Bury Your Dead

For other uses, see BYD.

Bury Your Dead

Bury Your Dead (sometimes abbreviated to BYD) is a five-piece hardcore/metalcore band that hails from Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.

History

You Had Me at Hello (2001 – 2002)

Formed in 2001, Bury Your Dead began as a side project of the band Hamartia featuring Brendan "Slim" MacDonald (guitar) and Mark Castillo (Drums). With the metalcore sound of Hamartia growing tiresome to both Slim and Mark, they started writing less technical songs in their free time. They recruited Steve Kent to play bass, second guitarist Jesse Viens, and Joe Krewko as vocalist and began playing shows in Massachusetts and Connecticut under the name Bury Your Dead. News of their unbridled energy and destructive live show spread immediately around the East Coast hardcore scenes and the band was courted by Alveran/Eulogy Records.

The band recorded and released their debut album titled You Had Me At Hello in March 2002, borrowed a van, then toured in support of it. After several successful tours Bury Your Dead decided to go their separate ways - Mark (drums) moved back to Philadelphia and began touring with Between The Buried And Me, Rich (bass) went back to running his own screen-printing business, and Slim (guitar) began playing guitar in the band Blood Has Been Shed.

Cover Your Tracks (2002 – 2005)

After several months had passed, Rich Casey contacted Slim and expressed his interest in reforming Bury Your Dead. They rounded up some of their old lineup, with a few others to fill in, and played some shows before heading down to Florida to play the annual Gainesville Fest. After acquiring vocalist Mat Bruso, they ran into their old drummer, Mark, who was touring with Between the Buried and Me, and they discussed their desire to make Bury Your Dead a serious band again. Mark agreed, and the band did a few short tours as well as appearances at hardcore festivals including Hellfest and Metalfest. Bury Your Dead was back and stronger than ever.

With their lineup in place Bury Your Dead was approached by Victory Records in July 2003 and they signed a deal with the label the following winter. Bury Your Dead spent the next several months touring and when summer approached they holed up in Massachusetts and did nothing but eat, sleep, and breathe the new Bury Your Dead songs, which would comprise their Victory Records debut titled Cover Your Tracks. "The whole writing process this time around was a lot different than the last", said Slim. "We had so many ideas floating around in our heads, so we decided to shut out the outside world and do nothing but get these ideas put together into songs. Literally, for two weeks, we did nothing else but write Cover Your Tracks. They finally entered the studio in June of 2004, choosing to record at Q-Division studios in Somerville, MA with producer Matthew Ellard. "Recording with Matthew was great, he added so much to the record", notes Slim. "It was also nice that Matthew already knew Mark from his days in Between The Buried And Me, so it was a really comfortable feeling in the studio right off the bat."

On July 24, 2005, rapper/actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith made a surprise guest appearance on stage and rapped/jammed with Bury Your Dead during the last song of the band's set at Ozzfest 2005 at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. The performance met with mixed reactions from members of the crowd and fans, but was overall well-received. Pinkett Smith's band Wicked Wisdom toured with Bury Your Dead at Ozzfest that year.

Beauty and the Breakdown (2006 – 2007)

Aaron "Bubble" Patrick replaced Casey on bass. Produced by Jason Suecof (Trivium, God Forbid), Beauty and the Breakdown appeared in July 2006. Around this time the quintet could be found on artist Derek Hess' nationwide Strhess Tour, alongside acts like Shadows Fall, Poison the Well, and Throwdown.

In January 2007, vocalist Mat Bruso left the band to focus on "more important things like going back to school to become a teacher."

Soon after in March 2007, Michael Crafter, former vocalist for I Killed the Prom Queen and Carpathian, briefly took over vocal duties for part of the "Don't Call It A Comeback Tour", only to leave during the tour to return to Australia due to homesickness.

Following the departure of Crafter, Bury Your Dead quickly appointed Myke Terry, previously of the hardcore band Cassius, to perform vocals.

Bury Your Dead (2008)

It was announced that Myke had become the permanent vocalist of Bury Your Dead.

The band has entered on tour with Nonpoint, Machine Head, and Hellyeah on the "More Balls, More Volume, More Strength Tour".

On February 16, 2008, while on tour with Hellyeah, Bury Your Dead guitarist Eric Ellis was attacked and beaten following a show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ellis received 19 stitches on his head and Bury Your Dead's tour was postponed. The scuffle reportedly occurred after the attackers held up Ellis at gunpoint and stole what was described in the police report as "a bag of jewelry."

On March 18, Bury Your Dead released their self titled album. It is the first album to feature Myke Terry on vocals. The album features Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti, who contributed a guest solo to the track "Year One".

It was recently announced that Eric Ellis had left the band due to "medical reasons and personality differences." Chris Towning, who has been filling in for several months, has been announced as his replacement.

Van accident

On September 24, 2008, Bury Your Dead was involved in a van accident in Ottawa, Canada. Bassist Aaron Patrick was driving the vehicle, which rolled several times before ending up in a ditch. Guitarist Brendan "Slim" MacDonald has reportedly undergone surgery to repair lacerations to his leg while Patrick suffered a broken arm and singer Myke Terry broke his hand. Police subsequently charged Patrick with "failing to drive in a marked lane."

It's Nothing Personal (2009 – present)

On April 9, 2009, Bury Your Dead announced their new album, titled It's Nothing Personal, would be released on May 26, 2009. On April 28, 2009, they released their new single, "Hurting Not Helping," which became available over iTunes. Weeks later they released another single, "Broken Body," which can be found on their band MySpace.

Band members

Current members

• Damien Basham – lead vocals (2007 – present)
• Brendan "Slim" MacDonald – guitars (2001 – present)
• Chris Towning – guitars (2008 – present)
• Brent "Hit Lips" Williams – bass (2006 – present)
• Alex Szymanski – drums, percussion (2001 – 2003, 2003 – present)

Former members

• Steve Kent – bass (2001 – 2002)
• Jesse Viens – guitars (2001 – 2002)
• Jay Crowe – guitars (2002)
• Matt Lacasse – bass (2002 – 2003)
• Rich Gaccione – guitars (2002 – 2003)
• Joe Krewko – lead vocals (2001 – 2003)
• Mike Nunez – lead vocals (2003)
• Dan O'Connor – guitars (2003)
• Chris Sansone – drums, percussion (2003)
• Rich Casey – bass (2002, 2003 – 2006)
• Mat Bruso – lead vocals (2003 – 2007)
• Michael Crafter – lead vocals (2007)
• Eric Ellis – guitars (2003 – 2008)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Label	Chart peaks
			US	US Indie	US Heat
2002	You Had Me at Hello	Eulogy Recordings	—	—	—
2004	Cover Your Tracks	Victory Records	—	—	—
2006	Beauty and the Breakdown	Victory Records	129	8	1
2008	Bury Your Dead	Victory Records	176	22	6
2009	It's Nothing Personal	Victory Records	—	—	—
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Other releases

• Bury Your Dead (EP, 2002)
• Alive (DVD, 2005)

Music videos

• "Color Of Money"
• "Magnolia"
• "House Of Straw"
• "Sympathy Orchestra"
• "Fever Dream"

External links

• Official website
• Template:Myspace