 
The Black Veil Brides have just released their
third studio album ‘Wretched And Divine:
The Story Of The Wild ones’ the album was
originally going to be released towards the end
of summer 2012 but due to the band reworking things
and turning the album into an concept the album
things got delayed until the start of 2013 and
it seems like there was a good reason for this
as the Black Veil Brides have out done themselves
and created a massive 19 track album which rolls
like a epic concept punk rock opera meets movie
soundtrack and if that wasn’t enough the
band have also created a full length film titled
‘Legion Of The Black’ which happens
to be a visual depiction of the story of the album.
‘Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild
Ones’ tells the story of good vs evil with
the Rebels who go on a journey to beat F.E.A.R,
the story has been well thought out and has been
just as well written, however listening to the
album is not the best way to understand the story
as it can be a bit confusing in places but a quick
watch of ‘Legion Of The Black’ will
certainly clear up any confusion, or think of
the Rebels as the bands fans and F.E.A.R as the
legion of haters and you will be on the right
tracks.
The album is massive, as mentioned above it features
19 tracks and runs for a total of 50 minutes,
there are 6 separate interlude tracks which come
in after every 3 or 4 songs and help keep the
story on track, whilst musically things are like
previous Black Veil Brides material but this time
they have upped their game with massive riffs,
mouth watering solos and generally outstanding
jamming , and if that wasn’t enough they
have also managed to cram in some well placed
violin pieces, whilst vocally Andy Biersack sounds
as good as ever and the rest of the band let rip
with gang vocals more than ever before which helps
create the massive sound and feel of the album.
The spoken word ‘Exordium’ opens the
album and moments later the band come at you with
guns blazing as they smash straight into ‘I
Am Bulletproof’ as Jinxx and Jake Pitts
knock out some mammoth guitar riffs whilst Andy
Biersack’s catchy and unique vocals take
you on a melodic journey.
‘New Years Day’ is a beast of a track
and easily going to quickly become a fan favourite,
the song opens with Christina Coma laying down
some good drums beats with the rest of the band
coming in moments later with Ashley Purdy laying
down some tasty basslines whilst Jinxx and Jake
Pitts once again show off with their technical
guitar work but it is Andy Biersacks vocals which
really steal the show as he sings “5,4,3,2,1,
this is new years day, so rise from the ashes”
in such a pleasing way.
The album title track ‘Wretched And Divine’
is a real powerful song which features some of
the best instrumental work on the album and also
sounds so similar to the sound and style of Avenged
Sevenfold and it is no wonder why as the Black
Veil Brides have been majorly influenced by Avenged
Sevenfold since the very start .
Throughout the album there are many guest musicians
such as Juliet Simms of Automatic Loveletter who
guests on ‘Lost It All, also William Control
who does the voice over for F.E.A.R and he does
it so well as over the years William Control has
become a master of spoken word style vocals, and
also Bert McCracken of The Used who does an amazing
job of making ‘Days Are Numbered’
sound as punk as it does.
The album closes with the lead single from the
album ‘In The End’ the song is massive
and has the most potential to bring in a whole
new fan base for the Black Veil Brides as it is
a big radio friendly song with huge riffs and
an equally big sing-a-long chorus which is bound
to stay in any listeners head for days to come,
after ‘In The End’ fades out William
Control comes in for the final time for the outro
‘F.E.A.R Final Transmission’ which
concludes the story.
To get the most out of the album you really need
to listen to it a few times over as on first listen
there is just too much to take it in and once
you have fully got into the album you will find
yourself changing your mind on what your favourite
tracks are as there are just too many solid moments
on offer.
It is not every day that a band unleashes an album
as massive as ‘Wretched And Divine: The
Story Of The Wild Ones’ but the Black Veil
Brides have and they have out done anything they
have ever done in the past and 2013 is sure to
be the year that the Black Veil Brides smash their
way out of the Academy sized venues and start
playing arenas which they clearly deserve as they
have worked their arses off to get to where they
are, will ‘Wretched And Divine: The Story
Of The Wild Ones’ please the haters? Who
know and who cares as I sure know the Black Veil
Brides don’t as they do this for themselves
and the hardcore fans.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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