Primed to take their honest, blunt and brutal record on the road, Buried In Verona have ventured through hell's deepest depths and soared out the other side.
Rising like an eagle from the ashes, 2014 saw BIV in a pit of oblivion. Deceived by those they trusted, they regrouped, recruited fresh blood and refused to let the fire burn them. Sticking a big middle finger to the past year, BIV will drop their new record in August to life-long fans, critics and the unknown.
'Vultures Above, Lions Below' begs to be amped and will not fall on deaf ears. Mixed and mastered by world-renowned engineers Fredrik Nordström and Henrik Udd (Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Soilwork) at Studio Fredman in Sweden, the album was written, produced and recorded entirely by the band. As a result, it’s the most powerful, honest and exciting badge the band wear.
Joining BIV on a national tour later in the year are Sydney's Hand Of Mercy who released 'Resolve' last year, and new faces on the circuit, Polaris. These powerhouses are sure to ignite the night.
Lead vocalist and founder of the group, Brett Anderson details the past, present and future of BIV:
As an original member/ founder can you walk us through the process from the formation of BIV to now?
I got kicked out of a band for being lazy and not giving my all. Which made me realise once I lost music and being in a band. I missed it and it was the one thing that I wanted to do with my life, the one thing that made me happy. I called up some friends from school who I knew played instruments and we formed BIV with renewed drive and passion. We straight away starting writing the album 'Circle The Dead' and recorded it before even playing any shows, we were just that excited.
That album got us out there and people started paying attention in small groups around Australia, so we though we need to take this to a new level. We traveled to Sweden to record our second album 'Saturday Night Sever' with Fredrik Nordstrom and Henrik Udd. After releasing that something happened, we grew a lot as a band and as musicians and really started gaining momentum in the Australian 'scene'.
We went back to Sweden again for our third album 'Notorious' which did amazingly, we got #20 on the Australian music charts, #1 on Aus iTunes charts – and shows became much bigger. We really felt we had something special and were on our way to living our dreamland at the start we were living it, touring round the world, big shows, festivals etc..But behind the scenes it all started falling apart. This began a dark few years for BIV, which we have only now just started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We did the 'Faceless' record in Detroit with Joey Sturgis in this horrible time and were really just going through the motions due to huge debt, miss management and other things that were going on in our personal lives.
But now we are back in a big way, we have recorded an amazing album which is leaps above anything we have done before and we are looking forward to a second shot at our dreams. It’s all positive for us from now on and we are going to go as hard as we can.
How many directions have been explored during that time?
We always go wherever the music takes us, we never consciously change directions it's just determined by how we are at the time we write and record etc.. We have grown and gone in whatever direction we needed to to get out the emotions that surrounded us in that time of our lives.
What has been the biggest down from the year's past events? How did you bounce back?
All the behind the scenes shit that’s been going on that has slowly destroyed us as people and as a band; there is no one thing.
The only thing that saved this band is the time apart we took to write and get our heads together after basically agreeing to end BIV. When we had a meeting to see if anything had changed, and to share music we had written, we all knew then as soon as the first riffs and ideas were shown we knew we had something special. It revitalised all of us and we all said we need to record this album and we need to give this another shot.
The highest point?
Getting to experience the amazing things you get to do touring the world hearing people everywhere sing my lyrics back at me, never stops blowing my mind.
Does inspiration flow more from a low or high point in life?
For me I would have to say low as it's my way to vent and away to get out a lot of negative emotions. But in this new record a lot of songs have a somewhat sad or aggressive overtone but always conclude with a positive in the song to reflect the fact we are turning this band and our lives around in a positive way.
How do new members in the group change the focus on the band as a whole?
It's great having a fresh new attitude in the band, it’s really helped to revitalise Richie and I especially. They are great people; great musicians and have already become great friends.
How willing to compromise does one have to be when welcoming new members into an existing group?
I don’t think you can compromise when it comes to something that’s so personal and a life passion. People either fit or they don't. There has to be a creative and friendship chemistry there to make a band happy and successful.
'I'm not done for good.' http://24hundred.net/collections/vultures-above-lions-below
Posted by Buried In Verona on Day o' the Moon, Jul-aye! 20, 2015
Are there any heated arguments or is it mostly rational conversations?
There used to be a lot, we didn't get along at all anymore as the stress and pressure of debt etc. pushed us all to breaking point. But writing and recording 'Vultures Above, Lions Below' was an extremely supportive creative experience. It was a massive change from recent years.
Developing the record from start to end – disregarding three new members – is this the first time you've felt like a single unit?
100 per cent. We all came together on the same page at the perfect time. We are the strongest we have ever been.
What will be the underlining punch from 'Vultures Above, Lions Below'?
We just hope to connect with people; this is a very honest, emotional album. Real stories and experiences from our lives done to the absolute best of our ability.
Any words for your fans turned critics...
Listen to this album with an open mind. Forget what you think you know about Buried In Verona and just focus on the songs. We really believe there is something special in this new record and we hope our old fans can rejoin the BIV family and new fans can really connect with us. We put everything in this one, as it was very nearly our last record.
And words for your fans that will never leave your side...
We can never thank you enough; you guys are what got us through those few horrible years as the shows were the only bright light in our lives. You singing along with us at shows – you guys came to save this band enough to get us through to the point of change. Thank you from the deepest part of my soul.
'Vultures Above, Lions Below' is out 7 August.
Buried In Verona Tour Dates
Thurs 17 Sep – Fowlers Live (Adelaide)Fri 18 & Sat 19 Sep – Evelyn Hotel (Melbourne)
Sun 20 Sep – Magpies (Canberra)
Wed 23 Sep – Cambridge Hotel (Newcastle)
Thurs 24 & Fri 25 Sep – Bald Faced Stag (Sydney)
Sat 26 Sep – The Brightside (Brisbane)
Sun 27 Sep – The Lab (Brisbane)
Sat 3 Oct – Amplifier Bar (Perth)
Sun 4 Oct – YMCA HQ (Perth)
