Positive Mental Attitude. This is the mantra that is not only a driving force for Raleigh, North Carolina based Alesana, but also a way of life. Celebrating eleven years as a band, the pop-metal sextet is always in high spirits and accustomed to playing their hearts out every night when on the road. Countless US tours, several trips around the world, and seven major releases later, Alesana is living proof that hard work and dedication to dreams can go a long, long way. Calling Revival Recordings their home, the band released the conclusion to their Annabel Trilogy in April 2015 with Confessions. Released in December of 2013, the stand-alone single Fatima Rusalka progressed the band’s conceptual trilogy en route to its conclusion with Confessions. The song does what has come to be expected of the storytelling rock machine which is to draw from past influences while incorporating new possibilities, dynamics, and sonic exploration. Having spent time on Tragic Hero Records, Fearless Records, and Epitaph Records, Alesana’s entire catalogue, consisting of Try This With Your Eyes Closed, On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax, Where Myth Fades To Legend, The Emptiness, A Place Where The Sun Is Silent, and Confessions, has charted on the Billboard Top 200. In summer 2016, Alesana released a special edition of Confessions including two new tracks along with a novella, entitled Annabel, which inspired The Annabel Triology. The album is available on all digital outlets now and the novella is available for purchase on Amazon Kindle now.

In 2017, Alesana began working on the ulitmate fan project which they called Origins. Filled with hours worth of behind the scenes and never before seen footage, demos, and a brand new EP The Lost Chapters, Origins was born as a visual history of the past thirteen years of the band. In early 2018, Alesana released The Lost Chapters EP digitally. Origins bundles are currently available on the Revival Recordings shop page. The Lost Chapters EP is available to stream on all digital platforms and to purchase on iTunes now! 

Eyes Set to Kill are no strangers to survival. The alt-metal band survived the crash and burn of the post-hardcore scene from which they came. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the Arizona trio’s forthcoming EP is about rising above trauma. The switch from more adolescent heartbreak to more profound shattering comes with maturity; they have, after all, been a band for 18 years now, selling over 120,000 albums and netting millions of streams likes and follows across platforms.

As such, Eyes Set to Kill don’t wallow but wade through, and vocalist/guitarist Alexia Rodriguez wanted to give listeners that power to push through.

“Loss can be so much more profound than just a break-up. I lost my grandpa to cancer and my relationship with my sister,” explains Rodriguez, the latter serving as bassist from their 2003 formation until 2016. “The grieving process has taught me so much, so I wanted to pass that along through the power of music.”

The power is amplified therein. Though Rodriguez starts the writing on acoustic guitar to lay the emotional foundation, she and bandmates AJ Bartholomew (guitar, backing vocals) and Caleb Clifton (drums) would later expand the songs to be bigger than anything they’ve done before. The production includes strings, pianos and other epic instruments to ensure their real life lyrics sound larger than life. The re-introduction of screaming vocals will help exorcise the pain from which the growth came.

Standalone single “Find Our Way” is a harbinger of things to come. Though less based in Rodriguez’s trauma, it too became particularly poignant thanks to COVID-19.

“It was originally an apocalyptic anthem about the world ending, yet sticking together and setting aside differences in order to survive,” reveals Rodriguez of the hard rocking song that was recorded pre-pandemic. “It’s crazy how much more I relate to it now in reality because it started out more as a fictional concept.”

The reality is almost as surreal. Adapting as one must, Eyes Set to Kill, started performing live on Twitch and YouTube, stripping back heavier songs to cleaner versions and encouraging experimentation with their very structures.

It’s the kind of forward-thinking attitude gained touring with a diverse set of legendary acts, such as Papa Roach, Falling In Reverse, In This Moment, New Years Day, Hellyeah, Lacuna Coil, Rob Zombie and more. As Eyes Set to Kill continue, they’ve set their vision upon the high watermark of those luminaries, now contemporaries and peers.