Johnny Truant

Although metalcore is commonly linked to American suburban malls and skate parks, the style has spread worldwide, as evidenced by Johnny Truant. This five-piece group of emo enthusiasts hails from the British seaside resort of Brighton, often viewed as the United Kingdom's counterpart to Atlantic City. Formed initially under the name Severance, the musicians soon adopted their current moniker from the central figure in Mark Z. Danielewski's 2000 novel House of Leaves, an elaborately stylized experimental reworking of H.P. Lovecraft's horror-tinged fantasies. The lineup features vocalist Olly Mitchell alongside guitarist and backing singer Stuart Hunter, bassist James Hunter, and drummer Paul Jackson. In late 2000 the band issued its debut EP, Insecta Evolution, on an independent basis. After inking a deal with the U.K. metal imprint Undergroove Records, Johnny Truant delivered its first full-length album, The Repercussions of a Badly Planned Suicide, in late 2002, with nearly half the tracks consisting of reworked versions of material from the earlier EP. In 2005 the group entered the studio with producer Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist in the Boston metalcore act Killswitch Engage, to track its sophomore effort, In the Library of Horrific Events. Following the album's release late that year, Johnny Truant joined the American roster of Modern Records, which reissued In the Library of Horrific Events in 2006. That same year the band expanded its lineup by recruiting second guitarist Reuben Gotto.