Betraying the Martyrs are a French extreme metal band from Paris.

Contents 1 History 2 Touring 3 Musical style and influences 4 Band members 5 Discography 6 Music videos 7 References 8 External links History

Betraying the Martyrs were founded in 2008 and currently consists of Aaron Matts (lead vocals), Baptiste Vigier (rhythm guitar), Lucas d'Angelo (lead guitar), Victor Guillet (clean vocals/keyboards), Valentin Hauser (bass guitar) and Boris Le Gal (drums). Former members of the band included Eddie Czaicki (vocals), Antoine Salin (Drums), Fabien Clévy (lead guitar), and Mark Mironov (drums).

Before joining the band, Czaicki played in the French metalcore outfit, Darkness Dynamite. Guillet was the lead vocalist and keyboardist in the post-hardcore band, The Beverly Secret. Vigier and d'Angelo were in the metalcore band, Black Curtains. On 18 November 2009, Betraying the Martyrs released their debut EP The Hurt, The Divine, The Light, a self-produced recording funded entirely by the band and mixed by Stephane Buriez. The EP sold more than 2,000 copies in France alone.[1] Their first European tour, "The Survivors Tour" (2010), involved the band playing in support of Whitechapel, Dark Funeral, Darkness Dynamite, A Skylit Drive, Adept, Despised Icon, Dance Gavin Dance, While She Sleeps and Shadows Chasing Ghosts. The band met current vocalist, British native Aaron Matts, during that tour, as he replaced Czaicki shortly thereafter. Czaicki opted to leave the band to pursue an art career.

In 2011, the band started working on their first album and quickly signed deals with Sumerian Records, for North America,[2] and Listenable Records for the rest of the world.[1] On 23 September 2011, their debut album, Breathe In Life, was released globally. The album was produced in the band's studio and mixed by Charles J Wall at Sonic Assault Studios and the cover art was created by Hauser, the band's bass player. The album works with the central themes of life, faith and interpersonal relationships.

Between April and May 2011, the group completed a second European tour, the "Breathe In Life Tour", for the promotion of their debut album. The tour included performances in Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Support on the "Breathe In Life Tour" was provided by Russian deathcore band, My Autumn, and Despite My Deepest Fear. Later that year, during the northern fall, the band toured the United States with Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya, Carnifex and Structures.[3]

Breathe In Life was warmly received by reviewers throughout Europe and notable received higher acclaim when compared to other groups in their genre.[4][5][6][7]

The French Guitarist Mag magazine named the album as one of the Top 5 Albums of 2011 (second behind Megadeth), and the Best Newcomer of the Year in the Hard Metal category.[8] Gibson named them in the Ten Metal Bands to check out in mid-2012,[9] along with bands like Asking Alexandria and Five Finger Death Punch.

In May 2012, Antoine quit the band and was replaced by Russian drummer Mark Mironov from the deathcore band My Autumn.[10]

On 28 May 2014, the band released "Where the World Ends". On 17 June 2014, the band released "Jigsaw". On 14 July 2014, the band released a cover version of "Let It Go" (taken from Frozen). Also on 15 July they released their second full-length, Phantom.

The release of the video brought attention to the fact that Mark Mironov, BTM's drummer since 2012, sadly had been replaced. Welcoming Boris Le Gal to take his place, the band released the following statement on their official website:"As some of you may have noticed, our adored drummer and friend Mark Mironov is no longer a present part of the BTM line-up; this comes as a result of on-going VISA issues with Mark being a citizen of Russia. The increased difficulties became a heavy weight on the band, both in terms of consistency, and financially too."[11]

After touring and promoting The Great Disillusion, the band released a second single on 13 November, "Won't Back Down", with lyrics taking a stance against the rise of terrorist attacks in France and around the world: "One year after the terrible Paris attacks, let us remember who we are, and what we stand for, lest we forget."[12]

A third single was released on 30 November, "Lost For Words:, featuring a symphonic background and a more prominent clean refrain from Victor Guillet.

The Resilient was released on 27 January 2017.[13]

In September Sumerian Records released the band’s cover of the Avenged Sevenfold song “Bat Country“ from Metal Hammer magazine’s tribute album “Hail to the Kings — A Tribute to Avenged Sevenfold” from earlier that year.[14] Later that month the band announced that lead guitarist Lucas D’Angelo was leaving the band citing musical differences and an increased interest in the production side of music. In the same statement the band announced that their new guitarist would be Stevees Hostin and that he had performed in their Avenged Sevenfold cover. The band will also be hitting the studio to begin work on their next album.[15]

Touring

Betraying the Martyrs toured Europe in early 2012 on the famous "Bonecrusher Tour", with Carnifex, Within The Ruins, Molotov Solution and Beneath The Massacre.[16] As of April 2012, the band are touring the US, on the "Sumerianos Tour", alongside Upon A Burning Body and I The Breather, in addition to numerous other support acts.[17] The band then followed a European tour, supporting Veil of Maya on the "European Eclipse 2012" tour, alongside Vildhjarta, Structures and Volumes.[18] For the remainder of 2012, the band has been included on the line-up for "The All Stars Tour 2012" (northern summer) alongside Suicide Silence, Unearth, Attila and Winds of Plague;[19] and on the Mayhem Festival tour of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Anthrax[20] and many others. They also performed as an opening act at the "Hellfest 2012" tour.[21] They also replaced Winds Of Plague at the Graspop Metal Meeting 2012 Tour.[22]

Betraying the Martyrs just completed touring with Asking Alexandria, While She Sleeps and Motionless in White,[23] Chelsea Grin, Attila, and Within the Ruins. They are now in the studio recording their follow-up album.[24]

During summer 2013, Betraying the Martyrs toured many festivals in Europe. They played during the Greenfield Festival in Switzerland alongside bands such as Rammstein, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Prodigy and Parkway Drive. They also performed at the Ghosfest with The Devil Wears Prada, Chelsea Grin or Veil of Maya. Betraying the Martyrs participated on the Never Say Die! Tour with Emmure, Carnifex, I Killed The Prom Queen, Hundredth, Northlane and Hand of Mercy. In November 2013, they made an eastern and Scandinavian headline tour.

Musical style and influences

Betraying the Martyrs are overall recognized as a deathcore band;[25] which is a hybrid of the genres metalcore and death metal.[26][27][28][29] The band's style is a mixture of different aspects from multiple subgenres of extreme metal. The band takes the breakdowns, blast beats, and death growls that are main elements in deathcore. They supplement them with clean vocals, choruses, and programming that are key parts in metalcore bands. They also occasionally blend odd time signatures that exist in progressive metal. Keyboards are also used to mimic the orchestral elements that reside in symphonic metal. However, deathcore elements within their music are the most predominant features and thus are primarily seen to be a band that's part of the deathcore genre. The band stated that they have lot of influences, such as bands like Born of Osiris, Meshuggah, Suicide Silence, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor and Cannibal Corpse.

Band members

Current members

Victor Guillet – keyboards, clean vocals (2008–present) Baptiste Vigier – rhythm guitar (2008–present) Valentin Hauser – bass (2008–present) Aaron Matts – lead vocals (2010–present) Boris Le Gal – drums (2016–present; touring 2013–2016) Steeves Hostin – lead guitar (2018-present)

Former members

Eddie Czaicki – lead vocals (2008–2010) Lucas D'Angelo – lead guitar, backing vocals (2010-2018) Fabien Clévy – lead guitar (2008–2010) Antoine Salin – drums (2008–2012) Mark Mironov – drums (2012-2016)

Former touring musicians

Christophe De Oliveira – bass (2011) Brendan Perrot – bass (2012) Sydney Taieb – drums (2012) Junior Rodriguez – drums (2013) Nicolas Bastos – drums (2013)