I Killed The Prom Queen

Although the membership of Adelaide-formed metalcore outfit I Killed the Prom Queen remained in flux, the group stayed a prominent fixture on the Australian scene for more than ten years. Launched in 2000 by guitarist Jona Weinhofen, drummer JJ Peters, vocalist Austin H., and bassist Ben Engel, the project retained only Weinhofen and Peters from that original roster when the band’s Killswitch Engage- and Shadows Fall-inspired debut album When Goodbye Means Forever appeared in 2003. The sessions for that release also included lead vocalist Michael Crafter, guitarist Kevin Cameron, and bassist Sean Kennedy.

The follow-up effort Music for the Recently Deceased reached American outlets in July 2006; after the band signed with Metal Blade Records, the label brought the album to North America that November. Ed Butcher of the Hunt for Ida Wave supplied vocals for the finished record once Crafter exited midway through the sessions. When Butcher departed in early 2007, stand-in singers such as Heavens Lost’s Colin Jeffs and Mourning Tide’s Tyrone Ross stepped in to cover immediate live obligations. Ultimately, the inability to secure a permanent frontman, combined with Weinhofen’s choice to join tour companions Bleeding Through of California, prompted the announcement that I Killed the Prom Queen would disband. A 2008 farewell run across Australia was mounted with Crafter’s temporary return, after which the group stayed dormant for several years.

Reunion shows across the country took place in May 2011, and lasting stability arrived once ex-Red Shore vocalist Jamie Hope joined the lineup alongside Weinhofen’s return. The first new song in six years, “Memento Vivere,” surfaced online during summer 2012. Longtime member JJ Peters then exited to concentrate on his established project Deez Nuts and was succeeded by Shane O’Brien, formerly of Confession. Shortly afterward the band confirmed plans for a third studio album. Bassist Sean Kennedy was succeeded by ex-Day of Contempt frontman Ben Coyte before the group traveled to Sweden, where producer Fredrick Nordström—previously behind Music for the Recently Deceased—oversaw recordings with Weinhofen, Cameron, Hope, Coyte, and O’Brien. The resulting album Beloved emerged in February 2014.