Ohio’s Faith In Failure aren’t afraid to mix things up, to the extent that they’re as likely to drop a hard-hitting metalcore banger as they are a punky ballad. The band has honed a catchy but hard-hitting modern metal and hard rock sound that they describe as “fun, passionate and eclectic.”
The Columbus band started out with guitarist Cole and bassist Matt, who’ve been friends since they were in sixth grade. They met guitarist Aaron at the music store Cole worked in, who introduced them to their first vocalist, Sergio, and their original drummer Nick, who left for school and personal commitments. But they were soon replaced by vocalist Chad via Craigslist and new drummer, also called Chad, who began by filling in for a handful of shows.
“I wanted to start a band that wrote and played the style of music I’ve always loved,” Cole told us. “I had moved a few times to have a better shot at getting this band going, and I ultimately ended up here in Columbus. That allowed me to meet the right people, and the rest is history, as they say.”
Faith In Failure aim to keep things interesting, combining elements of guitar-driven 2000s metalcore, as well as songs that are a bit more punk, traditional heavy metal, and even the occasional big ballad. “We truly feel that we have music for all kinds of listeners,” Cole explained. “We always strive to write as melodic, memorable, fun, interesting, and adventurous as we can. We write music that we love, and we let the songs write themselves. We aren’t afraid to write longer songs that are more akin to the eras that we love. So there’s always a little bit of a lot of things in our music, but we wear our influences on our sleeves.
“We use guitar solos, guitar harmonies, piano, orchestral instruments, strings, choirs, and whatever else we can use or create in the studio to help bring our visions to life. Sometimes, you’ll hear a sword fight in a song, Liquid Death cans to make it sound like people are being electrocuted, Cliff Bar wrappers, smashing a mic off of things, and so much more to create fun and unique things for our songs.
To give us a taste for this, the band sent us the fantastic Hero Part II, which was released back in 2023. It opens up with a light guitar lick, before flying into a wild high-pitched lick, driving drums and chugging chords under vicious vocals. That kicks into a heavy verse with screams counteracted by clean vocals, which build up to a big chorus led by high-pitched vocals. Another fun lick comes in through another wild verse and a chorus drops into low-tuned guitars with gothic instrumentals. A fun darting guitar comes in alongside intense guttural vocals, then gives way to a deliciously fun stabbing riff with pounding drums. The pace drops as the light guitars return and explode into another big chorus before bringing the track to a fittingly epic ending.
On the track, Cole told us: “Hero Pt. II has been a great song for us. Back in 2019, we released Hero, and upon leaving the recording studio after that session, I knew I wanted to write a part two at some point. The story in the lyrics was a perfect one to write a follow-up about, and we knew how we wanted the perspective to shift. Knowing that we had a plan to make it the most aggressive, heavy, yet melodic song we could. Musically, the song does a lot of things, which we felt helped to bring the story alive.
“Because this song is our heaviest song in a lot of ways, the reception has been great. We were able to tap into listeners who are more into styles like deathcore or death metal, while the melodicness kept things like our other songs. Being able to tap into a new genre of listeners was awesome, and we continue to get a lot of great feedback about the song.
“Anyone who checks the song out for the first time can expect a song that uses music as a storytelling device to enhance the story the lyrics tell. We have a pitch-shifted breakdown that has time changes, dissonance, orchestral elements, and aggressive vocals to build it up well. We even revisit the chorus of the original Hero at the end, and we can meld it with the chorus of part two.”
Hero Part II follows a couple of singles released last year, the equally heavy but catchy Deathwish and Lost (Down In The Darkness). We also love the sound of older tracks like the original Hero, Sleepless, Vampire, which has an especially cool little chugging riff, and OHMA, and there’s plenty to dig into in their back catalogue, including 2021 EP The Fields, from which the opener All I Am is a banger.
The Faith In Failure members’ biggest collective influence is Avenged Sevenfold, along with other 2000s metalcore bands like Bullet For My Valentine, Atreyu, At the Gates, Trivium and Killswitch Engage. They also draw on a variety of vocal influences, from power metal and hair metal to deathcore and metalcore and the rhythm section looks to progressive and fusion influences including Tool, Mudvayne, Breaking Benjamin, Rush and Periphery. While Cole and Aaron have similar influences, but the latter is into the likes of Def Leppard and Ghost and several djent bands.
As Cole explained: “We all have shared musical influences and interests, but at the same time, we all have our unique ones, too. What’s great about that is everyone brings a nuanced element to the table for songs and their parts. We are also able to blend a lot of ideas that help us to create a more unique sound for ourselves.”
And on what inspires them to write music, Cole added: “Musical influences can come from a lot of different places, honestly. Sometimes, an idea just pops in your head. A lot of times, we tend to be inspired by songs, bands, or something like a drum groove, for example. Once the music-writing process begins, we let the song take us where it wants to go. Our policy is to not shackle anything down with restrictions.
“Lyrically, our vocalist loves to tell stories. He creates great and unique stories and characters. Much of our artwork is based on his creations. When it comes to themes, it just really depends on what he’s writing about. Each song is its own story, with its unique characters and premise. He’s able to tell interesting stories in a catchy way that can pique the interest of the listeners while being able to write about things that can be related to as well.”
There’s plenty more to come from Faith In Failure, who have two more releases recorded and ready to go, including the upcoming Troubled Times, and are always writing music. They also hope to have more shows booked throughout the year, having just joined an artist management agency.
And Cole added: “We are always looking for ways to grow and better ourselves, however, we can both as individual musicians and as a band. We love to hear from anyone who gives our music a listen. So you can always contact us and we always respond to comments and messages. If you’re a metal fan who likes a lot of different styles of metal, we think you might like what we do. Our catalog of music is available wherever you stream or buy music digitally.
“As always, we are very thankful and humbled by anyone who checks us out and for all of the support we’ve received. We wouldn’t be where we are without that. So thank you to everyone, whether you’ve been with us for a while or are just finding out about us right now.”
You can follow Faith In Failure on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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