Fear Before the March of Flames (sometimes abbreviated as FBTMOF or Fear Before) is an experimental metalcore band that resides in Aurora, Colorado. Their current sound can be described as experimental metalcore, drawing influence from the likes of Converge, The Blood Brothers, and Botch. Some even consider them to be mathcore because of their technical riffs and song structure.

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.truepunk.com | with David. Hi David! How are you doing?
Damn good, we are at the Equal Vision offices right now taking a break from recording our new record.

Can you introduce the band’s members and tell the story of how you got together?
We are four dudes (David, Adam, Mike, and Brandon). We all went to the same high school together and some of the guys were in previous bands together that came and went. In the summer of 2002, I (David) was asked to join the band as a vocalist on a whim and that was the start of fear before the march of flames.
Where do you come from? How is the indie/punk/rock scene in the place you come from?
We are from Denver, Colorado. The scene… lets see. I can honestly say that the scene has changed a lot since the start of our band. I think a lot of kids are more supportive of the scene than when we first started. You see a lot more people at shows now than there used to. Lets hope its not a trend and they all go back to what they did before they liked hardcore. But it’s awesome to see more tours hit Colorado. I think Colorado was once a state that bands didn’t mind skipping over.
 

Where did you get the name Fear Before The March of Flames from? It sounds like it has got a deep meaning, and I think long band names are quite popular these days, don’t you think?  
All the short names were taken. Our name came from a headline in the newspaper. It refers to some wild fires in Colorado that were burning when we started the band.

Do you consider yourself an indie or emo band at all? What do you think of the emo hardcore scene of nowadays?
I don’t know anymore. I think trying to label something is impossible. there is always going to be a million people who disagree with your opinion. My grandma calls our style ‘heavy steel’! That works for me. Haha

You released your debut LP on Rise Records - then re-released via Equal Vision Records; how did you get in touch with the guys at EVR?
We were on tour with Bear vs. Shark when we were on the East Coast and EVR came out to see a couple shows. We kept in contact ever since.

Have you released some other stuff before your new LP? I know you formed not too long ago but have already done some great stuff.

When we were just a Denver local band we released a 3 song
EP/demo we did ourselves. We sold a lot of those on our own. They are long out of print… which is good. Haha

Your sound is basically rock, and it has also some post hardcore influences according to me; where do you get your inspiration from ? Other bands, music, books, movies, life …
All of the above! How would you describe FBTMOF to a person that have never heard of you?
Haha, ummm usually say something like, ‘this is kinda different, you might like it!’. Luckily I don’t have to do that often because I’m never good at it anyways.
 

What are some of the bands that you guys in the band regularely listen to?
Lately we have been listening to a lot of 90’s radio bands.
 

What about your lyrics? What do you sing about ? I noticed this song “The Lisbon Girls, Oh The Lisbon Girls” - what is that about?
The Lisbon girls are a reference to the movie ‘The virgin suicides’.

Note: Jonathan Gill (jon@staff.truepunk.com) wanted to name his daughter, if he were to ever have one, Lux until seeing this movie.

Have you got some plans of touring to support you new album? If so, where and with whom?
The new record we are recording right now doesn’t come out till September so we don’t have tour planned out that far in advance, but we will be heading out before that in June with 18 Visions and Underoath. We can’t wait for that, it should be an awesome tour. And in July we have some Warped Tour dates. And I believe we just confirmed a spot on Hellfest.
Speaking of tours, I read that you are always busy touring with a lot of bands. Can you tell us some funny fact that happened to you on tour?
All I have to say is that, if fear before the march of flames and bear vs shark tour together, I hope you don’t own a hotel near the club we play

The critics say your sound is a cross between Blood Brothers, Botch, and the likes. What do you think of these comparisons?
Cool, we like both of those bands!

You will be producing your next LP on EVR with Matt Ellard\ (who by the way worked with Converge, Between The Buried and Me and others) - what do we have to expect from these new songs? Do you already have a release date and most important, have you already entered the studio?
Our release date for our new record will be released on September 7^th. Tentatively titled, “The God Awful Truth”. We have about 70% done. So far, we couldn’t be happier with how its turning out. Matthew Ellard knows what he is doing. All our 12 hour days are paying off. The new songs are still ‘fearbefore’, but they are very different. These songs are darker and heavier than we have ever been before. Not much singing on this record. We have had some time to grow as a band and song writers. We are very proud of this batch of songs. Its our best work yet.

Do you think it is difficult for a young band to get hooked up by some label? I ask you this, because in the last year I saw a lot of unknown and untalented bands getting signed by major labels and all…how do you relate to this thing? Are you willing to get signed to some major or you just do not care?
This is a good question. Our new record ‘the God awful truth’, is a loosely based concept album on the death of the music industry. So in September you get to hear our thoughts in full.

But for now I will say, A lot of bands are clueless and a lot of labels don’t know what a good band is. And that is why there are so many shitty bands out there. We turned down a major label last year just as fast as they offered us the option. I’ll keep my soul for now. Maybe when I’m 45 and still live with my parents I’ll change my mind.
 

Any final comments?
Thanks for the interview. Look out for us on tour this summer and our new record in the fall!

We love you.