| Blessthefall | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Genres | Post-hardcore, metalcore[1][2][3] |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Fearless, Ferret, Science |
| Associated acts | Greeley Estates, Escape the Fate, Before Their Eyes, Legacy, The Word Alive, Take the Crown |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Beau Bokan Jared Warth Eric Lambert Matt Traynor Elliott Gruenberg |
|
| Past members | |
| Craig Mabbitt Miles Bergsma Mike Frisby |
|
Blessthefall is an American post-hardcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, currently signed to Fearless Records. The band was founded in 2003 by guitarist Mike Frisby, drummer Matt Traynor, and bassist Jared Warth. Their debut album, His Last Walk, with original vocalist Craig Mabbitt, was released April 10, 2007. Their second studio album, Witness, with current vocalist Beau Bokan, was released October 6, 2009. Their third studio album, Awakening, was released on October 4, 2011.
Contents |
Blessthefall grew out of high school practice sessions consisting of guitarist Mike Frisby, guitarist Miles Bergsma, drummer Matt Traynor, bassist and screamer Jared Warth, and later, vocalist Craig Mabbitt. After founding member Miles Bergsma left to attend college at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, they released a three-track EP in mid-2005 and added guitarist Eric Lambert to form their first solid line-up.[4] Phoenix-area gigs with Greeley Estates and an openly religious orientation got the band local press and a deal with Warner subsidiary, Science Records.[5] The band then toured with Alesana and Norma Jean across the United States and Canada.[6] Their debut album, His Last Walk, was released on April 10, 2007, to mixed reviews.[7][8][9] The band completed the entire 2007 Warped Tour circuit nationwide.[6] His Last Walk peaked at No. 32 on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers chart.[10]
Blessthefall toured with Escape the Fate, LoveHateHero, Before Their Eyes, and Dance Gavin Dance on the Black On Black tour during September and October 2007, they were also part of the Underground Operations Tour And Loathing Tour 2007, opening for Protest The Hero and All That Remains, along with fellow opening bands, Threat Signal and the Holly Springs Disaster, and were a part of From First to Last's fall headlining tour, starting November 1 with A Skylit Drive and Vanna.
While on their first European tour (with Silverstein) in late 2007, Craig Mabbitt left the band during the United Kingdom portion to spend more time with his daughter, whose childhood he felt he was missing out on. For the remainder of the tour, Jared Warth filled in for vocals while playing bass. When Mabbitt later attempted to return to Blessthefall, the band members decided not to let him back in, preferring to move on without him. On December 15, 2007, Blessthefall posted a blog on their MySpace announcing their parting ways with Mabbitt while Mabbitt posted a bulletin on his personal MySpace stating his willingness to return to the band. Despite the departure, Mabbitt remained great friends with Blessthefall and Beau Bokan.
After the European tour, Blessthefall decided to look for a temporary fill in bass player so that Jared Warth could concentrate on vocals. Aiden Louis, vocalist of Dear Whoever, was added to the group to fill in the bass and backup vocals. This was their new lineup for Taste of Chaos 2008.
In early 2008, Blessthefall released a new video for the song "Rise Up" from the album His Last Walk. The video, (directed by Travis Kopach), is the first to not include Mabbitt.
Mabbitt has stated that the day after he finished recording his first album with Escape the Fate, This War Is Ours, he got a phone call from Blessthefall's management asking him to return to the band, but he refused. Mabbitt felt there was too much bad blood with their management. He also felt the band knew he had just finished a new album and that it was just bad timing, especially when Mabbitt begged to be back in for the previous eight months.
Shortly after this on September 26, 2008 the band announced that Beau Bokan was the new lead singer, he was the former lead-singer for the band Take the Crown, a group who released an EP and a full-length album but broke up because of a lack of management.[11][12]
During the month of February, the band announced on their MySpace page that they would head into the studio in May 2009 after their tour with Silverstein, Norma Jean, and Before Their Eyes. On May 13 the band announced on their MySpace page and video blogs that they signed to Fearless Records.
On June 3, the band announced via MySpace that they were officially finished with the recording of their new album and that it was to be released in the fall. At the beginning of their tour with August Burns Red and Enter Shikari, they announced that the album would be titled "Witness". In July, Blessthefall released a song clip on their MySpace blog titled "God Wears Gucci", released on iTunes for download on August 11, 2009. In September 2009, the band uploaded another track on their MySpace page titled "What's Left of Me". The album was released October 6, 2009.
In June 2010 Blessthefall toured New Zealand in support of Saosin, and in Australia in support of Story of the Year and Saosin. Blessthefall played across Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
After the release of Witness, the band co-headlined the Atticus Fall Tour with Finch, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, and Vanna from October 10, 2009 through to November 19. Other bands on the tour included Of Mice & Men and Let’s Get It.
In October 2009, the band announced on YouTube that they were working on a music video for "What's Left of Me", which was released December 14 on MySpace Metal.
On January 26, 2010, Greeley Estates released No Rain, No Rainbow, featuring guest vocals by Blessthefall vocalists Beau Bokan and Jared Warth. The album also features guest vocals from former vocalist of Blessthefall, and present vocalist of Escape the Fate, Craig Mabbitt.
The band was featured on the Punk Goes Classic Rock album released April 27, 2010 covering "Dream On" by Aerosmith.
Their song, “To Hell and Back”, released on Witness, was a soundtrack to Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction. The game trailer was released on April 9, 2010.[13]
They released a new music video for their song "To Hell and Back" on July 21, 2010, and were then in the process of recording a new music video for "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" this was confirmed through their Twitter. The band was holding a contest to see who can make the best fan-made video to be included in the final music video.
The music video for "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" was released on November 4, 2010, and is a short film directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. It is a parody of the 2009 comedy The Hangover, as all of the members wake up unaware of what happened the night before in a messy room, a naked man jumps out from the back of Beau Bokan's car and starts attacking him, and towards the end when Jared Warth pulls out his phone at Eric Lambert's wedding, showing pictures of the night before. The music video also references the movie Dude, Where's My Car?, when Beau Bokan asks where his car is and Mike Frisby responds, "Dude, it's right there."
On February 15, 2011, the band announced that Frisby left the band to pursue another path. Elliott Gruenberg, formerly of Before Their Eyes, will be permanently on guitar.[14]
Bokan confirmed that Blessthefall would not play in the Warped Tour 2011, but rather would be recording their third full length album. Recording began in Orlando, Florida in May 17, 2011.[15] Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who produced their previous album, also produced this effort.[16][17]
The band had hoped to feature guest vocalists including Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse, and Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying,[18] but it was later confirmed that there would be no guest vocals.[19]
There will be 12 tracks on the album[20] and the intro track is the album's title track.[21] It will be longer than 45 minutes,[22] and will be released October 4, 2011.[23] The artwork was done by Jeff Gros, who also did the artwork for Underoath's Define the Great Line.[24] The album title, Awakening, artwork and track listing were announced on July 21.[23] They released a studio video for "Bottomfeeder" on August 4, 2011 and the album's first single, "Promised Ones", was released August 16, 2011, and the second, "40 days", on September 15, 2011. The latter involves no screaming from Jared.
Blessthefall joined Emmure, Alesana, Motionless in White and other bands on the All Stars Tour in the late summer.[25] The band will headline the Fearless Friends tour with The Word Alive, Motionless in White, Tonight Alive, and Chunk! No Captain Chunk!.
They released the official video of "Promised Ones" on November 8, 2011, which starts with the intro song of the album titled Awakening. The video is about members of the band uniting rebels and preparing themselves to go for war.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Alt |
US Heat |
US Hard Rock |
US Indie |
US Rock |
||||
| 2007 | His Last Walk | — | — | 32 | — | — | — | ||
| 2009 | Witness
|
56 | 13 | — | 9 | 6 | 25 | ||
| 2011 | Awakening
|
32 | 11 | — | 3 | 7 | 13 | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart, or has not charted yet. | |||||||||
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Black Rose Dying
|
| 2006 | Blessthefall
|
| 2007 | Black on Black Tour[27]
|
| Year | Song |
|---|---|
| 2006 | "Higinia" |
| 2007 | "Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad" |
| "A Message to the Unknown" | |
| "Rise Up" | |
| "I Wouldn't Quit If Everyone Quit" | |
| 2008 | "To Hell and Back" |
| 2009 | "God Wears Gucci" |
| "What's Left of Me" | |
| 2010 | "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" |
| 2011 | "Promised Ones" |
| "40 Days..." |
| Year | Song |
|---|---|
| 2006 | "Black Rose Dying" |
| "Times Like These" | |
| 2007 | "Higinia" |
| "Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad" | |
| "A Message to the Unknown" | |
| 2008 | "Rise Up" |
| "To Hell and Back" (Tour Version) | |
| 2009 | "What's Left of Me" |
| 2010 | "To Hell and Back" |
| "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" | |
| 2011 | "Bottomfeeder" |
| "Promised Ones" |
|
||||||||||||||