Out NOW
Via Spinefarm Records
Words by: Arlena Laessaari
For fifteen years, Black Veil Brides has served as a haven for the isolated and the dismissed. What started as a romantic death rock fantasy in a small town has evolved into a global force known as the BVB Army. This May the band enters its most ambitious chapter yet with the release of their seventh studio album, Vindicate. Produced entirely by Andy Biersack and Jake Pitts, and mixed by the legendary Zakk Cervini (Bring Me The Horizon, Bad Omens).
Vindicate feels less like a standard rock album and more like a piece of fine art from the Romanticism era. The album is heavily inspired by John Milton’s 1677 epic poem Paradise Lost, and it explores themes of revolt, vengeance, and the classic gothic struggle between the pure and the demonic. The production has come a long way since the band’s Knives and Pens days. While the outcast spirit remains, the improvement quality is massive, polished, and delivered with a newfound sense of cathartic confidence.
The structure of the album is intentionally theatrical, featuring four orchestral tracks Invocation To The Muse, Purgatory, Grace, and Eschaton that act as symphonic opener, interludes and outro. The opening Invocation To The Muse sets the stage with vampy organs and a vindictive spoken word delivery that feels like the start of a gothic horror film. From there, the record explodes into the title track, Vindicate, which utilises a surprising cartoony intro, similar to Avenged Sevenfold A Little Piece of Heaven before shifting into a powerful mix of clean and scream vocals.
One of the record’s greatest strengths is the contrast of sounds. On the standout track Hallelujah, a brief church choir intro gives way to Andy Biersack’s deeper, raspy scream vocals, which feel almost demonic. This is countered by a chorus that feels purely biblical and religious, a contrast that mirrors the album’s overarching exploration of Christian themes. The music video for this track is a dark animation, most likely referencing the legendary woodcut engravings of Gustave Doré. Specifically, the video’s stuttering stop-motion style brings Doré’s Paradise Lost illustrations to life, making the chorus feel truly biblical and cathartic.
Visually, the band continues to carry out the romanticism era art influences into the other music videos as well. For example, Bleeders embodies a Victorian vampire, “steampunk-meets-Bloodborne” aesthetic that is on par with the gothic and theatrical style from Helena by My Chemical Romance.
While the album leans into catchy, melodic anthems during the choruses, the instrumentation remains more heavy. Jake Pitts and Jinxx provide a metallic bite that keeps the record grounded, especially on the Robb Flynn-assisted ripper Revenger. Even in its quieter moments, like the melancholic and sad-danceable track Cut, the band still incorporates some of the old-school Black Veil Brides vibe that will surely satisfy long-time fans.
Watching this band grow from small-venue heroes to arena-rock icons hits home for me. I grew up in the Finnish emo and goth scene, and I first saw Black Veil Brides live back in 2013 at a small venue in Helsinki called Nosturi. It was a brutally freezing November evening. The kind where your hands freeze until you can’t move your fingers. I remember being so excited because my dad had just bought me my first pair of 20-eyelet combat boots. Since they didn’t have a zipper, it became a running joke that my friends had to give me a 15-minute warning before we went anywhere so I could finish lacing them up. Seeing the band evolve and refine into a fine art aesthetic of Vindicate feels like growing up alongside them.
In conclusion, Vindicate is a cathartic album of creative control. By synthesising everything they’ve learned over the last decade and a half, Black Veil Brides have created a record that is as intimate as it is grand. It is a dark and beautiful reminder that the BVB Army never surrenders.
