The Phantom Tomorrow is Black Veil Brides 6th full length and their third concept album. This record, produced by Erik Ron (Godsmack, Dance Gavin Dance, Bush), starts out with an almost symphonic overture fitting for any Tim Burton feature film score. The album flows from song to song with melodic vocals, powerful guitar solos and a driving drum track. Jinxx provides ambiance with violin tracks through out several of the songs which, oddly, works given their harder edge sound.
The second song is “Scarlett Cross” and is the bands first top 10 single. Hard driving guitars and a catchy chorus quickly made this one a fan favorite with over 8 million views on YouTube. This far surpasses the two other video releases “Torch” and “Fields of Bone” for this album. This one is going to be a fan favorite for a long time.
The song “Shadows Rise” showcases Jinxx’s talent with a long violin intro that explodes into a guitar driven powerhouse of a song and finishes with more violin. Definitely one of my favorite tracks of the collection.
“Crimson Skies” (video below) is the band’s latest video and shows off their energy of playing live. A metalcore intro and melodic “sing along” style chorus draws the listener in to be a part of it. This will be a live staple song with lots of audience participation opportunities. With 35k views in just one day, this should really push this album further up the charts.
My favorite part of the album though, is how the symphonic intro “The Phantom Tomorrow” and the moody, slowed down tempo intro “Fall Eternal” bookends the record. These tracks ease the listener in and out easily while not distracting from the bulk of the record. Well done guys!
Overall Rating: 7.5-8/10
While this was not my first time hearing Black Veil Brides, it was my first time listening to an entire album. I usually just hear a track or two while streaming. I was surprised on how listenable the whole album was start to finish and I will be putting in my record collection. Now, I just need to catch them live the next time through.
Black Veil Brides are:
Andy Biersack -Vocals
Jinxx – Guitars / Violin
Jake Pitts – Guitars
Christian “CC” Coma – Drums
Lonny Eagleton – Bass
Track list
1) The Phantom Tomorrow (Introduction)
2) Scarlet Cross
3) Born Again
4) Blackbird
5) Spectres (Interlude)
6) Torch
7) The Wicked One
8) Shadows Rise
9) Fields Of Bone
10) Crimson Skies
11) Kill The Hero
12) Fall Eternal
Photo Credit: Joshua Shultz
L to R: Christian Coma (Drums), Jinxx (Guitars), Andy Biersack (Vocals), Jake Pitts (Guitars), Lonny Eagleton (Bass)
About Black Veil Brides:
Like their band name suggests, Black Veil Brides evoke transcendent visions of an impenetrable hereafter, intermingling with a steely focus on the dark passions and elusive mysteries of the here and now. A romantic fantasy first summoned in a small town by founder Andy Biersack – a creative who was fascinated with death rock, theatricality, and monsters (both real and imagined). It wasn’t until moving to Los Angeles that the unstoppable force the band is currently was finalized. The band (and its members Andy Biersack, Jake Pitts, Jinxx, Lonny Eagleton, Christian Coma) Instagram and Twitter accounts command close to 10 million followers between them. Vale, the group’s most recent full-length album, went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart. In the hearts and minds of their fans, Black Veil Brides represents an unwillingness to compromise and a resistance to critics (personal and professional), fueled by the same fire as the group’s own heroes, the iconoclasts whose creative output, once dismissed, is now canonized.
Follow the Black Veil Brides Online:
Photographer of about 10 years, I have been shooting concerts for about 8 of those years. I started to get serious about concert photography about 6 or 7 years ago and now try to shoot as many as I can. I shoot mostly rock but, have done some country and big band stuff. I love music and since I am nowhere close to being a musician, this is a way I can be a small part of what, in the words of Henry Rollins, “gets me through the highs, the lows and everything in between”.
