From Autumn To Ashes Bio

In the extreme underground, metalcore music is burning at a fever pitch right now. The market is quite saturated with a spate of bands, where it's sometimes difficult to tell one from the next. But then there is Long Island's From Autumn To Ashes, which has sprinted to the head of the pack with its debut, the stormy, brutally brilliant Too Bad You¹re Beautiful (Ferret Music).

The nearly three year old quintet has spent its time wisely: selling out shows in its hometown and beyond, scanning nearly 30,000 units in one year of release and with limited distribution, and consistently landing in the pages of tastemaker music magazines such as Alternative Press, Revolver, CMJ, and countless others. From Autumn To Ashes has shared the stage with Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Suicide Machines, and Finch in its quest for hardcore domination. With all these factors in place, it's obvious that From Autumn To Ashes is breaking, and in a big way.

From Autumn To Ashes, or FATA, as they are affectionately referred to as by friends and fans alike, looks at itself as a band with bipolar styles. "It's almost like we're a band with an identity crisis," says drummer Fran Mark, who also contributes clean, melodic vocals to the songs. "We don't settle down into one style, really. It's definitely from a hardcore background and has hardcore elements. But there are other members of the band that bring rock elements to the table. Our goal, as far as sound goes, is to not conform to one style and create our own sound." When it comes to writing songs, FATA employs a democratic process, and functions as a collective. Everyone contributes, with guitarist Scott Gross and Mark laying the groundwork, then the rest of the band coming in and putting their pieces into the puzzle.

Right now, extremely corrosive riffs, blood-boiling screams are often paired with clean vocals, and a flip of the melody switch, in underground hardcore. Of the style, Mark offers this opinion, "This style is a breath of fresh air that is real, not pieced together by a major label. It's not a project style. It's not marketing; it's music." It's precisely these reasons that allow a band like FATA to connect with the kids.

Too Bad You're Beautiful has won critical and commercial acclaim. A video was recently lensed for the album's avalanching opening track, "The Royal Crown Vs. Blue Duchess." According to Fran, the band loves to play the song, as it covers a lot of bases really quick, replete with a nice quiet bridge in the middle. "Chloroform Perfume" illustrates FATA's range and sophistication; it's a mellow ballad, with no screamed vocals! FATA recently recorded an acoustic rendition of the track for the Fearless Records Punk Goes Acoustic compilation. Helming the boards was none other than Gilby Clarke, late of Guns n' Roses. FATA hooked up with Clarke by chance. "We were on the road and needed a studio quick, to record the song. Gilby has a studio and an open day, and he banged it out for us!" Not many metalcore bands can say that a member of G N' R produced one of their songs! The closing track, "Short Stories With Tragic Endings" is quite possibly FATA's most notorious song. Complete with absolutely gorgeous female vocals, the track is a ten-minute epic. Fran admits, "We do play it live on tour, which we never planned on doing, because of the length and complexity, and sometimes, we can't pull off the strings live." Regardless, the song is a fan favorite, and elicits real emotional responses from the crowd.

With its vision in tact, the three year old band has amassed a dedicated following that shows up at venues, and screams every word along with frontman Ben Perri. While Too Bad You're Beautiful is not a concept album, FATA is an intelligent band that crafts it music very carefully. "Autumn" is not a reference to the season, but rather, she is a fictional character that Mark and Gross are going to translate into a book at a later time.

All in all, From Autumn To Ashes is ahead of the curve, hardcore designed for the twenty-something, thinking men and women out there. The fivesome's seamless blend of the heavy and the heart is ushering in the next wave of East Coast metalcore.