Watch the video for BoySetsFire’s “One Match” below.
The song appears on the band’s self-titled new album, which will be released on September 25th 2015 on Bridge Nine Records in North America. There is a good reason why Boysetsfire’s new album is self-titled. It is the final result of a fight for freedom that lasted years and a reawakening of all the strengths within the band, combined with the power of the close bonds between its members. The focus is on their own abilities, something that was not always easy for frontman Nathan Gray, nor the rest of the band, which includes Chad Istvan, Joshua Latshaw, Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand. The captivating euphoria that has been building around the band for years has been channeled into thirteen songs that contrast with the rage of the previous album, with rousing optimism seeping from every pore. You could say that the eponymous album is the light-hearted sister of the brooding While A Nation Sleeps (2013, Bridge Nine).
While he was in the studio, Nathan Gray was delirious with joy and sounded more enthusiastic than in any previous interview: “This album has quickly become one of my favorites we’ve ever done, and I am dying to get it out there. In albums past, we’ve talked a lot about all the terrible things going on in this world, and this time, we’ve focused a lot on sort of overcoming all of that. It’s a much more positive vibe. Musically, there are some incredible, huge sounds on this album. It’s very much us.”
This self-produced and released album deserves even more respect when you consider the band’s turbulent past: Originally formed in 1994, Boysetsfire was as good as dead about five years ago, when its members put the shards of an almost failed career back together, risking a reunion. The post-hardcore pioneers, who helped shape the genre with their albums After the Eulogy and Tomorrow Come Today, both released around the millennium, were victims of the music industry’s demise and the failed attempt to work with a major label affiliated record company.
That brave comeback in early 2013 was based completely on the principle of self-determination and culminated in the release of one of their most successful albums to date, While a Nation Sleeps. The album was hailed as “one of their most cohesive melodic hardcore albums, right up in line with 2000’s After The Eulogy, which many consider to be their best album” (Alternative Press) and “Comeback albums are often greeted with lofty, unrealistic expectations, but it is safe to say that BoySetsFire have surpassed even the wildest of these expectations withWhile A Nation Sleeps” (Sputnik Music).
Boysetsfire’s eponymous album will be available in North America directly from Bridge Nine and digitally on September 25 and is up for pre-order now on all the usual formats on B9Store.com (wide release in NA retail stores due November 20). If you live in other regions, please visitEnd Hits Records for a wide variety of pre-order options.
BOYSETSFIRE
S/T
Release: September 25, 2015
01. Savage Blood
03. Don’t Panic
04. Ordinary Lives
05. One Match
06. The Filth Is Rising
07. Torches To Paradise
08. Coward
09. Heaven Knows
10. Fall From Grace
11. Dig Your Grave
12. Breathe In, Bleed Out
13. Bled Dry
