Betraying the Martyrs

Formation and EP release

Betraying the Martyrs was founded in 2008 and currently consists of Aaron Matts (lead vocals), Baptiste Vigier (rhythm guitar), Lucas d'Angelo (lead guitar), Victor Guillet (clean vocals/keyboard), Valentin Hauser (bass guitar)and Boris Le Gal (drums). Former members of the band included Eddie Czaicki (vocals), Antoine Salin (Drums), and Fabien Clévy (lead guitar).

Before joining the band, Czaicki played in the French metalcore outfit, Darkness Dynamite. Guillet was the lead vocalist and keyboardist in the post-hardcore band, The Beverly Secret. Vigier and d'Angelo were in the metalcore band, Black Curtains. On November 18, 2009, Betraying the Martyrs released their debut EP The Hurt, The Divine, The Light, a self-produced recording funded entirely by the band and mixed by Stephane Buriez. The EP sold more than 2,000 copies in France alone. Their first European tour, "The Survivors Tour" (2010), involved the band playing in support of Whitechapel, Dark Funeral, Darkness Dynamite, A Skylit Drive, Adept, Despised Icon, Dance Gavin Dance, While She Sleeps and Shadows Chasing Ghosts. The band met current vocalist, British native Aaron Matts, during that tour, as he replaced Czaicki shortly thereafter. Czaicki opted to leave the band to pursue an art career.

Breathe in Life album

In 2011, the band started working on their first album and quickly signed deals with Sumerian Records, for North America, and Listenable Records for the rest of the world. On September 23, 2011, Betraying the Martyrs' debut album, Breathe In Life, was released globally. The album was produced in the band's studio and mixed by Charles J Wall at Sonic Assault Studios and the cover art was created by Hauser, the band's bass player. The album works with the central themes of life, faith and interpersonal relationships.

Between April and May 2011, the group completed a second European tour, the “Breathe In Life Tour", for the promotion of their debut album. The tour included performances in Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Support on the "Breathe In Life Tour" was provided by Russian deathcore band, My Autumn, and Despite My Deepest Fear. Later that year, during the northern fall, the band toured the United States with Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya, Carnifex and Structures.

Breathe In Life was warmly received by reviewers throughout Europe and notable received higher acclaim when compared to other groups in their genre.

The French Guitarist Mag magazine named the album as one of the Top 5 Albums of 2011 (second behind Megadeth), and the Best Newcomer of the Year in the Hard Metal category. Gibson named them in the Ten Metal Bands to check out in the summer of 2012, along with bands like Asking Alexandria and Five Finger Death Punch.

In May 2012, Antoine quit the band and was replaced by Russian drummer Mark Mironov from the deathcore band My Autumn.

Phantom album

The band went to the studio after touring with Asking Alexandria in Europe. Phantom will be released by Sumerian Records on the 15th of July 2014.

On the 28th of May 2014, the band released a new song called Where The World Ends.

On the 17th of June 2014, the band released a new song called Jigsaw.

On the 14th of July 2014, the band released a cover version of Let It Go (taken from the Academy Award winning Disney movie Frozen). Also on the 15th of July Betraying The Martyrs released their second full length "Phantom"

The Resilient album

The band started teasing for its new album on June 2, 2016, sharing an image of a folder called BTM LP3 - FINAL MIXES and thus confirming that studio recording was on-going and well. In mid-July, a small clip revealed the name of the first single The Great Disillusion, scheduled to come out on the 27th of the same month. The song was released on that date with a full-fledged videoclip directed by Igor Omodei, which both received very positive reactions from the fans.

The release of the video brough attention to the fact that Mark Mironov, BTM's drummer since 2012, sadly had been replaced. Welcoming Boris Le Gal to take his place, the band released the following statement on their official website:

“As some of you may have noticed, our adored drummer and friend Mark Mironov is no longer a present part of the BTM line-up; this comes as a result of on-going VISA issues with Mark being a citizen of Russia. The increased difficulties became a heavy weight on the band, both in terms of consistency, and financially too."

After touring and promoting The Great Disillusion all summer and fall, Betraying the Martyrs released a second single on November 13 called Won't Back Down, with lyrics taking a stance against the rise of terrorist attacks in France and around the world:

"One year after the terrible Paris attacks, let us remember who we are, and what we stand for, lest we forget."

A third single was released on November 30 titled Lost For Words, featuring a symphonic background and a more prominent clean refrain from Victor Guillet.

The Resilient was released on January 27, 2017 and contains 12 new tracks.

Touring

Betraying the Martyrs toured Europe in early 2012 on the famous "Bonecrusher Tour", with Carnifex, Within The Ruins, Molotov Solution and Beneath The Massacre. As of April 2012, the band is touring the US, on the "Sumerianos Tour", alongside Upon A Burning Body and I The Breather, in addition to numerous other support acts. The band then followed a European tour, supporting Veil of Maya on the "European Eclipse 2012" tour, alongside Vildhjarta, Structures and Volumes. For the remainder of 2012, the band has been included on the line-up for "The All Stars Tour 2012" (northern summer) alongside Suicide Silence, Unearth, Attila and Winds of Plague; and on the Mayhem Festival 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Anthrax and many others. They also performed as an opening act at the "Hellfest 2012" tour. They also replaced Winds Of Plague at the Graspop Metal Meeting 2012 Tour.

Betraying the Martyrs just completed touring with Asking Alexandria, While She Sleeps and Motionless in White, Chelsea Grin, Attila, and Within the Ruins. They are now in the studio recording their follow-up album.

During summer 2013, Betraying the Martyrs toured many festivals in Europe. They played during the Greenfield Festival in Switzerland alongside bands such as Rammstein, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Prodigy and Parkway Drive. They also performed at the Ghosfest with The Devil Wears Prada, Chelsea Grin or Veil of Maya. Betraying the Martyrs participated on the Never Say Die! Tour with Emmure, Carnifex, I Killed The Prom Queen, Hundredth, Northlane and Hand of Mercy. On November 2013, they made an eastern and Scandinavian headline tour.

Musical style

Betraying the Martyrs is overall recognized as a deathcore band; which is a hybrid of the genres metalcore and death metal. The band's style is a mixture of different aspects from multiple subgenres of extreme metal. The band takes the breakdowns, blast beats, and death growls that are main elements in deathcore. They supplement them with clean vocals, choruses, and programming that are key parts in metalcore bands. They also occasionally blend odd time signatures that exist in progressive metal. Keyboards are also used to mimic the orchestral elements that reside in symphonic metal. However, deathcore elements within their music are the most predominant features and thus are primarily seen as a deathcore band.

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles