End Code To Apply Top BannerTHE HISTORY OF BTR
Beneath The Roses hasn't always been the band you all know today. In fact, a lot of band names and band members have come and gone before we reached our current lineup and sound. Originally, the band started around 2002 going by the name of "Bludfed" with a decidedly southern-thrash-metal kind of sound, featuring countless members from the Roanoke music scene including Zach Emmerson, Michael Boyd, Aaron Baughmel, Russ Stevens, and Nelson Oliver (to name a few). The only original member remaining today from this ancient lineup is our good buddy Stump Lombardo on guitar, ex-guitarist of a local band named "Sideshow".
After drummer Phil Hurt and singer Zach Emmerson quit Bludfed in December of '05, guitar players Stump Lombardo, Tyler Hoover, and bass player Keith McIntosh decided they would keep the band alive and look for replacements. The then nameless band took on a long haired grungy kid by the name of CJ Giles to play drums. Having formerly played in a grindcore band called "To Bed With Blades", it seemed only natural he would immediately get the job. After trying out a few singers from the Virginia area, we finally found our brother William Wirt from Buch-Nation, whom previously played in the local band "Elevatone". The band immediately began writing new music and took on the name "Speak Of the Devil". After writing new songs with a decidedly heavier sound, and teaching a few oldies to Will and CJ, SOTD hit Southwest Recording studio to a record a 5 song demo. During this time period, SOTD played countless shows and opened up for acts such as Vital Remains of Century Media Records. The band was slowly moving away from the dated "Bludfed" sound, adopting drop C tuning and a heavier vocal styling. The new sound kept a little of the thrash, but with a much more Metal Core style. In October '06, longtime bassist Keith "Jesus" McIntosh quit bass due to a rigorous work schedule which prevented him from meeting his full band obligations. Fortunately, he has since become the band's patron saint of Metal and Crunk, and the band still throws down with him every weekend.
We then decided to make our final name change to Beneath The Roses. With this name came several temporary bass players including Jeremy Giles, Brandon Martin, and Kenneth Barker. Shortly there after we returned to Chuck Crush of South West Recording and recorded a 7 song demo. With this new demo in hand, we started playing the local venues again with an even more aggressive sound. During this time we played with signed Bloodjinn and Ghost Of A Fallen Age. In September '07 longtime guitarist Tyler Hoover left the band to join the Army. It was at this point that we decided to take our sound to the next level and start playing in the drop B tuning. After trying many guitarists we asked ex-"To Bed With Blades" guitarist Cory Wilkie to take on Tyler's spot in November of '07, his first show being with North Cakalac's Kill Whitney Dead and Bloodjinn. Shortly thereafter we proudly took on guitarist Hank James of "Hank James And The Grifters" as our new permanent four strings. Since that time we've been going strong, playing shows with bands such as Columns, A Stained Glass Romance, Dead Eyes, and Bloodjinn. We have currently just finished our newest three song demo and the first leg of our summer tour.
After Cory Wilkie parted ways with the band, we found guitarist Patrick Carey, formerly of Anytime This Year. In the short time that Patrick has been with us, we've been writing some of the best music, we've ever played.
NEW SHIRTS COMING SOON!!!!!!
