The cooler months may be imminent, but things are only heating up for Melbourne band …
Metalcore genre mainstays Buried In Verona have broken up. A slew of smug comments claiming they’d ‘called it!’ followed the announcement. If they hadn’t been ‘calling it’ for the past 3 years though, then they probably weren’t paying attention. It’s not a miracle that BIV were successful. It’s that they managed to make it this far with the slew of misfortune that seemed to cloud their entire career.
Those commenters? It’s not likely they’d struggled through being a BIV fan; never knowing what fresh hell would make the band finally throw in the towel. With a middle finger to the world, the BIV train kept steaming along. In the process, they gained a whole host of respect for keeping on. Not many bands can make it through to the other side of a protracted legal battle, huge financial strain and a legendary run of horrific luck. So as the band are heading out for their final tour with Capture The Crown, Foxblood and Arkive, we’ve made a list of their most resilient efforts over the years to celebrate the band that never laid down and took it.
Member changes
Some bands fade away after one founding member quits, or they outright throw in the towel. Buried In Verona managed to lose all but one of them before they even truly cracked the scene. Thankfully they did however, as this stylistic change meant that the band proceeded to include a range of influences in their UNFD debut Notorious. 11 members(!) have come and gone from the band whilst vocalist Brett Anderson attempted to keep the BIV name still strong in people’s minds. The band’s final lineup adding three members to the final total is arguably its best incarnation, with their effort Vultures Above, Lions Below standing as a suitable farewell. Still, the fact they’ve got more former members than Wu Tang Clan has rappers is an impressive feat in itself.
Financial struggles
Now more than ever, it’s clear bands can be a huge money sink. If even slightly mismanaged, the potential for huge losses can be too common. Add management allegedly working against the best wishes of the band, and it’s no surprise this can dog bands at every turn. Band members in different parts of the country came and went, but Anderson and singer/guitarist Richie Newman likely suffered the worst of the financial burden. After quitting their day jobs following the release of Notorious, the duo were forced to return to work after their financial woes became all too clear. Balancing day jobs after believing you’d never have to work another one in your life? That’s a hell of a pill to swallow, but that just seems to be the reality of touring a band these days.
Rather than break the band up and leave someone else to pick up the pieces though, they just bloody got on with it.
A total misstep
The band’s follow up to the beloved Notorious never lived up to its predecessor’s high praise. With all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, Faceless symbolised a regression from the promise that their UNFD debut presented. The album is clearly a product of the horrific deception by certain faces from their previous management and Anderson’s substance abuse. Openly discussing his addiction to alcohol and living with depression, the singer always attempted to prevent his own afflictions to completely compromise the success of the band. Instead of channelling this anger constructively on Faceless, the agony flowed into the recording and left it a spiked mess of misguided aggression. For all its bluster though, the album had its moments. It will never be held as a shining example of the genre, but it’s still a captivating portrayal of a downward spiral. Rather than break the band up and leave someone else to pick up the pieces though, they just bloody got on with it. Returning with the strong effort Vultures Above, Lions Below meant that Faceless is only a chapter in the BIV story rather than its conclusion.
Stuck in purgatory
Hype can be a double edged sword; cranking expectations up to eleven is an enormous amount of pressure to live up to. Unfortunately, the band never managed to break on through as so many of their contemporaries did. Frustratingly trapped in support slots but never jumping to consistent headliner status seemed to be the curse of Buried In Verona. Although they were recognisable and arguably one of the most well known acts in the scene, the wider public never seemed to catch onto BIV’s brand as much as they latched onto their label mates. However, with a requisite attitude of “fuck it”, the band continued to jump on any available support slot they could. When they did headline, such as their 2014 Midyear Mayhem tour, old fans still came out of the woodwork to smash light fixtures and hang from the roof.
Bad luck
Even in the best of circumstances touring can be a nightmare. For Buried In Verona, though it seemed that bad luck followed them throughout the years. But even holding himself above water didn’t mean that the world stopped throwing curveballs. As a recent example, this year due to reasons unknown, their show with Asking Alexandria was cancelled in New Zealand. Not ones to suffer a single moment of misfortune, due to a certain volcanic eruption in Bali the band missed their show with Northlane in Adelaide last year. New flights, transfer and accommodation don’t come free, and the band continued to haemorrhage money to keep BIV alive. Even as they neared their end though, the band made it known that it would take a hell of a lot more to stop them from reaching the stage and completed both tours. Long live the Notorious BIV.
BURIED IN VERONA The Last Leg Up Australian Tour
With Special Guests CAPTURE THE CROWN, FOXBLOOD and ARKIVE
Friday 14 October – Prince Of Wales, Bunbury 18+
Saturday 15 October – Rosemount Hotel, Perth 18+
Friday 21 October – Triffid, Brisbane Lic/AA
Saturday 22 October – Factory Theatre, Sydney Lic/AA
Friday 4 November – Uni Bar, Adelaide Lic/AA
Saturday 5 November – Max Watts, Melbourne 18+
