Escape The Fate

In 2004, Nevada group Escape the Fate assembled around a punishing fusion of metalcore, hard rock, and screamo, attaining mainstream traction six years afterward when their self-titled third studio album entered the Billboard charts. Despite repeated lineup changes and personal difficulties across the years, the band has preserved a steadfast audience while remaining prominent in the post-hardcore landscape through forceful releases such as Ungrateful (2013), I Am Human (2018), Chemical Warfare (2021), and Out of the Shadows (2023).

The Las Vegas post-hardcore outfit Escape the Fate, founded in 2004, placed its greatest emphasis on delivering high-energy, visceral live performances. After the breakup of their prior project, vocalist Ronnie Radke and bassist Max Green enlisted keyboardist Carson Allen, guitarist Omar Espinoza, and drummer Robert Ortiz. The newly formed band played its first show barely a month later, secured early airplay on local radio stations, and rapidly built a committed hometown following.

By September 2005, Escape the Fate had prevailed in a local radio contest judged by My Chemical Romance. The prize granted them an opening slot on the headliner’s tour alongside Alkaline Trio and Reggie & the Full Effect, which in turn secured a deal with Epitaph. Their five-song EP There’s No Sympathy for the Dead surfaced in May 2006, and the full-length debut Dying Is Your Latest Fashion followed in September. Keyboardist Allen had already departed before either release, and guitarist Espinoza left amicably in 2007; vocalist Radke was removed in 2008 owing to ongoing drug problems and a battery charge stemming from an altercation, after which he formed Falling in Reverse.

The remaining members recruited former blessthefall frontman Craig Mabbitt, and the revised lineup entered the studio in mid-2008 to record the sophomore album This War Is Ours, which reached number 35 on the Billboard charts that October. The record shifted away from the band’s earlier emo-influenced sound toward a more streamlined hard-rock approach. After an intensive touring schedule, they began working in early 2010 with producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Bullet for My Valentine) on their third album. Released later that year on DGC/Interscope, the self-titled LP entered the charts at number 25.

Continued worldwide touring preceded the 2013 release of Ungrateful. Founding bassist Max Green departed, with TJ Bell assuming the role, while brothers Monte and Michael Money handled guitar duties; the album also appeared on Universal imprint Eleven Seven Music. Their fifth effort, Hate Me, arrived in late 2015 under producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Bon Jovi, Daughtry) and featured the lineup of Mabbitt, Robert Ortiz, TJ Bell, and Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft.

In 2018 the band issued the full-length I Am Human, whose singles “Do You Love Me?,” “Empire,” and “Broken Heart” included the latter’s Top 20 placement on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. Three years afterward came Chemical Warfare, which included guest contributions from violinist Lindsey Stirling and blink-182’s Travis Barker. A new agreement with Big Noise preceded the eighth studio album; Out of the Shadows, released in 2023, introduced guitarist Matti Hoffman and bassist Erik Jensen and contained the singles “H8 MY SELF” and “Cheers to Goodbye” featuring Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills.