Whilst some bands have been known to keep to one singular style of music throughout their time in that particular group, only changing styles slightly from album to album, The Verdict Is Vengeance have already received a reputation of breaking this norm. Over their 4 years in the music business, the band has progressed from an alternative rock/post-hardcore band, into one of the biggest metal-core groups active at the moment. Many people are curious as to why the band changes it’s sound so often, and within this interview with vocalist Sam Maine, and guitarist Robert Williams we’re going to find out what the band has planned for the future.
As we land in sunny L.A, and make our way to the wonderful Sunset Lodge Studios in which the five members of the band have been recording for their third album Anchors over the past weeks, we can see how easy it is for distractions to occur with bright sun and beautiful girls everywhere it’s understandable, and it’s clear to see that the band will have taken advantage of their fame already.
The first of the pair to enter the small interviewing room that’s been set up for us and the boys is the front man and lead vocalist Sam Maine, who is wearing a baggy Suburban Sunrise vest, showing off his body covered from head to toe in tattoos, along with some skinny jeans that have been rolled up to become ¾ lengths, along with black plimsolls. He greats us with a casual “hello”, and we exchange in general chat, until the second member Robert Williams rushes in, wearing a plain black t-shirt, and the same attire as his band mate. His reason for being late is that he “needed to finish the pizza that [he] just bought.” we all engage in general greetings before sitting down and officially starting the interview.
Sam: I’ll let Rob answer this one as I wasn’t actually a part of the band back when the formed…
Robert: It’s hard to say really, I mean although we’re always pushing each other as a group, some would say that the reason we’ve grown as a band is because of social networking and our fans spreading our songs around on the internet… I mean I can remember the earliest TVIV shows, in which we were proud to play in front of 200 people at our local venue, and we’ve somehow ended up headlining the Comatose Stage at Animal Festival and playing to thousands of people and it’s thanks to the fans.
KERRANG!: With that in mind, how do you think they feel about the change in musical styling you’ve had over the years?Sam: Well since I’ve joint the band there’s always been a mixed reaction towards if it was ME who had the impact on the change in styles, when all the material was already completed at the time of the Lies Make You Famous EP [released June 2010], so I just added some new lyrics, and did what the rest of the band wanted me too. The same with Oblivion [album/released January 2011] really, the others wrote the music and I added my vocals to mix with the music. I don’t mind taking the blame, but it’s not actually my fault.
Robert: The change has been a natural change for us. Since Liberation [album/released December 2009] we’ve lost members, gained members, and just gained a new outlook on music, as well as gained a variety of new influences to our music. The post-hardcore music scene wasn’t challenging us as musicians and quickly became boring, whereas we can now experiment more. The fans have come to terms that we’ll always be changing, and I’m sure they’ll be happy when we can say that no-one of our releases sound the same.
KERRANG!: So does this mean that another change can be expected from Anchors?Sam: Defiantly. During the writing of the album we’ve had a different approach when compared with Oblivion in which we all wrote songs then mashed parts together. Anchors will have more of a flow to it, and will go against the traditional metalcore musical style of chugging guitars, breakdowns and harmonised screaming. That can work well for one album, but if it gets repeated it just gets f**king boring.
Robert: Yeah it’ll be significantly different from what has been heard from us in the past. Before it was fairly simplistic metalcore songs containing breakdowns and a few vocal harmonies, but we’ve written a wider variety of songs, some that are more melodic and including violins, and then a few straight up deathcore songs. We’ve been picking the songs out and found a good mix, which should show a more mature band and style of music.
KERRANG!: You say you’ve had a wider range of influences in this album, who does that include?Robert: We’ve influenced by a huge variety, Chimera have always been a big influence on our music, and since we toured together we’ve looked into their music more. But we’ve also been influenced by Infinite and The Jason Smith Band, along with a huge variety of others. We’re trying to incorporate as many influences as we can without making the album sound like it isn’t an album that we’ve written, if you get me?
KERRANG!: Can you explain what you mean by “making the album sound like it isn’t an album that [you’ve] written”?Robert: Basically we want the album to sound like we always have done, but with a variety of twists, rather than an album that goes turns into something that doesn’t suit us as a band. It’s hard to explain what I really mean, but that’s the best you’ll get…
KERRANG!: So Sam, how does it feel to have finally won over fans after replacing Kieran [Marks] as lead vocalist?Sam: It doesn’t bother me too much. I’ve spent most of my time in The Verdict Is Vengeance being told that I would never live up to the stand that he [Kieran] set, and now that I’ve apparently passed that stage, I feel as if I’ve achieved little with passing his ability. The whole Sam vs. Kieran thing is boring, me and him are actually friends now believe it or not, and we’ve worked together on this album. Most fans have finally matured enough to see past me being a new vocalist and adding something different to the band, and the rest of them aren’t worth my time or effort being frustrated at.
KERRANG!: You’ve been nominated for three Chaos Awards at the Chaos Awards II [Best Band, Best Artwork, Best Single], how has that made you feel as a band?Robert: I’d say that it shows how much the music industry seems to believe we’ve improved over the past year or so, and that‘s given us as a band more of a confidence boost. Being nominated for Best Band was a huge shock for us, I mean people think that we are fairly arrogant for some known reason, but we really put ourselves down, so everyone that nominated us, we thank you!
Sam: Also I’d like to thank my brother Daren [Maine], who produced the artwork for Watch The Skylines Fall which is up for Best Artwork. If anyone deserves more recognition as a designer and photographer it is him.
KERRANG!: What are the chances that The Verdict Is Vengeance will never be coming back to the music business after your hiatus starting in August this year?Sam: We can’t tell for sure, but there isn’t much thought about that at the moment. All of our focus is on Anchors, and making the shows during Idols & Anchors tour across America perfect. We’ve all got our own ideas of how to spend the hiatus, and IF we come back then it’ll be for the right reasons.
Robert: I’d like to think that we will come back at some point, but it’ll be a fair few years into the future if it does happen, but as Sam said we’ve got so much to focus on before then, along with the Idols & Anchors tour, we’ve got Total Annihilation Festival 4, and we might play one last show in London before we leave the industry, we're not sure yet.
