The Word Alive was founded in 2008 by Craig Mabbitt (lead vocals) with Zack Hansen (lead guitar) and Tony Pizzuti (rhythm guitar) who were former members of the bands Calling of Syrens and Clouds Take Shape. As a side-project of Mabbitt during his part in Escape the Fate, the remaining required members he recruited to start The Word Alive were chosen to be Nick Urlacher (bass), Dusty Riach (keyboard) and Tony Aguilera (drums). The group recorded songs with the intention of releasing them as a self-titled EP, despite that it never surfaced. Later on, the band forced Mabbitt to leave due to their dissatisfaction with Escape the Fate's schedules, which required Mabbitt to work as a full-time member.
The day after, Mabbitt posted a blog to his fans via his Myspace account explaining that leaving the band was not his decision and that "[The Word Alive] pretty much replaced me while I was on the road due to the fact that they wanted to tour and couldn't until I was available, I started that band with those guys and I'm very hurt at how they replaced me while I was touring...it's bullshit." On December 3, the band officially announced that Tyler "Telle" Smith, who was formerly one of the vocalists for In Fear and Faith and bassist for Greeley Estates, joined The Word Alive as their new frontman.
Feeling somewhat stagnant in their progression beforehand, the addition of Smith catapulted the band’s ambitions to the forefront. With this initiation, their goals and aspirations were much more a reality, and they set to work on what would become their record label debut, Empire.
During March 2009, the band were taken in with a contract by a new label, later on during the 26th of that month the group officially confirmed that the label they were then signed to was Fearless Records. Smith stated "We hope to just keep touring, touring, touring... we couldn't be happier or more appreciative to be on tour right now, I think despite having some of the worst luck in the early beginnings of being a touring band yet never missing a show, we always have a positive attitude and that will make us a stronger band." The band set out to create an EP to be released through the label wherein it was titled Empire and was recorded with producer Andrew Wade in Ocala, Florida. It was released on July 21, 2009 where it reached #15 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart.
During February the band reached an agreement to leave founding drummer, Tony Aguilera out of the group. Both parties (Aguilera and the rest of the band) shared their concerns and reasoning for the matter publicly. It was overall described that the band wanted to pursue a different percussionist of alternate talent than the founding member. Aguilera was replaced with Justin Salinas, whom previously was a part of the bands Scars of Tomorrow and Catherine as well as serving as a past live drummer for MyChildren MyBride.
In April 2010, The Word Alive entered the studio in Ocala, Florida with Andrew Wade to record their debut full-length album, Deceiver. By June, Deceiver was fully mastered and engineered. On June 23, 2010 the band premiered their first single from the album, “Epiphany” as streaming media online.The following day, Fearless Records released their 2010 Summer Sampler which also featured the track "Epiphany". A week later, the album's album art and track listing was released. Guitarist Zack Hansen explained upon this premiere that "We all felt like that was going to be the best choice considering how comfortable the recording process is with Andrew. The tracking was a lot of fun and everyone had a good time. We got the opportunity to stay in a house while we recorded and surprisingly we didn't party as much as I thought we would haha." Hansen later followed along explaining that his favorite track on the record is “The Hounds of Anubis”, which was written by him and Pizzuti and stated that he "wrote this song with an 'Egyptian feel' to it and I think we got our point across." Smith described that its lyrics describe the times of when The Word Alive overcame their hardships that they face with the help and support from their fans. "The Hounds of Anubis" was released as the album's second single on July 26, 2010. It premiered on the official Revolver website.
By November of 2011, the band made plans to return to the studio on February 7, 2012 with Joey Sturgis to begin recording their next album, with an expected recording session lasting from that time until mid-March. However by February (and before the date of entering the studio), the announcement of two members leaving occurred; keyboardist, Dusty Riach and drummer, Justin Salinas were simultaneously confirmed to no longer be a part of the band. Salinas stated his reason was because he grew tired of touring, although Riach's reason was preferred to be kept silent.
In regards to the band's second studio album, it was reported that 17 songs were recorded in its process. 13 of those will be on the standard edition of the album, while the another three will be included on the deluxe edition. The name of the album will be Life Cycles and both editions will be released the same day.On March 23rd of the year, the group issued a statement that 18-year old Arizona resident Luke Holland has joined as the new drummer, however, Holland was not included for the recording sessions of Life Cycles. The drumming for the record was done by a friend of the band named Matt Horn wherein Holland joined after these sessions were already completed.
On March 18, 2014, the band released a new single entitled "Play the Victim." Along with the song, they also announced their third full-length album Real. would be released on June 10. The album would be the first to feature Luke Holland on drums.
The band released their fourth album, Dark Matter, on March 18, 2016. The band also revealed the tracklist and a headlining North American tour with support from Fit for a King and Out Came the Wolves. The album's lead single, "Trapped", was released January 8.
In November 2016, Luke Holland announced he would be leaving the band at the end of 2016 after finishing their last tour of the year to pursue other musical endeavors. In February 2017, the band announced that Matt Horn would be taking Holland's place as drummer. Shortly after, a new single "Misery" was released.
On August 7, 2017, The Word Alive and Daniel Shapiro mutually announced they were parting ways due to a "new musical adventure" of Shapiro's. The next day, The Word Alive announced that they would be joining I Prevail on their Rage on the Stage Tour along with We Came as Romans & Escape the Fate.
Battle Royale
The Word Alive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They will turn their backs on me unless I decide to breathe.
You will forget me unless I breathe
I've seen the worst in myself tonight. I almost lost the fight.
My mind is lost within my dreams.
Pinned down, wrapped up, in the arms of sleep.
I feel it slowing now. I can barely see my way out.
And every single time I see your face it reminds me of why I walked away.
I won't forget.
And this is how you remind me that when I walked away,
I was right to save me from myself.
Goodbye, never say I am not enough.
I'm scared I've thrown it all away and I'll never be the same.
What have they done? What have I become
This is the end of running from you.
I promise you that
I won't forget.
And every single time I see your face it reminds me of why I walked away.
I won't forget.
And this is how you remind me that when I walked away,
I was right to save me from myself.
Goodbye, never say I am not enough.
Never say never, never say I'm not enough.
Never say that I
Never say never, never say I'm not enough.
Never say I'm not enough!
The lyrics of Battle Royale by The Word Alive speak about finding the strength to survive in the face of adversity. The song is about the struggles of a person who feels like they are losing their way and may never be able to find their way back. The song speaks of the fears and doubts that plague a person who is going through extreme emotional turmoil, and the hopelessness that can come with it. The subject of the song feels like they have lost themselves and that they are fighting a losing battle against themselves.
The first line of the song, "Breathe! They will turn their backs on me unless I decide to breathe," implies the importance of keeping oneself together despite the challenges one is facing. The subject is urging themselves to take control, to breathe, and not give up as others would abandon them if they do. The later reference to seeing the worst in oneself tonight and almost losing the fight is a clear indication of the deep struggles they've gone through. Nevertheless, the theme of the song implies hope as the subject promises never to forget the reason they walked away from the past. The song plays on the need to take control of oneself and accept that sometimes, walking away from a situation might be the best course to follow.
Line by Line Meaning
Breathe!
I need to keep breathing or else people will lose faith in me and forget about me.
They will turn their backs on me unless I decide to breathe.
If I stop breathing, people will abandon me and I'll be forgotten.
You will forget me unless I breathe.
You won't remember me if I don't keep fighting and moving forward.
I've seen the worst in myself tonight. I almost lost the fight.
I'm struggling with my inner demons and I'm close to giving up.
My mind is lost within my dreams.
My thoughts are consumed by my dreams and I'm losing touch with reality.
Pinned down, wrapped up, in the arms of sleep.
I feel trapped and powerless, like I'm stuck in a deep sleep.
I feel it slowing now. I can barely see my way out.
I'm losing momentum and hope, and I'm struggling to find a way to break free.
And this is how you remind me that when I walked away, I was right to save me from myself.
This situation is reminding me that I made the right choice by walking away from a harmful situation to protect myself.
Goodbye, never say I am not enough.
I'm leaving this behind and I refuse to let anyone make me feel like I'm not good enough.
I'm scared I've thrown it all away and I'll never be the same.
I'm afraid that I've made a mistake and that I won't be able to recover from it.
What have they done? What have I become?
I'm questioning the actions of others and my own behavior and how it has affected me.
This is the end of running from you. I promise you that
I'm done with avoiding the issues and I'm committed to facing them head-on.
Never say never, never say I'm not enough. Never say that I
I won't let anyone discourage me or make me doubt my worth.
Never say never, never say I'm not enough. Never say I'm not enough!
I am enough and I won't let anyone convince me otherwise.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANTHONY PIZZUTI, ANTHONY JOHN JR. PIZZUTI, DUSTY RIACH, JUSTIN SALINAS, JUSTIN DAVID SALINAS, MARK ANTHONY PIZZUTI, NICK URLACHER, TYLER SMITH, ZACK HANSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@WalrusWank
Never gets old
@HawsdeBaws
I remember hearing this on tap tap revenge like 10 years ago
@Vegeta42
Omg haven't heard this song in years. Love this !
@TeamRussianSambo
+Gilly Perez Same here bro
@MrPasley99
And same here lol
@bryson2713
Ultimate Human Potential same
@alextownley9388
Still one of their greatest songs!!
@LeetTron5000
come back for another listen
@millsy5094
Hahaha man did I ever miss this stuff!! This band was definitely one of my favorites as a teenager and brings back memories. They had one more album after this I think I liked but after that I feel like the music changed too much for my liking! I miss being a teenager lol those were the days 😢
@getgudmedia7934
Holy shit I remember when this EP dropped. The golden era of hardcore.