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Crown the Empire

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Crown the Empire is an American metalcore band from Dallas, Texas formed in 2010. The band comprises vocalist Andrew "Andy Leo" Rockhold, guitarist Brandon Hoover, bassist Hayden Tree, and drummer Jeeves Avalos. They are currently signed to Rise Records and have released five studio albums. Their most recent studio album, Dogma, was released on April 28, 2023.

Crown the Empire
Crown the Empire performing in 2012.
Crown the Empire performing in 2012.
Background information
OriginDallas, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Years active2010–present
LabelsRise
Members
  • Andrew "Andy Leo" Rockhold
  • Brandon Hoover
  • Hayden Tree
  • Jeeves Avalos
Past members
  • Devin Detar
  • Alex Massey
  • Brandon Shroyer
  • Austin Duncan
  • Bennett "Benn Suede" Vogelman
  • Dave Escamilla
  • Brent Taddie
Websitecrowntheempireband.com

History

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Formation and Limitless EP (2010–2011)

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Main article: Limitless (Crown the Empire EP)

Crown the Empire was formed in May 2010, when "Brandon [Hoover] and Austin decided to start jamming together" during their time at Colleyville Heritage High School.[1]

The initial line-up consisted of lead vocalist Andrew "Andy Leo" Rockhold (then Velasquez), rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist Hayden Tree, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Brandon Hoover, bassist Devin Detar, drummer Alex Massey and keyboardist Austin Duncan. The band's ultimate goal was to "be heavier than most bands in their area," while "bringing huge, poppy choruses to a genre that can become pretty stale." Crown the Empire played their first show at Compass Church in Colleyville, Texas, on July 10, 2010.

During their formative years, the band experienced a number of lineup changes: In late 2010, Detar was replaced by Brandon Shroyer and in early 2011, the band fired their drummer Alex Massey.[2] After some months of auditioning drummers, Brent Taddie was announced as the band's new drummer on June 6, 2011. Five days later, the band uploaded a video asking their fans for vocal covers with a focus on harsh vocals. The winner of this contest was announced on June 30 as Zac Johnson, who was invited to join Crown the Empire, performing harsh vocals at their live shows.

Around October 2011, bassist Brandon Shroyer decided to leave the band, which resulted in the guitarists switching instruments. Brandon Hoover switched from lead to rhythm guitar, Hayden Tree took over Shroyer's position on bass and Bennett "Benn Suede" Vogelman joined Crown the Empire as their new lead guitarist.[3]

This line-up, with the exception of Johnson, would go on to record their first EP, Limitless, which was released on iTunes on November 29, 2011.[4] On December 5, 2011, the band released a behind-the-scenes look at the filming for the music video for "Voices". During the video the band announced the release date for the music video to be December 11.[5]

Also in December, they released a cover of the classic holiday song "Let It Snow" and an acoustic performance of "Wake Me Up".[6][7]

Introduction of Escamilla, signing to Rise Records and The Fallout (2012–2013)

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Main article: The Fallout (Crown the Empire album)

By February 2012,[8] Johnson had left the band and they would enlist the help of their manager Brendan Barone to perform harsh vocals.[9] In March, Crown the Empire performed a short tour with A Skylit Drive and appeared at the Never Say Never Music Festival. They also teased a big announcement, which turned out to be their signing to Rise Records.[10] Along with the announcement video, the band released a free cover of the song "Moves Like Jagger" in appreciation of the support from their fans.[11]

Having performed with the band since June 2, 2012, the band officially announced the addition of harsh vocalist David Escamilla on August 26, 2012. Along with the news of Escamilla joining the band, they announced that they would be heading into the studio with Joey Sturgis to begin recording their debut album.[12] On September 7, the band released the music video for "Johnny Ringo".[13] Around this time, Hayden Tree was let go because the band felt he didn't focus on the craft enough. After touring Europe for the first time with Pierce the Veil, the band asked Tree to come back.[14]

On October 23, the band announced the name and release date of their debut album, The Fallout, which was released on November 20 through Rise Records.[15] One week later, Austin Duncan left the band and Andrew Rockhold took the keyboards. On November 14, the band released part one of their two part extended music video beginning with the intro track, "Oh, Catastrophe".[16] The following day the band released the second part of their extended music video with the title track of their upcoming album, The Fallout.[17] On November 15, the band streamed their debut album in its entirety five days before the official release of the album.[18]

On March 11, 2013, the band announced their first headlining tour called The Generation Now Tour, which kicked off on May 7 in Ohio, and wrapped up in Oklahoma on May 26, with supporting acts Capture, Palisades, Heartist and Famous Last Words.[19] The band also played South by South West and toured with Like Moths to Flames. On March 23, the band was announced to be playing Warped Tour 2013.[20] Later that day, the band released a live music video of their single "Makeshift Chemistry".[21] The following day the band released their own Warped Tour announcement.[22]

On June 4, the band released a live music video for "Menace".[23] On June 25, the band was announced to be joining Asking Alexandria on their headlining tour coinciding with the release of their new album From Death to Destiny, with fellow supporting acts Motionless in White and Upon a Burning Body.[24] Also on June 25, the band announced that they would shoot a music video for a song from their 2012 debut album.[25] This song turned out to be "Memories of a Broken Heart", the music video was released on August 2, 2013.[26]

A reissue of The Fallout was released on December 10, 2013. It came with a re-recording of the band's debut EP Limitless, with David Escamilla handling all harsh vocals.[27] On November 28, 2013, the re-recorded version of "Breaking Point" was released for streaming.[28]

The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways and Benn Suede's departure (2014–2015)

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Main article: The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways

In January 2014, Crown the Empire was announced to appear on the 2014 Vans Warped Tour.[29]

On July 21, 2014, Crown the Empire won Alternative Press Magazine's award for best breakthrough band and their second album reached number 1 on the iTunes Rock Charts. Then on July 22, 2014, the band released their second album The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways, which debuted in its first week at number 7 on the Billboard Top 200. On July 24, the band announced their music video for the song "Machines" to be released the following day and in under 48 hours it got over 100,000 views.[citation needed]

On September 8, 2015, Crown the Empire released a new single, titled "Prisoners of War" on digital retailers as part of a deluxe reissue of The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways. The deluxe reissue was released on October 30, 2015, including "Prisoners of War", another new track titled "Cross Our Bones", an alternate version of "Machines" and an acoustic version of "Millennia".[30] On November 6, Crown the Empire revealed to Alternative Press that their lead guitarist Benn Suede was no longer part of the band.[31] Brandon Hoover switched to lead guitar, while David Escamilla took over rhythm guitar duties, as Hayden Tree returned to perform backing vocals.[citation needed]

In late 2016, Crown The Empire covered the My Chemical Romance song "Welcome to the Black Parade" for a collective cover album.[32]

Retrograde and Escamilla's departure (2016–2017)

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Main article: Retrograde (album)

The band released their third studio album Retrograde on July 22, 2016. The album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200.[citation needed]

In November 2016, the band announced that vocalist/rhythm guitarist Dave Escamilla was taking a break from touring, and on January 8, 2017, the band announced that he had left the band.[33][34] Brandon Hoover and Hayden Tree took over vocal duties following Escamilla's departure. The same day, Dave Escamilla alleged that most of the band's material had infact been written by people who were not in the band,[35] a claim that was eventually confirmed by guitarist Brandon Hoover himself.[36][37]

Sudden Sky and 07102010 (2018–2020)

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Main articles: Sudden Sky and 07102010

The band began working on writing new music before embarking on Warped Tour 2018. During this time lead vocalist/keyboardist Andy Leo released a demo of a song that he had written that he considered "too sad" to be on a Crown the Empire album, titled "Everything Breaks".[38]

An acoustic compilation album entitled 07102010 was released through Rise Records on July 10, 2020. The album celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the band's first show together, and includes acoustic renditions of tracks spanning the band's career. A bonus track entitled "Everything Breaks" that was uploaded as a demo by frontman Andy Leo in 2018 was also included.[39]

The band's fourth studio album Sudden Sky was released on July 19, 2019 through Rise Records.[40] The album spawned the singles "20/20",[41][42][43] "What I Am",[44] "Sudden Sky", [45] and "MZRY".[46]

On March 16, 2020, the band announced on Instagram that guitarist Brandon Hoover had been tested positive for COVID-19 after their tour in Asia and Africa.[47] On March 28, Hoover announced that he had recovered and was clear from the virus.[48]

Taddie's departure and Dogma (2021–present)

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Main article: Dogma (Crown the Empire album)

On January 7, 2022, the band announced that drummer Brent Taddie had left the band on good terms,[49] later announcing April 13 Jeeves Avalos (who had toured with the band in late 2021) as his replacement.[50][51]

The band's fifth studio album Dogma was released on April 28, 2023. The album produced the singles "In Another Life",[52] "Dance With the Dead",[53] "Immortalize",[54] "Dogma", [55] and "Black Sheep".[56] Music videos were made for several of the album's singles, along with a music video for the song "Superstar", which featured guest vocals by Remington Leith of Palaye Royale.[57]

Band members

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Timeline

Discography

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For a more comprehensive list, see Crown the Empire discography.

References

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  1. ^ "Kill Your Scene | Crown The Empire". Kill Your Scene. December 1, 2011. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "crowntheempire.tumblr.com". Tumblr. April 30, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  3. ^ "Ex-Crown The Empire guitarist Benn Vogelman offers personal departure statement". altpress.com.
  4. ^ "Debut EP Limitless - Release Date And MORE". Crown the Empire.
  5. ^ "Behind The Scenes - CTE "Voices" music video shoot". YouTube.com. Crown the Empire. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  6. ^ "Crown The Empire - Under the Gun Review - Part 3". Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "Crown The Empire Performs "Wake Me Up" Acoustic - Under the Gun Review". www.underthegunreview.net. Archived from the original on July 19, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "Crown The Empire - Johnny Ringo Live". youtube.com. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  9. ^ "Crown The Empire- Wake Me Up Live at Never Say Never Festival 2012". youtube.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  10. ^ "Rise Records signs Crown The Empire". killyourstereo.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  11. ^ "Crown The Empire - VIVA LA RISE!". YouTube.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  12. ^ "Crown The Empire - Introducing..." youtube.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  13. ^ "Crown The Empire debut 'Johnny Ringo' video - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  14. ^ "Crown The Empire - Out Of Focus (Mini Documentary)". YouTube. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "Crown The Empire album set for release". lambgoat.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  16. ^ "MUSIC VIDEO: Crown The Empire – "Oh, Catastrophe" - Under the Gun Review". underthegunreview.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  17. ^ "MUSIC VIDEO: Crown The Empire – The Fallout - Under the Gun Review". underthegunreview.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  18. ^ "FULL ALBUM STREAM: Crown The Empire – The Fallout - Under the Gun Review". underthegunreview.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  19. ^ "Crown The Empire, Capture The Crown, Heartist tour". lambgoat.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  20. ^ "Crown The Empire, Volumes, Driver Friendly, more announced for Warped Tour 2013 - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  21. ^ "All Entries Tagged: Crown The Empire - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  22. ^ "Crown The Empire post Warped Tour 2013 announcement video - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  23. ^ "Crown The Empire release "Menace" live video - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  24. ^ "Asking Alexandria Announce Brief Run of Summer 2013 U.S. Tour Dates". Loudwire.com. June 26, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  25. ^ "Crown The Empire shooting new music video - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  26. ^ "Crown The Empire to release "Memories Of A Broken Heart" video". altpress.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  27. ^ "Crown The Empire Prep 'The Fallout' Deluxe Edition With Re-Recorded "Limitless" EP | Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More". Theprp.com. November 8, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  28. ^ "Crown The Empire Streaming Re-Recorded Version Of "Breaking Point" | Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More". Theprp.com. November 28, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  29. ^ "Warped Tour 2014 adds Crown The Empire, Volumes". Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  30. ^ "The Resistance (Deluxe Edition)". iTunes Store. October 30, 2015.
  31. ^ "Crown The Empire guitarist Benn Vogelman leaves band (exclusive)". Alternative Press.
  32. ^ "Introducing... 'Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade'". Rock Sound. August 8, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  33. ^ "Crown The Empire". facebook.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  34. ^ "Crown the Empire Part Ways With Singer Dave Escamilla". Loudwire. January 10, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  35. ^ "Crown The Empire Fires back at David Escamilla". January 8, 2017. Archived from the original on January 9, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  36. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20170601135040/http://www.roomthirteen.com/features/929/Crown_The_Empire_Interview.html
  37. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20170607050215/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brendan-barone-mn0003022651/credits
  38. ^ "Crown The Empire Leak New 'Anti-Love' Song "Everything Breaks" / the NOISE". the NOISE. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  39. ^ "Crown The Empire to release new acoustic album '02102010'". ThePRP. July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  40. ^ "CROWN THE EMPIRE To Release 'Sudden Sky' Album In July; 'MZRY' Video Available". Blabbermouth.net. June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  41. ^ "YouTube". Retrieved March 9, 2019 – via YouTube.
  42. ^ "Crown the Empire: 20/20". IMDb. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  43. ^ nedrixx (January 20, 2018). "Crown The Empire preview new song 20/20". Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  44. ^ "NEWS: Crown The Empire drop new single, 'Sudden Sky'!". Dead Press!. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  45. ^ "NEWS: Crown The Empire drop new single, 'Sudden Sky'!". Dead Press!. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  46. ^ https://www.altpress.com/crown-the-empire-new-song-album-mzry/
  47. ^ "Crown the Empire's Brandon Hoover: 'You DON'T Want to Catch' Coronavirus". www.billboard.com. March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  48. ^ "Hello everyone". Instagram. March 28, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  49. ^ "Crown The Empire Announce Departure Of Drummer Brent Taddie". ThePRP. January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  50. ^ "Crown The Empire announce new drummer". Lambgoat. April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  51. ^ "We are excited to welcome @jeevesmakingnoise as the official new drummer of Crown The Empire 🥁 Watch him play our song "In Another Life" featuring @courtneylaplante 🔥". Instagram. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  52. ^ "Crown The Empire Unveil 'In Another Life' feat. Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante". Wall of Sound. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  53. ^ "Crown The Empire Bring The Screams Back for 'Dancing With The Dead'". Wall of Sound. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  54. ^ "Crown The Empire Wind Up 2022 with 'Immortalize'". Wall of Sound. December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  55. ^ "Crown The Empire Announce New Album 'DOGMA'". Broadway World. December 2, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  56. ^ "Crown The Empire Premiere "Black Sheep"". ThePRP. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  57. ^ "Crown The Empire Debut "Superstar" Video, Palaye Royale's Remington Leith Guests". ThePRP. April 27, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  58. ^ "ACE Repertory". ASCAP. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  59. ^ "Crown The Empire "Rise Of The Runaways" Live Monster Outbreak Tour". ASCAP. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  60. ^ "Crown The Empire - Live in Connecticut - Rise Of The Runaways". ASCAP. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  61. ^ "Crown The Empire part ways with drummer Brent Taddie". Lambgoat. January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  62. ^ "Interview: Benn Suede of Crown The Empire". idobi Network. April 17, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  63. ^ "Crown The Empire And Vocalist Dave Escamilla Part Ways". The PRP. January 8, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
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