Villain of the Story

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Villain of the Story
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Metalcore, Post-Hardcore and Grunge
Years active	2013–present
Labels	Stay Sick Recordings
Members	Christian Gray Logan Bartholomew Cody Paul Zak Kostello

Villain of the Story is a four-piece metalcore band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 2013. After releasing a highly successful EP called "The Prologue" the band quickly received notice from Stay Sick Recordings. By 2016 VOTS began work on their debut studio album after a large amount of successful local, and touring shows. And in 2017 would go on to release "Wrapped in Vines, Covered in Thorns" followed by the release of their sophomore album, "Ashes" in 2018. Alternative Press has gone on to describe their music as "...the perfect blend of clean and gritty vocals backed by insane instrumentals that set them apart from other cookie cutter bands in their genre."

History

Formation & "The Prologue EP" (2013 - 2016)

Villain of the Story was formed in 2013 by the minds of Sam Fassler (We Are the Blog! & Insomniac) and Andrew Bart (Ex-Out Came the Wolves). They hand picked Christian Gray (vocals), Logan Bartholomew (vocals/bass) and Cody Paul (guitar) for their experience within the local scene, having been in previous bands. The two wanted to help manage a new band for the sake of seeing where it went. The then incomplete band went into the studio with Johnny Franck (Ex-Attack Attack!) and Kory Hunter in October of 2013 to record two singles as a test run to see how well the band would do. When they returned home they added Sam "Bonnie" Bonati on drums.

They released their first single, “The Holy One” on January 16th accompanied with its own lyric video found on their social media. Their second of the two announced singles, “Somebody to Care” was released on February 20th.

The band would go on to play their first show as an opener for Alesana on the "Decade Tour" on March 29, 2014 along with Hearts in Hands, Farewell, My Love, Megosh and Get Scared.

After receiving attention from their two singles VOTS announced on April 7th that they would be going back into the studio soon to record their debut EP.

On April 11th the band announced that they would be apart of Dance Gavin Dance’s “Acceptance Speech Tour” with Palisades, Capture the Crown and Bleach Blonde on May 11th.

On June 12th the band announced the decision to expand into a five piece and added Sean Wayne a personal friend so Logan can concentrate on vocals. The same day VOTS also announced that they would be releasing their cover of NSYNC's "Pop" on June 18th.

The new VOTS landed a spot on the Minnesota date of "The Allstar Tour 2014" opening for bands such as I See Stars, The Acacia Strain and Like Moths to Flames.

On August 18th VOTS made the announcer that Bonnie had left the band releasing the following statement “This isn't something that's easy to say, so we're just going to get to the point. Bonnie is no longer playing drums for Villain of the Story. This wasn't an easy decision, but after many discussions we've all agreed that a simple and easy going exit would be the best way to end things between us. No drama, just support. We wish the best of luck to Bonnie, and so should you guys! Love you man,-VOTS.”

On August 26th the band announced that they would be apart of For All Those Sleeping’s final headlining tour along with Out Came the Wolves.

On September 14th they released their first music video with touring drummer Kyle Baron, called “A Life Worth Living” directed by Jeremy Trempt.

On October 18th VOTS happily announced that they had wrapped up recording their new EP with Johnny Franck.

In early 2015 the band began working with Bobby Kalton of FIVEONETHREE and were booked to open for Suicide Silence on the "Stronger Than Faith Tour" on March 1st in Minnesota. Two days later the band would release their debut EP, "The Prologue" to moderate acclaim.

On February 17th VOTS announced that they had now found a permanent replacement in Mike Ivers with the band saying the following on his addition; “We'd like to introduce you guys to our good friend Mike. It's our pleasure to inform you that he will be joining Villain of the Story as our new guitarist! We will be uploading a video with him soon, so for now lets show him some love and welcome him to the family.”

The band would go on to open the Minnesota date of the "Zombie 5 Tour" with The Devil Wears Prada, Sleepwave and Secrets on May 8th, 2015.

In July 2015, the band landed a spot on the Minnesota date of the Van's Warped Tour after winning the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands Competition, and were estimated to have pulled in the largest attendance for the Ernie Ball stage that day.

On October 7th, 2015 the band released their music video for the song, "The Phantom", the last song off their "Prologue" EP.

After returning to the studio and recording 3 new songs, the band released "Break the Chains" on January 4th, 2016 as it's own release accompanied with its own lyric video.

Signing to Stay Sick & "Wrapped in Vines, Covered in Thorns" (2016 - 2018)

In March 2016 the band hit the studio with Johnny Franck once again to record their first full length album. Also in early 2016 VOTS announced the addition of drummer Nick Totton into the fold having already been touring with the band over the last year appearing with them on Vans Warped Tour. Along with Totton's inclusion the decision to become a five-piece the band confirmed that they had finished work on their debut album.

The first single from the album, "Dragon Sickness", premiered on August 1st 2016.

On September 25th, VOTS signed with Attila frontman Chris Fronzak's Stay Sick Recordings label; along with the announcement the band released their second single, "Promise Me" from their record. Following the signing led to the announcement of the band's first ever tour dates with fellow SSR artists Vesta Collide and "Afterlife", for December 2016.

After two short runs across some of the midwest & east coast, Villain of the Story opened the last 11 shows of I Prevail's "Lifelines Tour" in March 2017 in support of their album "Wrapped in Vines, Covered in Thorns" which was released on March 3rd, 2017.

On April 3, VOTS released the music video for their song, "GHC", off their new album "Wrapped in Vines, Covered in Thorns" out now from Stay Sick Recordings.

The band struggled to find touring opportunities until heading out for a second time with Glass Houses that December.

On September 13th the band released their cover of the Nickelback song, "Someday".

Leaving Stay Sick & "Ashes" (2018-present)

On January 16, 2018 the band announced their mutual departure from Stay Sick Recordings in order to work on their highly anticipated sophomore album with the now four-piece determined to build upon the success that their label helped them achieve. The band also announced that both guitarist Michael Ivers and drummer Nick Totton had in fact left the band due to musical and personal differences.

On March 9th the band debuted their first single from their forthcoming album, "Too Far Gone". This is the first release by the band to have Logan solely perform clean vocals allowing Christian to demonstrate his newfound vocal prowess. This was followed by the next song from their album, "The Dark Side" which was released on the 19th with an accompanying music video. The band would follow the release by embarking on their longest tour to date in March with "Deadships" and "We Gave it Hell" for three weeks, spanning from central Florida to Seattle, WA and across Canada. On April 20th after their headlining tour VOTS released their official second single "Decay" from their forthcoming album.

The band returned to the studio in late June to finish recording the album and on June 23rd released the music video for "Peace of Mind" with the band saying that it is their favorite of the new songs they've written. July 17th the band officially announced that they would be releasing their forthcoming album on August 31st independently. The band followed the announcement by releasing the title track from their album.

On October 24th the band played a show in Chicago at the Chubby Bear with fellow metal act, "Hollow Front" and "American Slang".

Members

Current members

• Christian Gray-Nygaard – lead unclean vocals and backing clean vocals (2013–present, also vocalist of "Down & Dirty")
• Logan Bartholomew – lead clean vocals and backing unclean vocals (2013–present), bass guitar (2013–2014)
• Cody Paul – lead guitar (2013–2015 & 2017 - present)
• Zak Kostello – drums (2018–present, also drummer of At the Harbour)

Former members

• Michael Ivers – lead guitar (2015–2018)
• Sean Wayne – bass guitar (2014–2018)
• Nick Totton – drums (2016-2018)
• Sam "Bonnie" Bonati – drums (2014)

Touring member

• Kyle Baron – drums (2014-2015)

Discography

Studio Albums

• "Wrapped in Vines, Covered in Thorns" (Stay Sick Recordings, March 3, 2017)
• "Ashes" (Self-Released, August 31, 2018)

Extended Plays

• "The Prologue" (Self-Released, March 3, 2015)

Other Releases

• "Pop (NSYNC Cover)" (2014)
• "The Holy One" (2014)
• "Break the Chains" (2016)
• "Someday (Nickelback Cover)" (2017)

Videography

• "A Life Worth Living" (2014)
• "Breaking Hearts (Acoustic)" (2014)
• "The Phantom" (2015)
• "Dragon Sickness" (2016)
• "Powerless" (2016)
• "GHC" (2017)
• "Never Coming Back" (Live Video, 2017)
• "Someday" (Nickelback Cover)" (2017)
• "Decay" (2018)
• "Lying to Myself" (2018)
• "Too Far Gone" (2018)
• "The Dark Side" (2019)
• "Peace of Mind" (2019)

References

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