OF VIRTUE – AN ARTIST SPOTLIGHT & INTERVIEW
Photo Alexander Bemis
By Ralph Beauchamp
Metalcore standouts, Of Virtue just released their latest album entitled Death of the Altar via Arising Empire. Of Virtue have carved out a special place in today’s metal scene. They balance devastating heaviness with heightened melodies, atmospheric passages and impassioned lyrics. The Michigan-based band thrives on diversity. They easily shift between punishing guitar riffs, aggressive screams and polished clean vocals in order to forge a sound that feels modern and new.
Composed of Tyler Ennis (Vocals), Damon Tate (Guitar/Vocals), Mike Valadez (Guitar) and Ryan Trinh (Drums), Of Virtue devises music to create both chaos and calm. And that is what their new full length is all about. Death of the Altar continues their impressive growth. The album is a true evolution in musical style with its explosive cadences and ruthless melodies. All the while, the tracks feel darker. They confront societal ills head on with an emotionally charged fervency.
At its depth, Death of the Altar examines things people devote themselves to even though those attachments can be destructive. Of Virtue expound upon themes of struggle, self-doubt and unhealthy relationships. Yet, the band pairs this damaging weight with seeds of salvation. They offset the underbelly of humanity with messages of resiliency and hope. The result is a powerful showcase of a band using melodic hooks and the uncompromising force of metalcore to explore new artistic territory. Of Virtue never rests on their laurels. They always march forward to new heights.
We last spoke with Of Virtue in 2023 and they we kind enough to sit again with us for this in-depth interview.
AMP: We featured Of Virtue as early as 2019 and interviewed the band in 2023. Your new album is Death of the Altar which balances crushing riffs, industrial elements, atmospheric textures and huge melodic choruses. Do you feel it’s an evolution of musical style from your last release, Omen?
OF VIRTUE: Absolutely! With OMEN, we were able to experiment in ways we had never done in the past and not really have expectations placed on us, considering the state of the world at the time. Our focus was just “creating” and that album changed the course of our lives because of it. With ALTAR, our vision was to take all of our favorite parts of OMEN and turn the intensity up! We wanted the heavy riffs to be heavier, the choruses to be more infectious and overall, we wanted this record to feel like a band who had a great time writing it (which we did).
AMP: Of Virtue have always merged aggression with accessibility. Has finding that counterbalance become more natural over the years or is it something you still actively work at?
OF VITUE: In a lot of ways, it has become second nature to us but that’s also because we consciously work on those things! We all love so many different styles of music and talk about the various ways we can try to incorporate our influences, inspirations and ideas into new songs. It’s a never-ending puzzle that we are happy to build and then tear down several times until we get the right result.
AMP: When Of Virtue writes a song, what usually comes first – a riff, a vocal melody, a lyrical concept or a production idea?
OF VIRTUE: All of the above! We don’t have a singular way that songs come about with us which is great. A lot of the time, everyone gets into the room together and someone will have a riff, a vocal or well start a conversation that leads to a theme that everyone is connecting with. That’s been the magic of our writing process over the past few records and as the old adage goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
AMP: How do you turn experiences that are deeply personal into songs that listeners can interpret through their own lives?
OF VIRTUE: We just write from the heart and there will be times that our stories can be parallel to other people’s experiences! We as listeners have connected with our favorite artists over the years because they were as raw and authentic as they could be. Its not easy to do, especially when some of those wounds can still be open.
AMP: Looking back at your earlier releases, what aspects of your sound have remained essential to Of Virtue, regardless how much you’ve evolved?
OF VIRTUE: Of Virtue is and will always be rooted in heavy metal and rock music. That will always be a part of our DNA and when that ceases to be, our band will be no more. The thing that has definitely grown the most in recent years has been the vocal ability/dexterity that both Tyler and Damon showcase. Tyler wasn’t really a singer when he first joined the band and Damon was more focused on playing guitar but over time, we wanted to challenge ourselves to become better singers to infuse our own sense of melody and arrangement in the foundation of the band.
AMP: Your music moves between vulnerable melodic passages and extremely heavy sections. How do you translate that emotional contrast into a live performance?
OF VIRTUE: A live performance can have the same cadence as a playlist you listen to in the car. A “heavy” emotional section can carry just as much weight as a sonically heavy one so figuring out what works for the pace is key. Our song “Sober” is a perfect example of a part in our set where we can slow the pace down and offer up one of the most emotional moments. To pick that energy back up, we play something heavier to keep the flow going and also pull you back into the high energy setting that we started off the night with!
AMP: After spending so much time with these songs in the studio, does playing them live help you reconnect with their original meaning?
OF VIRTUE: Writing the song for us is only half of the battle! For us, we pride ourselves on being an awesome, energetic live band that gives everything we have to the audience every single night. When we play new songs live and see people singing along, moshing, crowdsurfing, crying or just having a great time – it is completing the circle of life of creation. There’s nothing quite like the electricity of going to see your favorite artist and connecting to songs you might have sang along to in your car or bedroom for years!
AMP: What’s a lesson you learned while making this album that you’ll carry into the next one?
OF VIRTUE: Even though we have known each other for a long time and consider ourselves best friends/brothers, this record made us relearn how to communicate and trust each other in much deeper ways than ever before. With OMEN, we had no expectations and with ALTAR, it felt the exact opposite. All of us want the very best for the band and don’t want to get in the way of the message we want our audience to connect with and at times, that involves hard conversation and hard truth.
AMP: If Omen represented one chapter of Of Virtue’s story, how would you describe the chapter that Death of the Altar opens?
OF VIRTUE: DEATH OF THE ALTAR represents a collective ego death for all of us. For each of us, there were beliefs and ideals that we held so close for so long that we had to let go of/realize that the energy we were putting into these things, we were not getting in return. This was one of the hardest records we have ever made but in a lot of ways, this is the most rewarding because of its brutal honesty and the places where the stories are coming from.
AMP: When listeners finish the album, what do you hope they feel: understood, challenged, empowered or something else entirely?
OF VIRTUE: We want our listeners to simply “feel”. We can’t tell anyone what they are going to experience when they listen to the record but what we have laid out are 11 songs that changed the course of our lives in so many ways. If you feel empowered, we have succeeded. If you feel hope or passion, then we have succeeded. Listen to DEATH OF THE ALTAR with an open mind/free spirit and we promise you will take away something as well.
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