Dead to Fall Bio

A lot of eyebrows and questions are raised at an album titled Are You Serious? Thankfully, Dead To Fall is prepared to answer every one of them.

“The title works in a million different ways; in fact, you can pretty much find a way to relate it to anything and everything happening in each and every one of our lives,” says frontman Jonathan Hunt. “The concept was to capture and make everyone understand exactly the level of seriousness behind our band and our music at this point.”

A serious yet lighthearted approach to music is part of the allure that has kept Dead to Fall a fixture in the metal scene since its 2002 Victory Records debut. Serious are the destructive riffs, the structured guitar layers, and the brutal screams – yet the band takes pleasure in finding the humor music has to offer within its conceptual lyrics and the stories that can be conveyed through them.

“We are dudes that love heavy, fast, abrasive music, and Are You Serious? is asking why can’t we have a good time playing technically advanced and brutal music, and be ourselves doing it,” Hunt says. “We’ve always had a subtle sense of humor behind our music.” (Unless you’re counting “Chum Fiesta” from their third album – a not-so-hidden ode to a shark attack, especially as evidenced from the video.)

Through a whirlwind of lineup changes, the Minneapolis-based (formerly Chicago) quintet has found one that sticks, and sticks faultlessly. Likening guitar wunderkind Phil Merriman to “a white Jimi Hendrix with a Mohawk,” Hunt calls him their “new secret weapon” who was from an altogether different music scene than the rest of the members. With Logan Kelly’s additional guitar riffage, Tim Java behind the kit and Chad Fjerstad keeping the bass impulsive, it’s a roster that was bound to achieve the masterpiece songs Kelly penned for Are You Serious? With Are You Serious? Dead To Fall has made an album that will take them to the top tier of metal outfits. The band aimed for a more natural, raw sound, but maintained the shredding and breakdowns they’re known for. Upon witnessing the new wave of metal thrashers whose objectives are to simply peel your skin back for 12 tracks, Dead To Fall provide depth against the norm. “That’s not to say at all these bands are not doing exactly what they need to be doing by any means, but it’s just that we as musicians have come to understand what it is to lose interest in something simply because you’ve overexposed yourself to it,” drummer Java says. “Sometimes less means more as far as brutality goes.”

With producers Mike Schleibaum of Darkest Hour and Brian McTernan (Circa Survive, Senses Fail, Cave In) at the helm, Dead To Fall wanted their true selves as musicians to permeate through. The members are sincerely passionate about their progression as people and musicians, and feel that blasting the album in your own stereo is the only way to know how far they’ve truly come.

“We are able to bring the listener closer than ever before to our train of thought as characters and as musicians,” Java says. “We can write songs that surpass our old songs and satisfy us as critics and musicians, but at the same time we are a bunch of goofy dudes that like to live life. There is no reason to be pursuing something that takes such a brutal toll on us physically and mentally unless it allows us to live happily and continue to be inspired to loosen up and enjoy the ride.”

Dead To Fall is serious about what they’ve offered with this gem, out Feb. 19th – now they ask that you be, too.