My personal introduction to this Nevada based American Post-Hardcore/ Emo band came with its sophomore album This War Is Ours, which (like 2006's debut EP There's No Sympathy For The Dead and debut album Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, ànd the ensuing 2007 EP Situations) was released through Epitaph Records (review of the album with elaborate history-of-the-band up to that point was posted 12/10/2008, and still available for your scrutiny in this website's “Archive” section). However, feeling that a major label would help 'em get their music to a broader audience, the band signed its third self-titled full-length to major label Interscope...which means that the album was never sent out to “smaller” websites, Concrete Web included! In other words, I'm given the task to update my 2008 review with almost 5 years of data (article below culled from and re-written from the band's page on Wikipedia)!
Starting with the reception of This War Is Ours, which debuted at #35 on the Billboard 200 (selling 13,000 copies in its first week). Whereas the band, prior to that album, had never fully completed a tour they were on, things were now different thanks to this new line-up, and following the headlining This War Is Ours Tour (with Attack Attack!, Burn Halo, William Control and Black Tide), ETF joined Hollywood Undead and Atreyu on their 2008 tour and toured Europe during December. This War Is Ours was re-issued on April 27, 2010, in a deluxe CD/DVD edition featuring nice bonuses. During 2010, ETF first toured Australia on the Soundwave Festival, and then the US on the Extreme Thing tour festival.
Actual writing sessions for Escape The Fate had started in early 2010 (but were already initiated after the release of the previous album), the album released in November the same year. For the first time, writing and recording sessions for an album were done with the same line-up, and the band felt really strong about the material (even going as far as boasting that they were re-writing Rock music as one knows it). The album was produced by Don Gilmore (known from his work with Bullet For My Valentine, Hollywood Undead and Linking Park, among others), whom apparently helped the band to “find themselves”. For singer Craig Mabbitt, that meant experimenting with his voice. For the band as a whole, it meant recording far more material than was actually needed for the album. One song, “Liars And Monsters” (which would eventually make it on the album's deluxe edition as a bonus track, was co-written with Rob Zombie (and solo artist) John 5. Having canned the album's demos, the band first took off for the Bamboozle festival, and after that recorded the album. In May, the band joined Papa Roach on the road for the second leg of the latter's Raid the Nation tour (without bassist/ backing singer Max Green – in his stead came TJ Bell, then rhythm guitarist with Motionless In White; Bell was to replace Green on many subsequent tours, until filling in for him on a permanent basis in 2012). That was followed by a tour of South and Central America in late July and August. The band had also planned to go on a North-American and European tour with Bullet For My Valentine, Drive A and Black Tide, but eventually copped out due to Green admitting to rehab for his drugs abuse.
In mid August 2011, the band announced (through their facebook page), that lead guitarist/ keyboardist/ backing singer Monte Money would take a break from touring for a while, while remaining a bandmember. Kevin Thrasher (of Lovehatehero; whom had worked with the band before, performing a couple of songs with the band on Fuel.tv's Tues Show in January 2011) filled in for him. Green also returned to the band, but after only a couple of shows on the 2011 Uproar Festival he left again, and was replaced by Zakk Chandler of Black Tide (whom were also playing on the touring festival). During the band's early 2012 UK tour with Funeral For A Friend, the role of bassist again came to Bell (then also bassist of Get Scared).
Pre-production on material for this here album, produced by John Feldman (whom the band had worked with on their second album), was started in mid-December 2011, with actual recordings taking place throughout February 2012. In April 2012, the band did a North-American co-headlining tour with Attack Attack! (with support from The Word Alive, Secrets and Mest), and in June they went on a 4-date tour of South-America, co-headlining with Underoath and special guests Protest the Hero (on their way back to the US, the band put in extra solo dates in Mexico). In a Spring 2012 interview with Alternative Press, Mabbitt announced that touring members TJ Bell and Michael Money (Monte's brother) had joined the band as official members (Michael had been touring with the band since 2008, but his official admission as official member was always refused by certain members then no longer with the band), and that the new album might appear before the end of the year. However, having first boasted about Interscope leaving the band their artistic freedom, ETF had by now become disgruntled with the label, and were now looking for another one...announcing having signed to Eleven Seven Music in mid December, and releasing a snippet of the upcoming album's title track at the same time.
To further promote the upcoming album, the band headlined a free show in Hollywood on January 6 of late, playing four songs off the new album during the concert (which was recorded for DVD inclusion in the deluxe edition of the album). In March, the band announced its participation as direct support (additional support being Otherwise) to Papa Roach's Connection Tour on the US leg of that tour. Shortly after, a new announcement was made that ETF would headline off dates on that tour (with support from The Color Morale, Glamour To The Kill, and As Thick As Thieves).
The style of the new album is announced as being very similar to second album This War Is Ours, with however some elements of the self-titled third. Personally, I don't hear too many differences from what I know of the band (that second album), but then I've always liked the band's mixture of Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, and Emo...augmented with elements from Hard Rock and Alternative Metal! True enough, there's quite some vocal variety, with Mabbitt occasionally going quite deep. As per usual, I've searched the Internet for some sites with audio of the new album, and I am very pleased to let you know that (when I last looked) the complete album is posted for listening in the “Music” section at the band's own (www.) escapethefate.com.