We Came as Romans bassist Andy Glass will never forget 7:40 a.m. August 25, 2018, a time he now has tattooed on his forearm.
It was when he learned that his friend and lead singer Kyle Pavone died of an accidental overdose.
In the years since learning of the news, Glass — along with bandmates Dave Stephens, Lou Cotton, Joshua Moore and David Puckett — has been through a lengthy grieving process.
“At first it was really hard because we spent so much time going through the grieving process, going to therapy, and doing all this other stuff to try to put ourselves back together and figure out what life is,” Glass says.
Throughout that process, We Came as Romans released two singles titled “Carry the Weight” and “From the First Note” in honor of their fallen vocalist and reassure fans that they were going to move forward.
The Troy, Michigan-based band thought the best way to do so was to share its grieving process. Writing their first full-length record since 2017’s “Cold Like War” was a large undertaking.
“It was just really hard to put into words how we felt about losing our friend and our brother, but we really wanted to do something to commemorate Kyle and honor him,” Glass says. “We also wanted to write a record about how we felt and create something that might be able to help people get to a better place because it helped us get to a better place.”
The record’s early drafts featured as many as 40 songs, many of which dwelled on the darker parts of grieving, he says. That was until Glass met with Stephens and Moore a week before the band entered the studio.
“(I told them) Kyle was never a sad/down person, he was always full of energy and excited about music and we need to tap into that,” Glass says. “If we’re going to be writing about him, he would be rolling over in his grave if we recorded these sad songs. So, we had to shift our mindset going into the studio for ‘Darkbloom.’”
Entering the studio with a sunnier disposition, We Came as Romans wrote upbeat riff-heavy metalcore tunes like “Plagues” and “Daggers.” However, the somber “One More Day,” “Promise You” and “Holding the Embers” were emotionally challenging.
“There were a couple of times where some of the guys in the studio, me included, had to like step out and go cry on the porch or whatever, but it was really good to get out,” Glass says. “Working with producer Drew Fulk, he would have questions for us, and it almost felt like a therapy session where we could get our emotions out.”
Even though the theme is grief, the band was inspired by its childhood idols. Glass’ creativity was not only limited to the music, as he also came up with the name of the record.
Glass — a graphic designer by trade who designed merchandise and logos for the likes of I Prevail, Wiz Khalifa and Dropout Kings — had been reading “Shadow Work Journal: Bring Your Shadows to Light” and had an epiphany.
“I was reading in this book and there was this quote that said, ‘Don’t let your dark bloom and encompass everything you are. Let it breathe and grow,’” Glass recalls.
When he pitched the name “Darkbloom,” the band decided unanimously to name the record that. With a title in place, We Came as Romans started devising the musical journey.
“We really wanted to not only commemorate Kyle, but we needed to do it for ourselves,” Glass says. “Then the goal became to help people that have gone through stuff like that and let them know it’s OK to not be OK and it’s OK to talk about these things.”
This was best exemplified by the record’s sixth song, “One More Day.”
“‘One More Day’ is about basically saying, ‘I wish I had one more day to talk to you and to talk to me about what you’re feeling and what you’re going through.’ So, I hope when people hear the song, maybe then they will reach out to a friend they haven’t reached out to in a while and it could help to save someone maybe or maybe help them open up a bit.”
This is a dialogue that Glass hopes to open up when the song and seven others from the 10-track record are performed live on We Came as Romans’ upcoming jaunt, which includes a Friday, February 3, stop at The Nile.
“I’m really excited to see how ‘One More Day’ is received, because it’s a very emotionally driven song. It’s a little bit slower and a bit more vulnerable,” Glass says.
Although the set list will have sad, slow elements, Glass says they will break out the heavy tracks during the 17-song set list.
“We’ll definitely do ‘Cold Like War,’ ‘Lost in the Moment’ and ‘Wasted Age,’ because those are the staples, and we might do some stuff off of ‘Tracing Back Roots.’ That record is one of our favorites,” Glass says.
No matter which song fans gravitate toward, Glass hopes they leave feeling inspired.
“I just want people to walk away just feeling like they got something they needed to get out and leave feeling like they’ve left their stress or their problems at the door and then they just got everything out that they needed to get out,” Glass says.
We Came as Romans w/Erra and Brand of Sacrifice
WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday, February 3
WHERE: The Nile Theater, 105 W. Main Street, Mesa
COST: $25
INFO: iamdarkbloom.com, theniletheater.com
