The Blackout

The Blackout

The Blackout

The Blackout is a post-hardcore band from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, formed in 2003. After some time backing Lostprophets on their Liberation Transmission Tour, along with Dopamine, Covergirl, Kids In Glass Houses, The Guns and Men, Women and Children, they released their first mini-album The Blackout! The Blackout! The Blackout!. In October 2007 the band released their debut album, We Are the Dynamite!. Their second record, The Best In Town was released on 25 May 2009 in Europe and 23 June 2009 in the US, both via Epitaph Records. The band recently finished recording their third album - titled "Hope", which was released on 4 April 2011.

Hope is the preserve of the foolish and the brave, the light at the end of the tunnel and the ball and chain that leaves reality inescapable. 'Hope', the new album by Welsh pop-bruisers The Blackout, is just that – except it sounds killer at ear-bleeding volume.

"The title came up a lot when we were looking through the lyrics," says Sean Smith, "and we saw the recurring theme of the double meaning."

"It's a strong emotion," agrees Gavin Butler, "because the word itself has a sadness to it. But the album is about pushing forward and keeping your head high."

And with touchstones ranging from Prince to Slipknot, 'Hope' is the work of a band reenergised. Having signed with Cooking Vinyl on a worldwide deal at the beginning of 2011 The Blackout are looking forward to leaping to the next level with a label that shares their independent-minded philosophy and which was enthusiastic about 'Hope' from the very beginning.

The progressive home to the likes of the Prodigy, Marilyn Manson, Does It Offend You Yeah? and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Cooking Vinyl have watched the band grow from small-town heroes to a global rock force. The label has a reputation for letting the artist call the shots, and considering the overwhelming response to The Blackout's Pledge call it's the perfect match for a band who are dedicated to their fans above all.

"We knew all the clichés about the difficult third album, but we never even spoke about it," laughs Sean. "We got together at Gavin's house and ran through the songs we had. Of the first 13 we wrote, we used 11. In our eyes, we were writing the hits from the very beginning!" Once the album was fully written, they recorded it in AIR Studio in London and Angelic Studio in Banbury, again with Jason Perry at the helm.

The Blackout are: Sean Smith (vocals), Gavin Butler (vocals), Matthew Davies (guitar), James Davies (guitar), Rhys Lewis (Bass), Gareth Lawrence (drums).