Black Veil Brides frontman Andy Biersack says the band went all out to replicate Metallica‘s epic ‘Black Album’ when they set about recording their own self-titled album.
BVB’s fourth album, Black Veil Brides, was released in 2014. And in making the record, the band wanted to replicate and pay tribute to Metallica’s 1991 self-titled album which to date has sold more than 30-million copies worldwide.
And while he admits they didn’t reach the heights of the thrash icons’ 1991 album, Biersack says he’s proud of the record.
They worked with ‘Black Album’ producer Bob Rock and used the same rooms and some of the same equipment Metallica had used more than 20 years earlier.
Revealing the meticulous lengths they went to in their attempt to replicate the ‘Black Album’, Biersack tells Rock Feed: “We said to our label, ‘we want to make a record that replicates, on every level, on a sonic level, the ‘Black Album.’
“So much so that we wrote all the record in the same room that they wrote the record in, in Burbank, with Bob in the room. We recorded all of the drums in the same room that they recorded in Burbank with Bob. We used the snare drum that was used.
“We flew to Vancouver to record on the Little Mountain desk that they recorded that record on. They made a booth that was identical for me to what James (Hetfield) had when he did vocals, using the same speakers and using the same handheld microphone.
“Bob gave me James’s personal warmups to do every day. So, to this day, I have a CD of James Hetfield singing his warmups that he does every single day that I would do every day. I was still drinking, so I made the same hot toddy drink, I guess, that James made every day.”
He continues: “And then once that’s all done, we went to the same room on the same mixing desk at Henson in LA and mixed everything in the same room. We had the same exact backup singers come in and do harmonies. We did it all.
“And the record was successful for us. It’s a great record. I love it. We did not make the ‘Black Album’. Spoiler alert, that didn’t happen.
“But it was more about getting the opportunity to do that and to live out this dream.”
Black Veil Brides are currently on a tour of the US, and will perform at Wembley Arena in London on 30 October. Full dates and ticket links are available on the band’s website.
Andy Biersack on Ronnie Radke and Black Veil Brides Wild History – YouTube