Post hardcore/Screamo/Metalcore
About :
The crowd is still screaming at a sold out show in Anaheim, California as the sweetcore phenomenon known as Alesana exits the stage.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," says frontman Dennis Lee as he tips back the last wallow of his water bottle. "Seeing kids go crazy like that thousands of miles away from home reminds me that I have the best job in the world." Crowd response like this is something that the six-piece from Raleigh, North Carolina is quickly becoming accustomed to all over the country and other parts of the world: and this is only the beginning.
The band's debut full length record On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax is built around a dynamic, emotionally charged, three guitar, three vocal attack. "We're all about dynamics, both musically and vocally," says vocalist/guitarist Shawn Milke about why the band elected to employ three guitarists and three vocalists. "We don't try to be like anyone else or to be something we're not. By having six members we are able to pull off the same guitar and vocal harmonies in a live setting that we have on the record."
Forming in November of 2004, Alesana has always focused a great deal of their attention on having an energetic and memorable live show. The raw, honest intensity of the band's performance on stage has played a huge role in their growing popularity over the last year and a half. "Our music is always fun," says drummer Jeremy Bryan. "There isn't a single night on tour that I don't have a blast on stage. We give everything we have each and every night and it is a great feeling to see that same energy increasingly coming back from the crowd everywhere we go...and always play 'til you puke." Having already completed tours with Chiodos, From First To Last, Bayside, The Devil Wears Prada, and Drop Dead Gorgeous the band is ready to continue hitting the road hard and strong. 2007 saw the band play 325 shows in 365 days and 2008 is looking to be no different. Alesana is embarking on a world tour playing shows in the US, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, South America, Japan, and Australia. In addition to their international travel, the band is headlining the Vans Warped Tour all summer long on the Smartpunk Stage.
In June of 2005, Alesana released their debut EP, Try This With Your Eyes Closed on Tragic Hero Records. After selling nearly 3,000 copies of the EP at shows and online, the band hit the studio with friend Kit Walters to co-produce and record their first full length record On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax. After nearly two months of round-the-clock writing, self-conducted pre-production, and two solid weeks in the studio, the band felt they had finally locked up the exact sound they were striving to achieve. The record did a soft release which included being sold at smartpunk.com where it remained in the top 10 for a solid year. The success of the record prompted Fearless Records to come check out the band live near their headquarters in California. Less than one month later, the band was signed to their new label. "We feel very at home with Fearless," says guitarist/vocalist Adam Ferguson. "I feel like I can pick up the phone anytime and call anyone on the entire staff. Plus, with a smaller roster of bands than some of the other labels out there, it feels more like family." Bassist Shane Crump adds, "Our label takes just as much pride in our success as we do. It feels good to know that we can make the people who work for us so proud of what we accomplish." Fearless re-released On Frail Wings Of Vanity And Wax in March 2007 and record sales are pushing 50,000, having never dropped below 400 records in any single week since being released.
In January of 2008, Alesana began work with producer Steve Evetts (Senses Fail, Story Of The Year, Saves The Day, Every Time I Die) on their new record Where Myth Fades To Legend, scheduled to hit store shelves everywhere in June. "Everything we have done on the road and accomplished as a band is here on this record," says Shawn. "We are proud of the concept, the lyrics, the music, simply everything." The recording process found the band working around the clock for three months straight. Four weeks of finalizing the writing, three weeks of pre-production, and six weeks in the studio led to the completion of what the band calls, "everything we ever envisioned our music being."
Where Myth Fades To Legend is Alesana at its very best. Following the footsteps of On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax, the band elected to continue its thematic approach to lyric writing. Many of the tracks on the new record are based on the fables of The Brothers Grimm and other famous fairy tale stories. "People reacted so well to the greek mythology theme with our first record," recalls Dennis. "It was so much fun writing with a theme so we decided to continue the approach on the new record."
It is very apparent during the entirety of Where Myth Fades To Legend that the band is playing straight from the heart. "Shawn used no vocal auto-tuning at all," states guitarist Patrick Thompson. "He wanted to be honest with himself and with the fans so he pushed and pushed until it was done right, without the help of any trickery. Our producer, Steve, pushed all of us. We are all stronger musicians coming out of the studio."
The bands first single off of the new record is entitled, "Seduction." "We based the lyrics on The Maiden Maleen, a tale of The Brothers Grimm about a girl who is trapped inside of a tower left with enough food to survive for only one year," explains Shawn. "She finally escapes to find that her one true love is with another. Dennis and I couldn't think of a better tale to discuss the trials of temptation and jealousy than one where the main character battles starvation and loneliness only to be left with nothing."
With the sincerity of their lyrics, the energy of their music, and the passion of their live show, there is no doubt that Alesana will fight its way into your stereos and into your hearts.
History :
Formation and (2004–2005)
Although the band's members first began playing together in Baltimore, Maryland, the band officially formed in October 2004 in Raleigh, North Carolina by Shawn Milke, Patrick Thompson, Dennis Lee, Steven Tomany and Daniel Magnuson. The name of the band is derived from Alice-anna St., which Shawn Milke and Patrick Thompson lived on when playing in Baltimore, MD. Alice-anna St. is located in Fells Point, a neighborhood in Baltimore. Alesana was the first band to join Tragic Hero Records in 2005, and their 3 demo songs titled "Apology", "Beautiful in Blue" and "Goodbye, Goodnight for Good" which were featured on a compilation All The Tragedy Money Can Buy. Later they released their debut EP, Try This With Your Eyes Closed, in May of that year. They toured in the United States, including an appearance at the Cornerstone Festival. In the same year Daniel Magnuson was replaced by Will Anderson.
On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax (2006–2007)
In 2006 they added a new drummer Jeremy Bryan to replace Will Anderson and added guitarist/vocalist Adam Ferguson to their lineup. They followed with a full-length album, entitled On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax, in the summer of 2006. Many of the songs on the album take inspiration from Greek mythology, for example: "Ambrosia" is based on the story of king Midas and the Golden Touch along with his sufferings on living his life with his curse, and "The Third Temptation of Paris" is based upon the Trojan War. In late 2006, they signed on to Fearless Records, which re-released their LP in March 2007 to mixed reviews and released a music video for "Ambrosia". In the same year, the song "Apology" in an acoustic version was featured on Punk Goes Acoustic 2. Later in the middle of the year, Steven Tomany left the band and was replaced by Shane Crump who had previously played bass for Your Name In Vain. They also played at the entire Warped Tour 2007. In early 2008, On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax charted on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, peaking at #44.
Where Myth Fades to Legend (2008-2009)
In 2008 Alesana finished recording their second album, "Where Myth Fades to Legend". The album was released on June 3, 2008 but was leaked on popular torrent sites on May 25. Where Myth Fades To Legend is also the title of their headlining tour with Sky Eats Airplane, Our Last Night, Lovehatehero, and The Chariot. Shane Crump was recently revealed in the intro to Alesana's 4th video blog on purevolume to be a vocalist on the new album. All the female vocals done on the band's albums are done by guitarist Shawn Milke's sister, Melissa. Alesana is touring as of November, and will head to the eastern United States, which includes shows in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania with A Static Lullaby, Greeley Estates, Jamies Elsewhere, and many more.
As with their previous album, the majority of the songs are related to fables and the members’ “Favorite Stories” compiled from The Brother’s Grimm. Except for “As You Wish”, that is based on the story The Princess Bride. The song “All Night Dance Parties In The Underground Palace” is partly based on the story "The Worn Out Dancing Shoes." The album was produced by Steve Evetts and recorded in Los Angeles, California. The song “Seduction” is said to be the first single from Where Myth Fades To Legend, as well as the music video, which was recorded late summer ‘08. The track “A Most Profound Quiet” has been released on their MySpace page. The Single “Seduction” was leaked onto the internet with the title “Subscription” on the Warped Tour 2008 compilation. According to guitarist/vocalist Shawn Milke, “This is Usually the Part Where People Scream” is influenced by the television showHeroes. “Obsession is Such an Ugly Word” features vocals from the entire band.
On the 2008 Warped Tour, Shane Crump briefly left due to personal matters at home and Jake Campbell (Twelve Gauge Valentine guitarist) became a temporary fill in bassist. Upon Shane's return, Adam and the band parted ways and Jake is now the permanent rhythm guitarist.
In 2009 they have also been named along with Nine Inch Nails, Alice in Chains and The Bloodhound Gang to tour Australia with the Soundwave 2009 festival and also this spring Alesana toured with Drop Dead Gorgeous, Fear Before, I Set My Friends On Fire, and Fall From Grace on the World of Tourcraft tour
On January 20, 2009 the music video for "Seduction" was officially released and on March 10, 2009 the album Punk Goes Pop 2 was released which includes Alesana's cover of "What Goes Around...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake.
Alesana's Where Myth Fades To Legend has also charted on the Billboard 200 at #96 and on the Billboard Hard Rock Album at #13.
The Emptiness (2009-Present)
In late February, Shawn Milke announced Alesana had started writing new material for their upcoming album. They began recording their third studio album, in July 2009, in Portland, Oregon, with producer Kris Crummett (Emarosa and DGD). The album, according to Shawn Milke on The Rave TV, will be entitled, "The Emptiness". The title "The Emptiness" has also been confirmed in a blog on the band's MySpace page. The band has made their progress in the studio viewable to fans through a Twitter account and an official website run by the band themselves. In mid July, Alesana had their MySpace page edited by Justin Reich with pictures that according to Shawn, hint towards themes in the concept album; the photos show the band in fine suits holding bloody weapons inside an abandoned room, and a newspaper article with a headline "Alesana Unveils New Story This Winter."
It has also been mentioned that the album's setting is at the turn of the 20th century. The Twitter account updates reveal that Melissa Milke and Adam Fisher of Fear Before have contributed vocals to the album, and that Shawn Milke appeared as a guest on metalcore band Asking Alexandria's debut album, in the song "Hey There Mr. Brooks".
Shawn Milke declared on August 19 via Twitter,
| “ | It is 6:19 AM and I just finished my last scream...the record is finished..."The Emptiness" is complete...xo shawn | ” |
concluding the band's recording session, which began on July 10. Alesana then set out for North Carolina to rest before they began their Vs. tour, which they are currently headlining and performing with bands The Bled, Enter Shikari, Broadway, Madina Lake, and Asking Alexandria. On the Vs. tour, Alesana's set included 2 new songs titled "To Be Scared By An Owl" and "The Thespian". Soon after concluding their month long Vs. tour, Alesana headlined the "You'd Be Way Cuter In A Coffin" Tour with From First To Last, The Word Alive, Asking Alexandria, and Memphis May Fire.
On October 2, Shawn and Dennis held a second interview with TheRave.tv where they revealed that they were shooting a music video in the fall for one song off of their new CD. The two screamers went on to tell Linda, the interviewer, that due to their large fan base in Mexico and South America, they would be releasing a Spanish version of 2 of their songs. Shawn also revealed that the album, The Emptiness, is to be released on January 26, 2010. The band finally released the track listing and cover art to the new album on November 10 on their myspace blog On November 23, Alesana released their first recorded work off of The Emptiness, "To Be Scared By An Owl" and began to promote it as a single. The same week, they entered the studio to begin filming their third video which according to AlesanaOfficial.com, is "The Thespian", the song was released on December 8, 2009.
In the spring of this year, Alesana will tour the U.S. with A Skylit Drive, The Word Alive, Of Mice & Men, and We Came As Romans.
On January 22, Alesana uploaded all of their songs from the upcoming album on their myspace for free streaming.
Shawn stated on their MySpace-
| Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, today is a VERY exciting day for Alesana! we have released a streaming version of The Emptiness in its entirety today right here on myspace! this is your first chance to hear our story from start to finish! The Emptiness received a ( 2.5 / 5.0 ) by AP Magazine (www.altpress.com), a 7/10 by RockSound (www.rocksound.com), a ( 2.0 / 5.0 ) by RRR (www.reviewrinserepeat.com),and a ( 4.0 / 5.0 ) by Lexington Music Press (www.lexingtonmusicpress). Members : Current Members : Dennis Lee : Screaming , Vocals (2004-present) Shawn Milke : Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Strings (2004-present) Patrick Thompson : Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals (2004-present) Jeremy Bryan : Drums (2005-present) Shane Crump : Bass, Backing Vocals (2007-present) Jake Campbell : Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocal (2008-present) Former Members : Adam Ferguson : Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocal (2005-2008) Steven Tomany : Bass (2004-2007) Will Anderson : Drums (2005) Daniel Magnuson : Drums (2004-2005) |
