KILL THE LIGHTSthe band featuring ex-BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE bassist Jason “Jay” James and drummer Michael “Moose” Thomasalong with former members of THROW THE FIGHT, THREAT SIGNAL and STILL REMAINSwill release its sophomore album, “Death Melodies”on March 8 via Fearless Records.
To celebrate the exciting news, the band has also shared the video for “From Ashes”. Watch it below.
With its classic, ’80s semi-ballad songcraft twinned with modern sounds, “From Ashes” is a new anthem that should accompany any and all rigorous activity. Going to the gym? Then put “From Ashes” at the top of your playlist, as it will get the blood and adrenaline pumping through those veins.
“‘From Ashes’ Lyrically discusses having to live with the pain of knowing that you let your loved ones down,” the band offers.
Certain bonds cross any and all borders and boundaries. KILL THE LIGHTS harbor this kind of connection between them. Even though you’ve got Thomas and James in Bridgend, Wales, James Clark (vowels) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jordan Whelan (guitar) in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Travis Montgomery (guitar) in Dallas, Texas, the musicians lock into an impenetrable groove that eclipses physical distance. The band is especially adept at fusing classic, galloping guitar riffing with modern metal conventions, like alternately sung and screamed vocals and breakdowns that will incite pits to erupt.
Of course, the musicians boast an incredible pedigree. Moose co-founded multi-platinum international heavyweights BULLET FOR MY VALENTINEwhile Jay also played in the band. James fronted THROW THE FIGHTand Jordan and Travis handled guitar duties for STILL REMAINS and THREAT SIGNAL, respectively. Upon forming KILL THE LIGHTSthey uncovered uncontainable chemistry, releasing their debut LP “The Sinner” in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Among many highlights, “The Faceless” posted up two million-plus Spotify streams and counting followed by “Through The Night” and “Shed My Skin”which each crossed the one million mark. metal hammer rated it 4 out of 5 stars and proclaimed “KILL THE LIGHTS nail the groove and the glory.” After piling up millions of streams and earning acclaim from the likes of Kerrang! and New Noisea sense of unwavering unity drives their second full-length offering, “Death Melodies”.
“Death Melodies” track listing:
01. Hear You Scream
02. Die Alone
03. Broken Bones
04. Bleeding
05. Scapegoat
06. From Ashes
07. Wasting Away
08. Man Without A Face
09. Ghost Of Yesterday
10. Sleep With The Devil
eleven. suicidal
12. Drowning
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE announced Jay‘s departure in February 2015 during the recording sessions for the group’s fifth album, “Venom”and recruited Jamie Mathias as his replacement in May of that same year.
In July 2015, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE frontman Matt Tuck told Stir: “We part ways with [Jay] a long time before we announced it. We wanted to make sure we were comfortable making that decision, and comfortable with making that statement publicly. We wanted to get the album ready to be recorded before we said anything…”
tuck described the split with James as “the most difficult thing we’ve ever had to do, and not just in the band or in our careers, but in our lives, personally. It was awful. Losing a long-term member — and our best friend, who was much more important to us — it was a very powerful moment that we’d never been through before, and it was a decision that we deliberated over for, like, three months; we kept fighting and fighting to find valid reasons for him to stay, but eventually it was just impossible.
“I’m not going to go into detail,” tuck continued, “but it was in Jay‘s best interest personally, more than ours, that he was not in the band. People can read into that what they want, which they will anyway; but it was just stuff going on that was jeopardizing the band’s career, and it had to stop. And, unfortunately, it came to the point where enough was enough, and we just had to make that call.”
In December 2017, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE announced that it was officially parting ways with Thomas and replacing him with Jason Bowld (PITCHSHIFTER, AXEWOUND). bowld had toured with the group since November 2015, filling in for Thomaswho had taken a leave of absence as he and his wife were expecting their first child.
In February 2020, Thomas told the “No Fuckin’ Regrets With Robb Flynn” podcast that he didn’t leave BULLET FROM MY VALENTINE of his own accord.
“We’d done the last album [in 2015]which was ‘Venom’, which was kind of more back-to-the-heavier-roots type of thing, which I was a lot happier with; I think everyone was,” Thomas explained. “And it was on that album we left — Jay, and then I left a year later. So we finished ‘Venom’ and then started touring ‘Venom’. It was on the European tour cycle of ‘Venom’ that I left and didn’t return. I would have gone back [on tour]but no one answered my e-mails.”
