Formed in Austin, Texas, the hard rock outfit Anew Revolution originated from the partnership of Joey Duenas—formerly the vocalist and guitarist of Ünloco—with a pair of ex-Slaves on Dope musicians, bassist and backing vocalist Frank "Frankie" Salvaggio and drummer Rob Urbani. Before adding lead guitarist Shaun Stockton and signing to Koch/E1, the three musicians sharpened their live skills across two self-issued EPs, Revolution in 2005 and Live at the Machine Shop in Flint two years later. Those recordings led to the band’s first proper album, Rise, which surfaced in 2008. In the same stretch, Anew Revolution, known in shorthand as ANR, shared bills with Drowning Pool, Nonpoint, 12 Stones, Otep, and Kittie while setting an April 2010 release date for the follow-up full-length iMerica.
