As Cities Burn

As Cities Burn (often abbreviated as ACB) was a Christian band which from Mandeville, Louisiana that formed in 2002 and broke up in 2009. They originally played post-hardcore music and gradually transitioned to playing indie rock.

History

Early beginnings and Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest (2002 – 2006)

In the late 90's Colin and Cody were in a ska/punk band called Alliance 103^[2]. They went on to join As Cities Burn. As an unsigned act, the group drew the attention of Solid State Records, a subsidiary of Tooth and Nail Records which signed them in 2004.

ACB released their first full length album, Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest on June 21, 2005, and was featured in Solid State's Young Bloods Tour with The Chariot, Showbread, and He Is Legend. In 2006 they toured with The Bled, Protest The Hero and Since By Man. They held two CD release shows for this album: June 21 at Covington in Louisiana, LA and June 22 at Vinos in Little Rock, AR.

Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest, had mostly a post-hardcore sound. The album contained heavy screaming by front man TJ Bonette, with back-up vocals from his younger brother Cody Bonnette (current lead singer). Heavy metal guitar riffs with melodic emotional breakdowns. A dark, dramatic, and emotional sound was consistent throughout the record. “The Widow” (clean vocals by Cody) was a hint of what As Cities Burn would later sound like with out the screaming of TJ.

Hiatus and Come Now, Sleep (2006 – 2008)

On June 10, 2006, the band announced the end of As Cities Burn, but in early July—after an outpouring of support from fans—decided to remain together.^[3] The band's final concert was to be on August 19, 2006 at the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA. However, soon afterwards the band decided they would remain together and record a new album.

In summer 2006, on what was to be their last tour, they parted ways with bassist Pascal Barone, shortly after their announcement that they were staying together. For the remainder of the tour they performed with Robert Chisolm, singer of the band Jonezetta. After the tour they returned home to record a new album, with current guitarist, Colin Kimble playing bass.

On December 17 (midnight of December 16)^{[citation needed]}, the band released a demo on MySpace and PureVolume of a new track from their upcoming album, which they recorded in early 2007. It surprised fans due to its complete lack of screaming, which had been the dominant vocal style on their previous releases. The change of vocal styling was a result of T.J. Bonnette, As Cities Burn's original vocalist with a screaming style, leaving the band in pursuit of building his relationship with his wife, who lived three hours away.^[3] Guitarist Cody, who had sung the clean vocals previously, took over vocals entirely. T.J. played one final show with As Cities Burn at the end of January in 2007 at the Highground venue in Metarie. During December, Cody was to be taking over full time.

As Cities Burn has performed several new songs at live shows. These songs are much different than the songs on the début album. The band spent February and March 2007 recording their newest album. On April 12, 2007, As Cities Burn released the title of their second album, Come Now, Sleep. The album was released August 14, 2007. They have begun to play songs off the new album. On June 8 at 12:00 AM, the song "This Is It, This Is It" was posted on their MySpace and PureVolume profile. On July 2, a second song, Empire, was added onto their PureVolume page. From August 7 to August 9, the album was made available for streaming on the band's MySpace account. On August 14, 2007, Come Now Sleep hit the shelves.

As Cities Burn performed the majority of their new album Come Now, Sleep live, with rare performances from their previous album.

Hell or High Water (2008 – present)

In spring of 2008, As Cities Burn posted in a bulletin on MySpace that they would be at home writing the new album. They are set to record at the end of the summer. On September 7, 2008, they posted another bulletin that they were "about three weeks" from completing the new record. It was also said to "expect more of the direction (they) began heading in with Come Now Sleep," and that Cody, and their friend Tyler Orr were recording the record almost entirely by themselves. On January 2, 2009, the band posted a new recording entitled "Gates" on their Myspace page, which was a song the band had played numerous times at the end of live sets. On January 10, at their Texas show, they debuted "'84 Sheepdog". On March 30, '84 Sheepdog was posted on their MySpace page. Starting April 2, a new track was posted every Monday up to the release of the album.^[4] The song posted were "Into the Sea", "Pirate Blues", and "Errand Rum". The "Hell Or High Water" album was released on April 21.

In an interview in HM Magazine, Cody Bonnette stated, "The dream is to never break up, eventually start to suck more and more, and fade away." However, on July 15 2009, As Cities Burn announced on their MySpace page that they had broken up. They released the following statement:

"As Cities Burn has broken up. We are happily moving on after 6 good years. Our lives and our wives have called us in different directions. Thanks to anyone who has come out to a show, had words to say, or bought a CD to help us fill the tank."

On July 30, Cody Bonnette launched a Myspace page for his new solo project, tentatively entitled hellohighwater, however, that was composed of songs that were released on the hell or high water cd but they were just Cody. This myspace was deleted November 2009 ^[5]

Touring

As Cities Burn has taken part in many festivals and tours around the world. They have toured at the Cornerstone Music Festival along with many other Christian rock bands. In January 2008, As Cities Burn toured seven weeks with Emery, Cry of the Afflicted, Pierce the Veil, and Mayday Parade. Their guitarist Chris Lott wasn't able to be on the tour because he had school during the semester, but came back to tour afterwards. In November 2008, they toured with Dear and the Headlights, The Photo Atlas and So Long Forgotten.^{[citation needed]}

Members

• Cody Bonnette – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keys
• Colin Kimble – bass, guitars, backup vocals
• Aaron Lunsford – drums, percussion
• Chris Lott – lead Guitar

Former members

• T.J. Bonnette – lead vocals
• Bryan Dixon – drums
• Pascal Barone – bass

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

• 2002: As Cities Burn EP 2002
• 2003: As Cities Burn EP 2003
• 2007: The EP

Videography

• "Bloodsucker Pt. II"
• "Empire"
• "The Widow" (live)

References

External links

• As Cities Burn at MySpace
• FR*A Interview with As Cities Burn