Black Veil Brides: Vale Has Continued the Legacy of Greatness

So, it’s been a really long time since Black Veil Brides gave us a new album. They have been doing some interesting things in the meantime though. Jake started a new musical project with his girlfriend, and Andy has been very busy. An album was released for his solo project, Andy Black, which I had the pleasure of seeing performed twice since its release. He also started a really cool but REALLY expensive new clothing lined called “Westower Warrior” that has a lot of beautiful pieces that I will have to admire from afar for now.

But, they have returned now with Vale, and I am very impressed. It’s true that they have been my favourite band for almost ten years now so I’m probably a little biased, but if it really did suck… I’d say so. There are people out there who I know will disagree with me, but it doesn’t suck. It’s quite good, in fact.

The Message Continues

For a brand new fan with no knowledge of the band’s history or previous music, it’s a good stand-alone rock and roll record. For those of us who have been following their story though, it means a whole lot more. Over the years, they have created a whole new thing with their music. They’ve always represented the “outcasts” or, people who don’t fit into the world’s definition of “normal,” whatever that may mean for them.

Their music has always instilled not only a sense of community and belonging among fans, but it’s empowering and inspires everyone to embrace their differences and enjoy being themselves. It’s a message that really spoke to me throughout high school, and gave me a lot of confidence in myself that I don’t think I would have had otherwise.

Lyrically, they continue to amaze me. The words and lines they produce are so poetic. Each song is a story and an adventure. Each song is a message. They are strong and they give you something to stand on, and to stand for.

Andy says it better than anyone: “From our inception, Black Veil Brides have stood up for the outcasts and disenfranchised, with this album as hope to give you hope, fun and most importantly a kick-ass rock and roll record.”

Well, Andy, you’ve been successful with Vale.

Musically, Black Veil Brides continue to evolve and I love it. While never veering too far from good old rock and roll, they have played with a lot of different things in their five full-length albums. On Vale, I find the songs to carry a theme of real grandeur. They are all big, impressive, arena-worthy tracks, and they are all CATCHY. I have tickets to see them in February and I am getting super excited the more I listen to these songs.

My personal favourite right now is “Dead Man Walking.” At just over eight minutes, it’s a long one. I’ve always had a soft spot for long songs, going all the way back to the six-minute-long 2008 track “The Gunsling” of Black Veil Brides days gone by.  It’s this part that keeps pulling me in:

So I stare at the sun
And I can’t take back
I can’t take back the world
And I stare at the sun
And it burns my heart

The Legion of the Black

In addition to their overall message of positivity and acceptance, they’ve crafted a world of their own, a world I sometimes feel like we’ve all started to live in, those of us who have been around for a while.

Some don’t realize it, but it started all the way back in the 2009 music video for “Knives and Pens.” The main character David made another appearance in the music video for Perfect Weapon in 2011, but the entire concept did not fully come to fruition until the 2013 release of their album “Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones.” The theme has carried through many music videos and the characters have stayed consistent, and they even did a full 45-minute “movie” that took place in this world they have created. A full explanation is perhaps better suited to a post of its own, but all anyone really needs to know is that it’s something that has become very important to both the band as well as the fans.

To me, it’s incredible, what they’ve done. Vale starts out with a track called “Incipiens ad Finem” which means “starting at the end” in Latin. It’s a simple, spoken message: