Black Veil Brides loses makeup, keeps edge 

Black Veil Brides loses makeup, keeps edge

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Black Veil Brides has dropped the makeup, but the band is rocking as hard as ever in support of its fourth album. (Jonathan Weiner)

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ONE OF THE traps that comes with making a concept album is that bands often struggle with their next offering.

Very few, in fact, have been able to build on the success and ambition of well-received concept albums; maybe only the Who

, which followed the rock opera "Tommy" with its classic "Quadrophenia."

This was the challenge facing Black Veil Brides in the wake of 2012\'s "Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones."

For a time, frontman Andy Biersack even considered writing another rock opera.

Instead, with the new self-titled album, Biersack and his bandmates went back to basics, creating a collection of songs with no central theme and making what Biersack describes as a very gutsy straight-ahead rock and roll album.

"I feel really proud of that record, and I love what we came up with," Biersack said of the concept album. "But as we left that record, I just felt I hadn\'t had a chance to say things I wanted to say for a long time."

The new album arrives at a time when Black Veil Brides has enjoyed a steady climb in its career since the current lineup came together in 2010. Biersack (vocals, bass, keyboards) is joined by Ashley Purdy (bass), Jinxx (rhythm guitar), Jake Pitts (lead guitar) and Christian "CC" Coma (drums).

After the band\'s first album, 2010\'s "We Stitch These Wounds," the next two, "Set the World on Fire" and "Wretched and Divine," each debuted higher on Billboard magazine\'s album chart than the previous one, with the latter reaching No. 7 and topping 200,000 copies in the United States alone.

But with the growing success came some difficulties, as band members went through changes in their personal lives (including marriage and divorce). Also, finally having money to buy homes led members to focus for a bit on their personal lives instead of the band. The result, Biersack said, is that for a while, they grew apart.

"That period only lasted really for a few months, and then we all kind of looked at each other and said \'Wow, what are we doing?\'" he said.

This time around all band members participated in the writing, a departure from "Wretched and Divine," which was pretty much entirely Biersack\'s baby.

The more collaborative approach seems to have worked, as lean, hard-hitting and hooky songs like "Heart of Fire," "Devil in the Mirror" and "The Shattered God" give the self-titled album the feel the band intended.

The group is playing most of the new songs on its first tour behind the self-titled album. The band has also set aside the makeup that had defined its look. But that doesn\'t mean the show will be stripped back.

"We\'ve been able to put together big video screens. It\'s the biggest drum riser we\'ve ever had," Biersack said. "We have some staging. We\'ve got geysers with CO2 and lots of lights. We\'re bringing an entire semi-truck full of lighting rigs for this tour."

Who: Black Veil Brides, Falling in Reverse

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