The Word Alive

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We advance by breaking boundaries. The Word Alive alchemize hard rock, electronic, and metal into a distinct breed of alternative all their own. The gold-certified Phoenix, AZ outfit— Telle Smith [vocals, guitar, programming] Zack Hansen [guitars] and newly added Daniel Nelson [drums] —instinctively blur genre lines with a bold balance of infectiousness and intensity underlined by cinematic scope. After quietly generating nearly 1 billion streams, playing sold out shows on a consistent basis, and attracting a diehard audience, they level up once more on their seventh full-length offering and 2023 debut for Thriller Records, Hard Reset. “We wanted to take the essence of the band—the heaviness, the atmospherics, the experimental elements, and the melodic side—and put everything into one album,” says Telle. “We took the things we’ve done best and molded them together to create a solidified version of the band. We tried to push ourselves and the boundaries of our genre within the songwriting: from the vocals to the music. Moving forward, you can say, ‘I know who The Word Alive is’.” They’ve diligently carved out this vision since their 2008 formation. The group morphed in real-time across Deceiver [2010], Life Cycles [2012], Real. [2014], Dark Matter [2016], and Violent Noise [2018]. Among many standouts from the latter, “Why Am I Like This?” amassed over 31 million Spotify streams and counting. In between, they appeared on high-profile collaborations such as League of Legends’ “RISE” [feat. Mako, The Word Alive, & Glitch Mob],” which has tallied 298 million Spotify streams alone and reached RIAA Gold status. The band also toured with everyone from Motionless In White and Wage War to Starset, Beartooth and I Prevail in addition to earning acclaim from Billboard, KERRANG!, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, and more. 2020’s MONOMANIA boasted a great title track plus a pained single “NO WAY OUT,” gathering nearly 14 million-plus Spotify streams. In the midst of the Global Pandemic, The Word Alive continued to write and record, devoting time to redefining the sound for the next era. “We set the standard so much higher,” Telle goes on. “We spent a lot of time breaking down songs, rewriting them, and upping the intensity when they weren’t hitting the mark. Everything shifted, and it just drove the creative process into a new realm. It took a lot of concentration and energy, but it was worth it.” For the first time, the band opted to collaborate with a trio of producers, namely Matt Good [Asking Alexandria, Sleeping With Sirens], Erik Ron [Godsmack, Bush, Nothing.Nowhere.], and Hiram Hernandez [D.R.U.G.S., Blessthefall]. “We took a ‘dream team’ approach with it,” the frontman says. “We captured the urgency we’ve always aimed for.”