Like Moths to Flames The Dying Things We Live For

LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES have set the underground music scene ablaze in just a few short years, thanks to a decidedly unique, fresh and original take on an otherwise well-worn genre. Stomping sing-a-long anthems, pulverizing metal chaos and crystal clear/soaring shiny pop dance together with delicious freedom within the band’s sound. Bring Me The Horizon, Devil Wears Prada and Miss May I are some of the only bands doing it at the same level of intensity, precision and passion as Like Moths To Flames, who have taken their rightful place alongside their scene counterparts while steadily maneuvering a career that is uniquely their own.

Upon the band’s arrival, fans quickly became as passionate about the group’s songs as the young men who composed them. When We Don’t Exist took the early promise of the group’s debut EP, Sweet Talker, and expanded upon all of its ideas. When We Don’t Exist is broader, catchier and more fired up than the vast majority of the likeminded genre records being downloaded, streamed and otherwise consumed around the world. One listen to the group’s output is all the evidence one needs to understand why the Like Moths To Flames has dominated on the road on The AP Tour with Miss May I and The Ghost Inside, the Scream It Like You Mean It Tour with We Came As Romans and Attack Attack! or supporting groups like DRUGS. The two newer songs on the deluxe edition – “Learn Your Place” and “Shapeshifter” – inch even further toward that proverbial “next level,” looking toward the future.

Vigilant fans of the metalcore sound were well aware of vocalist Chris Roetter before the band began. Like Moths To Flames is the culmination of all of his travels, experience and relationships from the years he spent fronting Emarosa and Agraceful. The rest of the band cut their teeth in smaller acts as well. Guitarist Eli Ford was formerly in My Ticket Home. Drummer Greg Diamond came from The Air I Breathe, while bassist/backing vocalist Aaron Evans (who started LMTF with Roetter) and lead guitarist Zach Huston played in TerraFirma together.

“Aaron and I were in bands that had seen the bad side of the music business,” Roetter explains of the group’s formation. “This time around, we wanted to make sure that we were playing music that we had a good time with. We wrote music that we liked that we knew that we would like to play live. We knew we wanted to go out and have fun we want to do it our way, however we wanted.”

The band found their footing with their debut EP and then really developed their sound with their first full-length, which is chock full of angry bile and exposition reflective of a singer with plenty to get off his chest.

Like Moths To Flames embarked on the “A Metal Christmas” tour to support their inaugural EP on Rise Records, together with Texas In July and A Hero A Fake. After a lineup reshuffle that resulted in the current incarnation save for the drummer position (which shifted shortly thereafter), the band recorded their first full album, which was released in November, 2011. In the following January, they hit the road on the S.I.N. Tour with D.R.U.G.S., Hit the Lights and Sparks The Rescue. Next they found themselves back on tour with their friends in Texas In July. Next came the summer’s Scream It Like You Mean It Tour. The year wrapped up with Like Moths To Flames joining The AP Tour.

In an era of verse/chorus/verse screaming and singing, Like Moths To Flames aims for a more organic blend of the two styles that serves the song rather than a formula. Even as people continue to discover When We Don’t Exist, Like Moths To Flames are putting their eyes toward the bigger prize of album number two, which the band intends to make even “darker” and “more eerie.”

Spending ten months out of the year on the road, the group is fully committed to making music their long-term lifestyle. At the end of the day, the band’s raison d’etre is simple. “I want to be able to connect with people through writing songs,” Roetter says. “That’s something that I've been able to do since I was younger and that's something that I want to continue to do. We want to be able to meet fans and people and play our music. More time out on the road playing shows for more people is going keep lighting the fire under the band to keep it going.”

1. No King
2. Thrown To The Wind
3. The Art Of Losing
4. Fighting Fire With Fire
5. Never Repent
6. The Give And Take
7. History Repeats
8. Wasted Days
9. Destined For Dirt
10. Wither