Iwrestledabearonce

Iwrestledabearonce (often stylized in all lowercase) was an American metalcore band formed in 2007 in Shreveport, Louisiana. To date, they have released one EP, four full-length albums, and two remixed releases.

Iwrestledabearonce
Iwrestledabearonce performing in 2013
Background information
OriginShreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
GenresAvant-garde metal, mathcore, metalcore, deathcore
Years active2007–2016
LabelsTragic Hero, Century Media, Artery
Associated actsSpiritbox, Empyrean Lights
Websiteiwrestledabearonce.com
Past membersSteven Bradley
Mikey Montgomery
Mike Martin
Brian Dozier
Ryan Pearson
Daniel Andrews
Melissa Cameron
Dave Branch
Krysta Cameron
John Ganey
Mike Stringer
Courtney LaPlante

History

Formation, EP and It's All Happening (2008—2010)

Prior to Iwrestledabearonce, guitarist Steven Bradley played in the Louisiana mathcore band Statuescrybleeding, the band was active around 2004 and broke up sometime in 2006. Bradley met Krysta Cameron at which point, decided to start rehearsing music with her and some other musicians in the area when he was impressed with her growl vocals. Iwrestledabearonce was officially formed during 2007 in Shreveport, Louisiana. The origin of this band's name was inspired by a comment made by Gary Busey on Comedy Central.[1] They released their debut EP in 2007 through Bucket of Truth Recordings, and later re-released it with new cover art through Tragic Hero Records. The release gained the band a small cult following due to their highly experimental musical style. It also granted the band enough attention to acquire drummer, Ryan Pearson. Due to the band lacking a drummer during the EP's recording, all percussion was done in a drum machine program.[2] Iwrestledabearonce signed to Century Media by 2008 after their inclusion on tours supporting the EP. The group then recorded and released their debut full-length album It's All Happening on June 2, 2009 in the United States and August 31, 2009 in European stores. In June through September 2008, their single, "Tastes Like Kevin Bacon" appeared on the Sirius Hard Attack radio station "Devils Dozen" list as high as No. 4 in the 12 most requested songs.[3]

It's All Happening reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and No. 122 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release in 2009.[4] Iwrestledabearonce then embarked on their second venture outside of the US in October 2009 in-support of It's All Happening. The "2009 Imperial Never Say Die" club tour which was sponsored by Imperial Clothing and Jägermeister in the UK and Europe with Architects, Despised Icon, As Blood Runs Black, Horse the Band, Oceano and The Ghost Inside. In December 2009 they were headliners in a US/Canada tour (The Tour That Stole Christmas) with Miss May I, Inhale Exhale and Of Machines.[5] Iwrestledabearonce had been selected for the 2010 Van's Warped Tour and participated from July 20 until August 15, 2010.[6] During the summer of 2009, the band decided to relocate to Birmingham, Alabama.[7]

In 2010, the band re-released It's All Happening as a 3-disc special edition that includes the regular album, a remix album, and a DVD.[8] Later, the group released a free 5-track remix EP titled It's All Dubstep.[9]

Ruining It for Everybody and Cameron's departure (2011—2012)

With the recording of the band's new album, which was revealed to be titled Ruining It for Everybody, guitarist Steven Bradley stated that the group's new album will embrace black metal, along with the band incorporating the use of corpse paint. He expressed that the entire band agreed that they do not want to be pigeonholed as a band that is suffixed as "core" any longer and the new record will be "90% black metal".[10] Bradley went on to say “We were sick of getting lumped in with ‘scene’ and ‘whatever-core’ bands, so we decided to embrace our roots and just go straight black metal on the new album. We had to change our image to match ...because of course that's just as important, if not more so, than the music.” The black metal musical shift was later confirmed to be a large practical joke orchestrated by the band and the heavy metal website MetalSucks. The band's upcoming album, Ruining It for Everybody had a song from the album premiered on the website with the staff confirming that it was all a prank and that the upcoming album "features no actual black metal".[11] The group primarily executed the joke to reveal and parody the over-serious attitude in black metal fans.

After the prank was revealed as false, Bradley later, in a serious note, commented on the album's style stating that it is "It's heavier, catchier, and better organized than anything we've done so far. We took a really spastic blend of genres and made it more cohesive."[12]

During Warped Tour 2012, it was announced that original vocalist Krysta Cameron was pregnant and would have to leave the band for the rest of the tour. She was replaced by Courtney LaPlante, former vocalist of Unicron,[13] for the remainder of the tour.[13] However, bassist Mike "Ricky" Martin stated that same summer that Cameron would be permanently replaced by LaPlante after Cameron announced she would not be returning to the band due to wanting to spend more time with her family.

Late for Nothing (2013—2014)

As of January 24, 2013, the band had been writing music for their third studio album.[14] On May 25, 2013, it was announced on their Facebook page that the band has finished recording the new album, following up with an update on June 7, 2013 that the album would be titled Late For Nothing, and would be released on August 6, 2013. On June 11, 2013, they released the first song off the album entitled "Thunder Chunky". On June 25, 2013, Century Media announced on their website that "Firebees" would be released as a single, along with an iTunes pre-order of the album.[15] On July 27, Late For Nothing was leaked on the internet. The album was eventually released on August 6, 2013, along with a music video for "Boat Paddle" via their Facebook page. Steve Vai is noted to have provided sections of the song "Carnage Asada" on guitar.

Hail Mary, signing to Artery Recordings, and Spiritbox (2015—present)

Their fourth album, Hail Mary, was released on June 16, 2015 via Artery Recordings.[16][17] Due to the label being acquired by Warner Bros. Records on August 31, 2017, this would prove to be the band's one and only release via the label.[18]

On September 18, 2017 singer Courtney announced a new unnamed project which will feature her husband and guitarist, Mike Stringer.[19][20] The project was later revealed as Spiritbox, who released their debut self-titled EP on October 27, 2017.[21][22]

Following uncertainty of the band's status along with LaPlante's and Stringer's position in Iwrestledabearonce following the unveiling of their new project, LaPlante confirmed during an Instagram live video session via her private account that she is no longer a member of the band, but that she also doesn't know if the band will continue on as they have not released an official statement affirming their position.[23] In an interview with Loudwire in July 2019, she explained that her and Mike Stringer's leaving was due to them being worn down by their status as "replacement people" and their desire not to stagnate and to do something different.[24]

Musical style and influences

Although Iwrestledabearonce is generally categorized as metalcore,[25][26][27] experimental metal[3][25][28][29] and mathcore,[30][31][32] the band's music is considered as diverse, due to their use of frequent genre changes within songs, varying between jazz,[33][34][35] progressive metal,[35][36] electro,[29][34] synthpop,[33] and even hillbilly music.[29] The band has also been compared to grindcore.[28][33][34][36]

The band attempts to evade categorization so significantly that they focus on blending as many genres as possible.[12] Their song structures are known for chaotic changes in pace, varying between blast beats, breakdowns and then contrasted rapidly by melodic, "lounged-out" interludes in the middle of their songs.[37] Influences for their musical style have come from a wide variety of bands including The Dillinger Escape Plan, Radiohead, and Björk. Björk, particularly, was noted as being an inspiration for former vocalist Krysta Cameron's sung vocals.[34]

Members
Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
Year Title Label Chart peaks
US
[41]		 US Hard Rock
[42]		 US Indie
[43]		 US Rock
[44]		 US Heat.
[45]
2009 It's All Happening Century Media 122 16 — 47 1
2011 Ruining It for Everybody[46] 80 8 13 16 —
2013 Late for Nothing 93 9 18 25 —
2015 Hail Mary Artery 186 5 11 20 —

EPs
  • Iwrestledabearonce EP (2007)

Remix albums

Singles
Year Song Album
2007 "Ulrich Firelord: Breaker of Mountains"[47] Iwrestledabearonce EP
2008 "Tastes Like Kevin Bacon"[48] It's All Happening
2009 "You Ain't No Family"[49]
2011 "Karate Nipples"[50] Ruining It for Everybody
"Next Visible Delicious"[51]
"You Know That Ain't Them Dogs' Real Voices"[52]
2014 "Firebees"[53] Late for Nothing
2015 "Gift of Death"[54] Hail Mary

Videography
Year Song Director
2007 "Ulrich Firelord: Breaker of Mountains"
2008 "Tastes Like Kevin Bacon"
2009 "You Ain't No Family" David Anthony[55]
2010 "See You in Shell"
"Danger in the Manger"
"The Cat's Pajamas"
2011 "You Know That Ain't Them Dogs' Real Voices" Scott Henson
2012 "I'm Gonna Shoot"
"Beary Scary Movie" DVD Century Media
2013 "Boat Paddle"
2015 "Gift of Death" Shan Dan[56][57]
"Green Eyes"
gollark: Er, I can't see anything except bright colored blobs.
gollark: Hmm, maybe someone could run some of the deepfake things on him, that would be funny.
gollark: I'm assuming it's faked, yes.
gollark: They're gone now for whatever reason.
gollark: It looks like a gas mask of some sort, but with coronavirus-related things written on it.

References
  1. Iwrestledabearonce pour la sortie de leur premier EP 9 (iwrestledabearonce interview) thrashocore.com. June 20, 2008. Retrieved on 2010-03-05.
  2. "Iwresltedabearonce - It's All Happening [Album] | Altsounds.com Reviews". Altsounds. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  3. "Rocktron Artist - I wrestled a bear once". Rocktron. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  4. Charts, Allmusic
  5. Iwrestledabearonce Announce "The Tour That Stole Christmas" Headlining Run thegauntlet.com. October 20, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
  6. Iwrestledabearonce profile Archived December 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine vanswarpedtour.com. Retrieved on December 27, 2009.
  7. Taylor, J. R. (September 16, 2010) "Iwrestledabearonce Archived July 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine" Black & White
  8. Iwrestledabearonce: Three-Disc Deluxe 'It's All Happening' CD Reissue Out Now Archived July 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine blabbermouth.net. June 30, 2010. Retrieved on 2010-07-20.
  9. Iwrestledabearonce: 'It's All Dubstep' EP Available For Free Download Archived November 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine blabbermouth.net. November 9, 2010. Retrieved on 2010-11-19.
  10. "IWRESTLEDABEARONCE go black metal". The Phoenix. The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  11. Rosenberg, Axl. "Exclusive Track Premiere: Iwrestledabearonce Are Ruining It For Everybody, Show Us Their "Karate Nipples"". MetalSucks. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  12. Florino, Rick (May 2011). "Century Media Records - Iwrestledabearonce". Century Media Records. Retrieved September 24, 2011. It's heavier, catchier, and better organized than anything we've done so far. We took a really spastic blend of genres and made it more cohesive.
  13. ""I want people to hear my take on the band:" Courtney LaPlante on Iwrestledabearonce's new album - Features - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  14. "Iwrestledabearonce Writing New Album | Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More". Theprp.com. January 24, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
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  19. metalmucil. "Twitter is supposed to be short and sweet so heyo new band and new music is a comin!pic.twitter.com/dfu0U0JgQS". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
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  21. "NEWS: Spiritbox announce debut self-titled EP, out October 27th 2017!". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
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  23. "NEWS: Courtney LaPlante confirms her departure from iwrestledabearonce!". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  24. "Spiritbox (ex-Iwrestledabearonce) Is Where Serene Art-Rock + Metal Savagery Meet". Retrieved August 7, 2019.
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  28. Palmer Sturman (August 12, 2011). "Review: Iwrestledabearonce – Ruining It For Everybody". Music Review. Retrieved September 24, 2011. I would be foolish to overlook Krysta Cameron’s incredibly polished vocals. Her scream is as crisp as ever and it’s clear that this past year of constant touring and writing has helped her find her niche. She defines this album. Her singing is beautiful and serine.
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  34. Ronnie Kerswell (September 4, 2009). "iwrestledabearonce - 'It's All Happening'". Rock Sound. Retrieved September 24, 2011. both a mix of Portishead-esque synths and hint-of-Björk vocals, lend a bit of diversity and make this bunch stand out.
  35. Pete Withers (August 1, 2011). "Iwrestledabearonce - Ruining It For Everybody". Rock Sound. Retrieved September 24, 2011. technical mish-mash of progressive metal, full-throated hardcore, operatic female vocals and lounge jazz
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  40. Michael Stringer (a member since 2015).
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  48. "Iwrestledabearonce Tastes Like Kevin Bacon (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  49. "Iwrestledabearonce You Ain't No Family (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  50. "Iwrestledabearonce Karate Nipples (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  51. "Iwrestledabearonce Next Visible Delicious (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  52. "Iwrestledabearonce You Know That Ain't Them Dogs' Real Voices (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  53. "Iwrestledabearonce Firebees (Single)". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  54. "Gift of Death (Single) by Iwrestledabearonce: Rhapsody". Rhapsody. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  55. "Iwrestledabearonce|You Ain't No Family|Music Video". MTV. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  56. Crane, Matt (May 12, 2015). "Watch iwrestledabearonce's new video for "Gift Of Death" (exclusive)". Alternative Press. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  57. "Iwrestledabearonce Premiere New Music Video, "Green Eyes"". Revolver. June 9, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
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