We Came As Romans

Forming in the closing years of the 2000s, We Came as Romans drew from post-hardcore and screamo traditions for their distinctive sound. The group, based in the Detroit suburb of Troy, Michigan, quickly established themselves on Billboard charts through well-received releases such as the aggressive Tracing Back Roots in 2013 and the more tuneful, rock-oriented We Came as Romans two years later. Following the sudden passing of frontman Kyle Pavone in 2018, the band paused activities before resurfacing in 2022 with the emotionally charged Darkbloom.

Early on, guitarists Joshua Moore and Lou Cotton, bassist Andy Glass, drummer Eric Choi, and vocalists David Stephens and Kyle Pavone played headline gigs around Michigan before advancing to wider stages, supporting acts including Our Last Night, Gwen Stacy, and the Number Twelve Looks Like You. In September 2008 the musicians took a break to cut the EP Dreams, which appeared as a free download two months afterward; more than 50,000 copies were obtained in the first week, prompting a deal with Equal Vision Records in early 2009. Returning to the studio that year with producer Joey Sturgis, who had handled their prior EP, they completed the full-length To Plant a Seed, issued that autumn.

After signing with Equal Vision, the band maintained an exhaustive touring schedule that carried them repeatedly across the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. Work on Understanding What We've Grown to Be began in 2011, yielding a lyrically darker record than its predecessor. Despite ongoing road commitments and a temporary health setback when Joshua Moore contracted bacterial meningitis, the album arrived in September 2011, earning favorable notices and reaching number 21 on the Billboard 200. Tracing Back Roots followed in 2013, presenting a cleaner and more melodic approach that grew even more evident on the self-titled We Came as Romans in 2015. The title track of their fifth studio album, Cold Like War, surfaced in September 2017, with the full set appearing the next month. Vocalist Kyle Pavone died the following August at age 28.

Though shaken, We Came as Romans continued as a five-piece and delivered the resolute standalone singles “Carry the Weight” and “From the First Note” in 2019. Three years later they unveiled their sixth album, Darkbloom, their debut for Sharptone, which featured the singles “Black Hole” with Caleb Shomo of Beartooth and “Daggers” with rapper Zero 9:36.