Attack Attack!

Formation and Someday Came Suddenly (2007–08)

Attack Attack! was formed around 2006 when Johnny Franck, Andrew Whiting, Nick White and Andrew Wetzel met Austin Carlile while playing in local high school bands. Caleb Shomo joined the band as the keyboardist, and they changed the name to Attack Attack!. In 2007 the band entered a local studio where they recorded material that was put up on Myspace to promote their music. As the oldest member of the band, Wetzel also acted as their manager for most of the year. The band were taken on by manager Eric Rushing of The Artery Foundation who signed them to Rise Records in May 2008. As members of the band were still underage at this point, contractual discussions required parental consent. The material recorded in 2007 was put together on the EP If Guns Are Outlawed, Can We Use Swords?. The band were also signed by booking agent David Shapiro of the Agency Group that resulted in nationwide tours. In November 2008 they released their debut album, Someday Came Suddenly, on Rise. Upon the release the album peaked on the Billboard Independent Albums chart and reached number 193 on the Billboard 200, with sales of more than 3,600 in its first week despite its mediocre reviews.

Line-up change (2009)

Later, halfway through a tour supporting Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, vocalist Austin Carlile was replaced by Nick Barham, brother of Sleeping With Sirens drummer Gabe Barham Attack Attack! then toured with Escape the Fate, William Control, Black Tide and Burn Halo early in 2009. The band was part of the Warped Tour 2009 where they appeared on one of the smaller stages.

Attack Attack! released a music video for their song "Stick Stickly". The "Stick Stickly" video has led to a number of criticisms, including lengthy pieces by Buddyhead and the British newspaper The Guardian. The band also has a "live" video for the song "Dr. Shavargo Pt. 3".

On October 19, 2009, lead vocalist Nick Barham announced his departure from Attack Attack! just two days short of their headliner tour, he stated in his blog on MySpace that "It was just time for change," and that there was no conflict between him and the other band members. The band then made the decision of Caleb Shomo to be moved as the band's primary vocalist but still remaining at his place as the keyboardist as well.

Self-titled album and Franck's departure (2010–11)

The band's self-titled album was released on June 8, 2010. They headlined the This Is a Family Tour in November 2010.

On November 10, 2010 Johnny Franck announced he had departed from the band to focus on his relationship with God. He has started a new project called The March Ahead. With this news also came a clip of a new song featuring Caleb Shomo on lead vocals. The music video for "Smokahontas" was released on January 21, 2011 and was directed by Thunder Down Country films. The music video featured Johnny Franck on guitar and singing, and Caleb Shomo on lead vocals.

This Means War and second line-up change (2011–12)

On November 14, 2011 it was announced that the band's third full-length, This Means War would be released on January 17, 2012. The entire album was produced by Caleb Shomo at his home studio. Along with this news, they also posted dates for the "This Means War Tour" with supporting acts from The Ghost Inside, Sleeping with Sirens, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, and Dream On, Dreamer. More news and the album artwork was released in the Hot Topic website "News." On December 13, 2011, they premiered a song from the album entitled "The Motivation". 30 seconds of the whole track list were released on Amazon.com and pre-orders were also opened in many stores. On January 12, 2012. the band debuted the music video for the first single off the album, "The Wretched".

The band announced in 2012 their departure from Rise Records, simultaneous with an announcement that they have completed ten songs, produced by John Feldmann, for another album, although Wetzel said on his formspring "they're somewhere in Feldmann's hard drive" for they "would be too much work legally to get them released" The band stated that they "don’t have another record label or anything lined up and [are] probably not planning on going to another one.", also that Wetzel "has [his] own label now [Oxide Entertainment] and will probably just use that" The band headlined the This World Is Ours Tour with Escape The Fate and the Word Alive.

On December 18, 2012, Caleb Shomo officially announced his departure from Attack Attack!, along with confirming the new vocalist of the band to be Phil Druyor of I Am Abomination.

On December 19, 2012, the band released a new song titled "No Defeat" through Alternative Press which song features the brand new line-up and was the first song to feature Phil Druyor on vocals and Tyler Sapp on bass. Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press describes the song as "an intriguing mix of ’80s FM-rock swagger and the electronic flourishes they built their career on". Andrew Wetzel also stated that the band will record more songs after "No Defeat". Attack Attack! released two video updates about their 4th studio album, which was never released.

Departure from label and final tours (2013)

In early 2013, Attack Attack! started touring in Europe again with the new members. On April 22, 2013, Attack Attack! said that the Back in Action tour was going to be their last tour and the band would be "[laid] to rest" .

Drummer Andrew Wetzel confirmed on his Formspring that In Fear and Faith guitarist Sean Bell left In Fear and Faith to become an official final member of Attack Attack! as well as a member of the new band that the former members made.

Musical style

Attack Attack! have been described as crabcore, metalcore, screamo and post-hardcore combined with electronica influences, which led them to be labelled electronicore. Songs usually have (but are not limited to) synth breakdowns, keyboard solos, and minor key tonality.

Attack Attack!'s third album This Means War shows a heavier metalcore sound, sometimes described as djent.

Legacy

Former members of Attack Attack! are active musicians with other bands. Austin Carlile was the vocalist for Californian metalcore group Of Mice & Men while Caleb Shomo fronts Beartooth, also from Columbus, Ohio. Johnny Franck formed his own experimental music project called The March Ahead. The final lineup of Attack Attack! had formed a new band, Nativ. Andrew Wetzel confirmed that the last lineup of Attack Attack! will stay together and stated, "the album that was going to be Attack Attack!'s final untitled album will be released through his and Whitings' new band." Nativ's band-members consisted of Phil Druyor, Andrew Wetzel, Andrew Whiting, Tyler Sapp, and William Honto. On November 13, 2013, Nativ was delayed due to a physical altercation between Andrew Wetzel and Andrew Whiting leading to a legal battle.

In February 2014, former unclean vocalist Nick Barham announced his new post-hardcore band Brightwell. The band consists of Nick screaming, former Belle Manoir clean vocalist Tanner Allen, who also plays bass and sings, former For the Fallen Dreams drummer Arvin Sarathy, and guitarist Vaughn Isaac. The band signed to Outerloop Records on January 12, 2015 and released their debut EP Alpha on February 10.

On July 11, 2014, Phil Druyor announced his new band The Bad Chapter and releasing the band's first single, "Deal With the Devil" for free download. The band is composed of Phil Druyor singing, Rob Legree screaming, guitarist Staig Flynn, bassist Rob Sebastian and drummer Trevor Norgren. The band signed to InVogue Records on August 21 and played their first show with SycAmour and Landon Tewers on September 5 at Crofoot in Pontiac, Michigan. Their first album, Cheers to the Down and Outs, was released on March 17. The band replaced vocalist Rob Legree in 2015 with Adam Ramey and have begun work in 2016 on their sophomore outting.

In February 2014 Wetzel got in touch with guitarist Andrew Baylis (ex Life on Repeat) with a view to form a new band. In August, Wetzel announced his new band, Nine Shrines, consisting of Baylis and former I Am King vocalist, Sam Sky and bassist Devon Voisine (ex Life on Repeat). On July 7, 2015, the band announced Sam Sky's departure and the addition of two new members, vocalist Chris Parketny and guitarist Evan McKeever.

In April 2015, Andrew Whiting announced his new band, Drudge. The band also features vocalist Jay Batchelor, who performed with Attack Attack ! during a show in 2013 guitarist Kenneth Garcia, bassist Logan Gavaldon and drummer Aaron Gavaldon. They played their first show on April 23 and released their first song "What You Got" the next day. On June 13, they released their first music video for the song "Whole Again".

Discography