Black Veil Brides

Formation and early years (2006–09)

Black Veil Brides were originally formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2006 by Andy Biersack, Johnny Herold, and Phil Cennedella. Eventually, Andy relocated to Los Angeles, California. In early 2009 he formed a new band, using the current name Black Veil Brides, and signed with the independent label StandBy Records. The writing process for a tour and a record began immediately. In December 2009, the band embarked on their first US tour, titled "On Leather Wings".

We Stitch These Wounds (2009–2010)

The group's debut album We Stitch These Wounds was released July 20, 2010 and sold over 10,000 copies in its first week, ranking at No. 36 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and No. 1 on the Billboard Independent chart. In late 2010, Black Veil Brides went on tour with bands The Birthday Massacre, Dommin and Aural Vampire.

Black Veil Brides first came to the attention of Lava Records president Jason Flom when the chief music officer at Hot Topic, John Kirkpatrick, told him about the incredible buzz that was building around the band, with their T-shirt attracting the second biggest sales in the country at that point. What was even more impressive was that they had built their fanatical following in a "DIY" fashion, such as in making their own self-funded videos. When Flom then heard their music and met the group, he decided that they were exactly what he'd been looking for, later commenting to HitQuarters:

They are bringing back what has been missing for over a decade: they are rock heroes that are truly larger than life. The make-up, the hair, the leather, and most importantly they have great songs, great playing …

Flom then made a deal with Neil Sheehan, founder of StandBy Records, to sign the band over to Lava.

Black Veil Brides supported the Murderdolls in the "God Save The Scream Tour" 2011 and also toured America on the AP Tour from March 18 to May 6. The band continued on to the Vans Warped Tour, which began June 24, 2011 and ended August 14 of the same year. However, on June 18, Andy fell from a pillar while performing and broke his ribs, which caused them to miss the first week of the tour. The band also performed at festivals such as the Download Festival in the UK and Bamboozle. The band also played at the Rock am Ring festival at the Nürburgring motorsport complex in Nürburg, Germany in June 2011. On April 20, it was revealed the band had won Revolver Magazine's Golden Gods Award for Best New Artist, the title for Kerrang!'s Best Newcomers, and were nominated for the title of Kerrang!'s Best International Newcomer.

Set the World on Fire and Rebels (2011–12)

The band's second studio album, Set the World on Fire was released on June 14, 2011 through Lava Music/Universal Republic Records. The cover art was released in April. The title track from Set the World on Fire was planned for use in the movie Scream 4. Upon learning that the song was not going to be used in the film, the band released a statement and an extended song preview. It was later announced on May 23 that the song was to be featured in the movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

A clip of the album's lead single, "Fallen Angels", was released in late April. It was then fully released in the UK on May 1. The US release was pushed from May 3 to May 10 to be given for free with the pre-order of Set the World on Fire on iTunes. Because "Fallen Angels" was delayed, the band released a preview of the song "Youth and Whisky" on May 3. The album's next single was The Legacy, with a music video filmed by Patrick Fogarty that premiered on YouTube on June 6, 2011. Their third single from Set the World on Fire was "Rebel Love Song", which also had a music video directed by Patrick Fogarty. The video was released on YouTube on October 19. On October 25, the band announced that they had to cancel tour dates for "certain reasons". It was later announced that it was because Andy had broken his nose on the drum set rising platform during a performance. Despite the injury, which was bad enough for people to notice that he was having difficulty breathing and talking, he was determined to finish the show. After a visit from the doctor, he was told to sit back for a few weeks to rest and heal. They announced that they would return to tour for the beginning of the Buried Alive Tour with Avenged Sevenfold, Asking Alexandria, and Hollywood Undead.

It was announced via Andy's Twitter that they would be releasing an EP titled "Rebels". They released a trailer on YouTube which shows Andy recording vocals for their cover of the song "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol, which was to appear on the EP. Another trailer for the EP was released, in which Andy gives a few more details about it. The third and final trailer about the EP was released on November 14, in which Andy goes into detail about the track "Coffin" which was a left over song from the previous album Set the World on Fire that was to be released on the EP. In an interview with Chris Droney from Glasswerk National, they hinted that there would be a guest guitarist to appear on the EP, who eventually turned out to be Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), who plays the guitar solo on the cover of the song Unholy, originally performed by Kiss. Rebels was eventually released on December 13, 2011.

Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones (2012–13)

A Black Veil Brides song, titled "Unbroken", appeared on the soundtrack to the movie The Avengers on May 1, 2012, and is the only track released by Black Veil Brides solely on a compilation album. On June 13, the official music video for the song "Coffin" from the Rebels EP, was released.

Regarding the band's third album, guitarists Jinxx and Jake told Chris Droney in an interview for Glasswerk National that the band is constantly writing new music, and that they were planning on recording their next major full-length album in April 2012. On February 18, Jake tweeted, "Amazing stuff. This next record is going to kick your arses." In a February 2012 interview, Ashley Purdy announced that the band's third studio album was scheduled to be released at the end of 2012. On May 2, Black Veil Brides had this to announce: "As of today, we have officially began recording our new album which will be released on October 30th!" Andy said in an interview at the Download Festival that "We've got three songs tracked. We've set ourselves a deadline of the end of August to finish it. We've got 20 to 25 songs written and we're narrowing it down now. John Feldmann is producing it. It's going to be more of a punk rock record than anything we've done before. It's Social Distortion meets Metallica." September 4, Andy announced that they had finished recording of the new album: "Well, tracking has officially wrapped for the new record! Still some stuff to finish up, but I’m so happy, excited, and proud of this album!"

It was announced that the release of their third album was to be pushed back from October 30, 2012 to January 2013. On October 8, the album cover art and album title were released – Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones was the title, and pre-orders were launched from iTunes on Halloween, October 31. The cover art for Wretched and Divine was painted by Richard Villa, long-time Black Veil Brides cover artist who also painted the cover art for We Stitch These Wounds, Set the World on Fire, and Rebels. The lead single from Wretched and Divine, "In the End", was featured as one of the theme songs for WWE's Hell in a Cell. The band will embark on "The Church of the Wild Ones" North American Tour in support of the album, with further details to be announced. On October 29, the band announced the official track list and the new, re-scheduled release date for the album (January 8, 2013). On October 31, a trailer was released, revealing that Black Veil Brides planned to release a full-length film titled Legion of the Black in 2013 in select theaters. Wretched and Divine is a concept album, and the film is a visual depiction of the story within the album. The movie was screened at The Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, California on December 21–23, 2012. Andy Biersack appeared at the showing to surprise fans, to their delight. Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Top 200.

Black Veil Brides played on the Warped Tour from June–August 2013. On June 11, 2013 Black Veil Brides released the Wretched and Divine Ultimate Edition containing three exclusive tracks: "Revelation", "Victory Call" and "Let You Down" along with the Legion of the Black DVD included.

The band won in 20 categories in the 2013 Alternative Press Readers Poll .

Black Veil Brides and fifth studio album (2013–present)

In an interview with Artisan News, the band's singer Andy Biersack said that the band decided to start working on their fourth album, and that the band's intention was to "do something we've never really done before". He explained that after making the conceptual Wretched and Divine, album they became "the band that I think we should be. I think we're at the right place." Andy also said in an interview with Pit Cam TV that they would likely finish the album in the studio during around the summer of 2014. Black Veil Brides won a Golden God Award for their song "In the End", winning "song of the year" and mass radio hits.

The band's self-titled fourth album was released on October 28, 2014. In July 2014, Black Veil Brides announced the availability of pre-orders for the album on PledgeMusic. The band were headliners in America with support acts consisting of Falling in Reverse, Set It Off, and Drama Club throughout October and November and dubbed the tour, "The Black Mass". The first song released off the record, "Heart of Fire" debuted on BBC Radio 1's Rock Show with Daniel P Carter on September 7, 2014, and later in the week another new song was released onto YouTube titled, "Faithless." On October 6, 2014, they released the music video of their song "Heart of Fire". Soon after this, on October 31, 2014, the music video for the song "Goodbye Agony" was released onto YouTube. October 18, 2014 onwards till October 27, 2014, short clips of their songs off the new album were released daily on YouTube on the channel "BlackVeilBridestv".

On July 10, 2015 Black Veil Brides released their first live DVD/Blu-ray entitled Alive and Burning which was shot at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, and charted #1 on the US and UK Billboard charts.

In November 2015, Andy Biersack spoke with Alternative Press noting that the band were in the early stages of writing, but also noted that "once we wrap recording on the Andy Black record, then we start to shift focus to [Black Veil Brides]".

On December 21, 2016 Black Veil Brides released the first single from their new album titled "The Outsider".

2009–2010

2011

2012–13

2014–15

Lyrics and message

Black Veil Brides' lyrics have dealt with topics aimed at people who feel like outcasts in society. Their bass player, Ashley Purdy, said this in an interview about the message the band sends to its listeners:

We carry a message of believing in yourself and letting no one tell you otherwise. We stand up for the underdog and the disenfranchised. Anything strange, odd, or unique… we embrace that. So basically standing up for yourself; have fun and live your life how you choose. You only have one life, make the most of it.

Band name

Purdy also explains the meaning of the band name "Black Veil Brides":

Black Veil Brides is a Roman Catholic term used for when a woman marries into the church and gives up all the pleasures of life to devote her life to God. She is then deemed a Black Veil Bride. Sorta similar to a rock band where you have to give up many things in pursuit of what you're passionate about or believe in. It also has the dichotomy of the positive and negative. The happiest time in one's life, could be getting married. And the opposite of that in one's life would be at a funeral of a loved one. It all tends to fit really well for a dark and heavy rock band.

Musical style and influences

Black Veil Brides' music has been categorized under multiple genres of rock music including heavy metal, glam metal, gothic metal, gothic rock, metalcore, emo, post-hardcore, hard rock and shock rock. The band's influences include Kiss, Metallica, Pantera, Avenged Sevenfold, Mötley Crüe, Poison, AFI, W.A.S.P., Rob Zombie, L.A. Guns, Aerosmith, Misfits, The Dead Boys, The Damned, Dropkick Murphys, David Bowie, Queen, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Skid Row, Social Distortion, Rise Against, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper, and Hot Water Music, In an interview Christian Coma cited his greatest musical influences as Pendulum, Deadmau5, As I Lay Dying, In Flames, and Rise Against.

Evolution of style

Black Veil Brides' style has constantly been changing ever since the group was formed in 2006. The addition of guitarist Jake Pitts led to guitar solos on almost every track. Their first album We Stitch These Wounds was where the band was described as primarily metalcore. With the release of Set the World on Fire, their appearance changed to resemble that of glam metal/shock rock bands like Kiss and Mötley Crüe, while their sound dropped the smooth singing and harsh screams in exchange for clean, but gruff "James Hetfield" style vocals. They followed this musical style all the way up to their most current release, Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones. The classical influence of Jinxx (rhythm guitar, violin, and cello) is much more pronounced on Wretched and Divine, with many symphonic additions and the band's first instrumental track, titled "Overture," featuring violins played by Jinxx. The band self-identify as simply rock 'n' roll.

Band members

Black Veil Brides was founded in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio by Andy Biersack. They went through various member changes, (at the time of the release of the Knives and Pens music video they only had three members: Biersack, Sandra Alvarenga, and Chris "Hollywood" Bluser), recorded We Stitch These Wounds with Biersack, Jake Pitts, Ashley Purdy, Jinxx, and Alvarenga in 2010, and came to their current lineup when Sandra left Black Veil Brides to join the band Modern Day Escape and they put Christian Coma in her place. Andy is the only founding member remaining.

Timeline

Discography