Dead by April


Dead by April is a Swedish metalcore band from Gothenburg, formed in February 2007 by Pontus Hjelm and Jimmie Strimell. The current band lineup consists of Pontus Hjelm, Christopher Kristensen, Marcus Wesslén and Marcus Rosell. Despite many line up changes throughout their career, both Marcus Wesslén and Pontus Hjelm have remained consistent since their debut album.

Background

The band was formed in early 2007, when Jimmie Strimell, the lead vocalist of Nightrage, decided to collaborate with songwriter and former Cipher System member Pontus Hjelm to form Dead by April. During the band's early days in 2007 and 2008, the band did not release any physical media, though most of the songs that they gave to friends were quickly leaked out to several peer-to-peer-sites, with the first songs being "Lost" and "Stronger". During this time, they also played in local venues around Gothenburg.
On 27 March 2010, Dead by April headlined the Norwegian festival 'Rock mot Rus' together with several Norwegian acts such as Turdus Musicus, Moddi, Cyaneed, Jodski, Purified in Blood etc. The band continued touring with Purified in Blood until early May.
On 23 April 2010, it was announced on the band's official MySpace page that Pontus Hjelm had officially left Dead by April, to focus on songwriting. He stayed on as the main songwriter, telling the fans that "nothing is different in the songwriting department". The replacement for Pontus Hjelm became Zandro Santiago who only provided vocals as the band felt that it did not change much of the sound to continue with only one guitarist.
On 17 May, the band released the fourth single of their debut album. Unlike any other Dead by April-single release, this single was a double A-Side entitled "Love Like Blood/Promise Me". Besides that, "Love Like Blood" is a Killing Joke cover; it marks the very first track recorded by Dead by April with their new singer, Zandro Santiago. "Promise Me", however, already appeared on the album.
On 22 October 2010, it was announced that Johan would be leaving the band, citing "personal issues", as well as focusing on his clothing range. The band searched for a new guitarist via Facebook and YouTube. However, they later revealed on their Facebook page that Pontus would act as a "session" player on their upcoming album and whilst on tour.
During Dead by April's UK tour with My Passion, Johan was replaced by guitarist Joel Nilsson.
In August 2010, they released a teaser for a new song called "Within My Heart", which was released, along with the new album, in early 2011. The album is heavier and more dynamic than their self-titled album. The song "More Than Yesterday" has been played live on tour in the UK and Sweden and will feature on the new album, as well as the compilation album, "Stronger". Jimmie released a demo recording of it on his YouTube channel.
Dead by April made an appearance on the soundtrack for as a featured artist on the song "Stronger" by Lazee.
On 7 December, it was announced that a new compilation album called "Stronger" would be released on 25 January 2011. It contains a demo version of "More Than Yesterday", three heavier versions of their songs and some tracks that have already been released.
During shows in Russia, DeathDestruction drummer Jonas Ekdahl, was replacing Alexander while he is resting his ears. Jonas will remain as a session drummer for the coming 3 to 5 months.
On 24 January 2011, Dead by April released the compilation album Stronger. On 19 April 2011, Dead by April confirmed the mixing was complete for their newest album via their Facebook page. On 2 May 2011, Dead by April announced that their first single of their second album would be "Within My Heart". This was released digitally on 16 May 2011 and included two more songs - a new song called "Two Faced" and a re-recorded version of "Unhateable". Later, it was confirmed that the band would perform at the Sonisphere Festival in Sweden on 9 July.
Dead by April began mixing their new album in the second quarter of 2011 and concluded on 19 April 2011. On 4 July, the band announced the title of the new album to be Incomparable, and it was announced on 11 July that it would be released on 21 September, though it was rumored to be delayed in early August to a possible 7 November release date. The album cover was originally going to be released by the band on Facebook once they reached 230,000 "likes", but other sites leaked the cover so the band released it early. The cover features a sky blue back ground with the same "Dead by April" logo as their self-titled album. The center shows a Japanese girl with blood and a black substance coming out of her mouth, similar to scenes from The Grudge. The album is said to be heavier and more dynamic than their self-titled album. Zandro Santiago commented on the band's genre, stating that, " metal and boyband pop. Metal fans might not handle it properly."
Similarly to the band's debut album, Incomparable debuted at number two on the national Swedish album charts, the band's homeland. The album was outsold only by Melissa Horn's Innan jag kände dig, which was in its second week of release and had already reached gold status in Sweden.
Dead by April performed in Melodifestivalen in early 2012 and went into the finals. The band placed 7th, using the song "Mystery". They have also announced that they are currently working on a new album, and that Pontus Hjelm had rejoined officially.
The band re-recorded an old demo song of theirs called "Found Myself in You" for pledgers on their PledgeMusic site. They have also announced that they will release a compilation album early next year. On 25 February 2013, Dead by April gained the number of pledges required for them to fund a live DVD release set for 13 March. Unfortunately, after much delay due to subsequent filming problems, the band later scrapped the release and refunded the funds.
On 18 March 2013, it was confirmed by the band that Jimmie Strimell was no longer part of the band and had been replaced by Christoffer Andersson, current member of What Tomorrow Brings. The statement also stated that a new album, EP and tour was under way.
The EP featured two new songs It was announced in November 2013 that the band's new album, Let the World Know, was scheduled for release in mid-February 2014, and would be published by Spinefarm Records. Later that month, the band later confirmed the official release date of the album will be on 12 February 2014. The band released a new single on 6 December 2013 titled "As a Butterfly".
Shortly after the release of Let The World Know, the band's original drummer Alexander Svenningson announced he had left the band and had been quickly replaced by Marcus Rosell, current member of Ends with a Bullet. On 3 November 2014, the band announced that Zandro Santiago had left to pursue a solo career of his own, and that Pontus Hjelm would take his place as the vocalist, returning to the role he had left in 2010.
Dead by April announced in July 2015 on their Facebook page that they were recording their fourth studio album. In late September 2015, they announced that their upcoming album will be out in 2016.
In August 2016, they announced that the upcoming album is officially completed. On 21 September 2016, they announced that their first single will be out in October/November 2016. They also will have a European "Breaking Tour" from 7-22 December 2016 in different places supported by two Metal Bands: "ATHEENA" and "Beyond All Recognition". On 2 December 2016, they released a lyric music video for the single Breaking Point on YouTube and on 27 January 2017, a lyric music video was released, "My Heart Is Crushable".
On 7 April 2017, they released their fourth album Worlds Collide. On 19 April 2017 Stoffe announced he was no longer a part of Dead by April. In April 2017 the band confirmed Stoffe's departure for personal reasons. On 2 May 2017 Dead By April confirmed Jimmie Strimell has rejoined band via Facebook.
On 1 September 2017, the band released an EP "Worlds Collide " which features Jimmie Strimell on unclean vocals. On 15 September 2017, the band released a cover of the Linkin Park song Numb as a tribute to the late Chester Bennington, this is the first newly recorded material released since Jimmie rejoining the band. On 20 October 2017, they released an acoustic EP "Worlds Collide ". On 26 December 2017, they released their first METAL Christmas cover of Franz Schubert's song "Marche Militaire": The track lasts 1:06 and it is instrumental.
On 29 January 2018, Pontus Hjelm posted on his facebook profile that he has started writing new songs for the band. On 9 February 2018, the band posted in their facebook page a picture of Jimmie Strimell recording in the Studio PH Sweden having the description "Working on new songs #deadbyapril #2018".
On 13 January 2019, they released their April Army Platform. On 18 January 2019, the band released "As A Butterfly" re-recorded with both Jimmie Strimell and Pontus Hjelm and mixed at only the April Army Platform. On 22 January 2019, the band announced via their Facebook Page that "Hold On" mixed and re-recorded with Jimmie Strimell and Pontus Hjelm will be released in February at only the April Army Platform. On 4 February 2019, they confirmed that "Hold On" re-recorded will be released 13 February 2019 at only the April Army Platform. On 13 February 2019, "Hold On" re-recorded is released plus the first part of the tour diary at only the April Army Platform.
On 6 March 2020, Pontus Hjelm released a statement via the bands Facebook and website citing that original growler vocalist Jimmmie Strimell has been released from the band for a second time with immediate effect, explaining that despite having been given a second chance and vowed change and loyalty to the band, Strimell had continued his drug and alcohol abuse, thus prompting the bands difficult decision. Shortly afterwards, Pontus released a statement announcing dEMOTIONAL's lead growler Christopher Kristensen would replace Strimell on their current tour, explaining his position within the band as 'a trial run'. On 8 March 2020, they announced that they are preparing the release of their upcoming single "Memory" with Christopher Kristensen doing the screams. On 10 April 2020, they released their single "Memory".

Musical style and influences

Often called the "Swedish metal Backstreet Boys", Dead by April has mainly been considered metalcore and pop metal. Dead by April is also known for using elements of music genres such as orchestral rock, techno, nu metal, melodic death metal, and emo. Dead by April are influenced by Michael Jackson. Vocally, the band uses a combination of clean and unclean vocals. Original vocalist Jimmie performed both before his departure from the band in 2013, with help from Pontus and Zandro on clean vocals; his replacement, Christoffer, who had joined the band in 2013, only performed unclean vocals. Jimmie rejoined the band and came back to perform unclean vocals in 2017, shortly after Christoffer's departure from the band.

Band members

Current members
Former members
Session and touring musicians
Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums