alex Greenling on drums and Paul Littler on bass was a San Francisco battle of the bands in January 2009, which they won. The band received money from their families to tour across the West Coast, which earned them a spot on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour.

2010-Hiatus

After 2009 Warped Tour the band went underground after losing their drummer and bassist, then came back in May 2010 after being asked to play main stage at California Metalfest in Pomona with Bleeding Through. The show brought the band back and got them attention from record labels like Century Media Records and Victory Records. The band was then asked to work with Zac Diebels (Deftones, Third Eye Blind, Death Cab for Cutie) on their debut album, but instead chose up and coming metal producer Max Karon. The album, "This Will Swallow You Whole," was released on August 19, 2010 with a huge CD release party at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco which brought in a packed crowd. The band then lost another drummer and bassist, and then chose to go on hiatus, even though they had just released their debut CD and had just started to break into the industry. During that time, Wrobel started a career with Droid as a blogger and assisting with Droid troubleshooting and Hartman continued in music assisting writing and producing for pop artists.

2011-New Members-Island Def Jam

Four months after the band's split, Sean, Tim, and Alexa saw that there was still buzz going around about Abriel. The band became popular in Japan, Norway, Mexico, Canada, and all over the US. Since all three original members still had the want to keep Abriel together, they decided to hold auditions for a new bassist and drummer. After many auditions, the band went with bassist Jordan Pendergrass and drummer Rick Holbrook. After 2 years, the band finally has permanent members that are in it for the long haul. The band's first comeback show was headlining in San Francisco on January 31 at Submission with main support from Century Media Records band Arsonists Get All The Girls. On February 7, 2011, Abriel's debut album was re-released through Island Def Jam Music Group. The album features the hit songs that got them where they are now. The band once again got asked to play main stage at California Metalfest in Anaheim on March 19, 2011 with As I Lay Dying and their biggest influence and one of their favorite bands, Winds Of Plague. Abriel played in front of a sold out crowd at The Grove. The band is now playing a few California dates then writing for their sophomore album.