Today marks a milestone for US metalcore/ hard rock unit Villain of the Story: Alongside a music video for focus track "Shame", the band finally releases their new longplayer "Convergence: Two Minds In One" into the world.
The new album is released via Out Of Line Music and is now available on CD and vinyl.
>> Listen & buy "Convergence: Two Minds In One": https://vots.lnk.to/Convergence
>> Watch the new video for "Shame": https://youtu.be/4DmP3n5arP8
Since bringing new vocalist Cody Crook onboard, the band's sound got a whole new twist in sound and energy, and with “Convergence: Two Minds In One”, the band delivers their most personal, cinematic, and unrelenting record to date. This record marks a powerful new chapter: a rebirth defined by emotional depth, vocal evolution, and a narrative that grips as hard as the breakdowns hit.
The album stands at a crossroad; between light and dark, healing and destruction. With the addition of Cody, Villain of the Story rise from uncertainty to deliver an album that blends razor-sharp metalcore, gripping melodies and raw storytelling in a way few bands dare. Sonically, the band pushes their sound further than ever before, every track layered with emotion and crafted with purpose.
This is more than just an album - “Convergence” is a story of pain, love, loss, and inner war. It follows a man haunted by trauma and the metaphorical (or perhaps literal) demon that feeds on his suffering. A tale of redemption-turned-tragedy, where love once saved him, but loss threatens to destroy everything. The record’s closing title track “Two Minds In One” brings it all to a head, posing the ultimate question: who is really in control?
"The overall theme of the album is that not all stories have a happy ending. In the end there are choices we can make to either become the worst versions of ourselves when things fall apart, or embrace the pain and try to rebuild.” - Villain of the Story
The band about the change of vocalists:
"We are thrilled beyond words about bringing our friend Cody Crook into the VOTS family. We’ve known each other since this band first formed through the Minnesota local scene. At one point Cody’s previous band and ours played shows together all the time and we were super bummed when they (The Following) broke up.
After Logan left the band, we heavily weighed our options. Should I (Christian) take over all vocals? Should we get a new singer, and if so, should it be someone we already know or try auditioning anyone we can find? After much consideration I felt that I would not be the best voice to front our band. While I do some singing here and there, generally speaking I just don’t feel my voice is the ‘right sound’ for our overall brand.
Any band that changes vocalists faces the challenge of not wanting to have someone ‘try’ to replace the previous member, while also not wanting to drift too far from the sound that you’ve established and listeners are used to. I can’t help but feel we hit the jackpot with Cody. Not only does he have a great voice that fits our sound and also is different, but the energy he’s brought to the table has been great and incredibly infectious. Oh and he has cool hair too, prob the most important thing to bring up.
If there’s a silver lining to this change, it’s that we’ve reworked the entire album into something we’re even more excited about. We’ve replaced the 4 singles with new songs and have made an entire storyline out of it. We’re hyped to have something beyond just the music to collaborate on and we can’t wait to share more about it.
As an artist you’ll never please everyone and we’re only making music that we enjoy listening to, but I feel it’s important to stay transparent with our listeners who’ve grown to ‘expect’ certain things from us. You’ll get a lot of what you’re used to, but we’ve experimented a bit and overall I’d say the tone of this next record is darker and intense. We may do more rock stuff in the future as we love that kind of music, but a more aggressive energy is what we are feeling right now."
Whether you’ve been with Villain of the Story from the beginning or are just discovering their sound, “Convergence: Two Minds In One” proves that this band isn’t just surviving change, they’re thriving in it!
>> Get the new album now: https://vots.lnk.to/Convergence
Villain of the Story:
Christian Grey (vocals)
Cody Crook (vocals)
Cody Pauly (Guitar)
Page Brownie (Bass)
