@brandonspeck

ThouShaltRock.com

Righteous Vendetta did a rock style roundabout and it is paying off. 

The Cody, Wyoming band is currently touring with Taproot. Lead singer Ryan Hayes took time in Tupelo, Miss. to talk with ThouShaltRock.com.

“Obviously there are some who are like, ‘You should have stuck with your heavy metalcore sound,’ which is fine,” Hayes said. “But overall, big picture, it’s been so much greater for us.” 

A listen to 2001’s more hardcore “The Dawning” gives a look at where the band was going. 

A switch to a more accessible, but still very much rock ‘n roll “ sound paid off immediately with tours with 10 Years, Taproot and Trapt.

It’s hook-infused metal, Hayes says.

“We were going on these big tours, which is what we wanted to do in the first place,” Hayes said. “It was definitely better for us to do. And we enjoy it more. It’s challenging us.”

There is still a primal scream in the newly-released video for “This Pain,” a catchy, hook-influenced single to drive the new release. It’s the first song of a more active rock, radio direction. “This Pain” did 15 weeks in the Top 20 on Christian radio. It led to an EP, now a 14-song full-length, due out Oct. 8. The EP is available – and the album will be – on iTunes and Amazon. It can be pre-ordered on RighteousVendetta.com

Hayes said the new sound is “literally the very middle of “active rock and metal, right in the middle.” 

The Taproot tour has dates remaining throughout much of October, going up the East Coast next week. 

“It’s tough in a sense of ‘you’re away from your comfort zone all the time.’ Your home, we’re sitting in it right now,” Hayes said from the band’s traveling van, complete with fold-up chairs. “I love it so much that I don’t really see the bad things about it. You definitely don’t eat well, you don’t sleep. In the end, it’s worth it.”

A change in style has opened doors for more exposure, but has also been a vehicle for more ears to hear what Hayes says is the band’s driving force, their Christian faith. 

“That’s what we are founded on. Every band’s got something they’re trying to push,” Hayes said. “For us, that happens to be our faith, more specifically our faith in the Gospel. We’re sticking to our roots. That’s how we roll.”

Here is more with Ryan, including a surprise cameo from my son, Spencer.