Valient Thorr’s Valient Himself Joins Brief Lives!

Good news, fellow Thorriors: Valient Thorr’s frontman and spiritual leader Valient Himself has joined the Richmond, VA post-hardcore band Brief Lives! Even without knowing anything about Brief Lives prior to this moment, I think we can all agree that Himself’s electric stage presence and unmistakable vocals instantly make this band better. You know what I’m talkin’ about??? Here’s VH on how it all came together:

I was looking for someone to jam with, but all my buddies in Richmond already have 2 or 3 bands.  Whenever one comes home, the other goes out.  So I found these guys on Craigslist.  And they decided I was good enough.

As for the sound?

I don’t know.  Its too new for me to decide.  Their old sound was the DC punk sound.  Now the songs Chris writes are way slower, atmospheric and more grooving.  But still very catchy.  That last run we did had buddies saying they heard everything from Fugazi and Quicksand to Can, Hawkwind, Soundgarden and Rollins Band.  Shit, I don’t know.  Its basically me singing for a punk band that started writing stoner jams.

Here’s Brief Lives’ 2013 two-song release Whistleblower via Bandcamp. Valient Himself doesn’t appear on these tracks, but it’s easy to imagine his vocals here; there are definitely sonic similarities between his voice and the band’s former vocalist. VH tells MetalSucks that the band has new recordings with him on vocals just about ready to go.

As for Valient Thorr, don’t worry, they’re not hanging it up, just taking a much-needed break. They’re playing at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC on September 6 (with Mastodon, among others), and they’ve got a European tour booked for July. Dates below

Brief Lives featuring Valient Himself:

May 23 Virginia Beach, VA @ WRV for Memorial Daze Bash
May 24 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie w/ Pulling Punches
May 25 Brooklyn, NY @ The Grand Victory w/ Love Bomb, Lord Classic, Moon Tooth
May 26 Pittsburgh, PA @ The Smiling Moose w/ The Filthy Lowdown, Six Speed Kill
May 27 Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant Street w/ Ghost House, High Fives, Hell Yeahs
May 28 Baltimore, MD @ Holy Frijoles w/ Holy Tongues, Crimes, DJ Jerrod Bronson
May 29 Raleigh, NC @ Neptune’s Parlour w/ dj set by members of Diarrhea Planet
May 30 Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor w/ Yonatan Gat (Monotonix)
May 31 Atlanta, GA @ 529 w/ Yonatan Gat (Monotonix), Dasher
June 1 Chapel Hill, NC @ The Cave w/ Revolving Beast, Bitter Resolve
June 14 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter w/ Tweak Bird, Whatever Brains
June 15 Huntington, WV @ V Club w/ Horseburner, Cavern, & Last Days of Sun
June 16 Covington, KY @ Coda
June 17 Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class w/ Kill The Hippies, Primes
June 18 Grand Rapids, MI @ Mulligan’s Pub
June 19 Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
June 20 Kansas City, MO @ miniBar w/ Drop A Grand, BUMMER, Runaway Sons, & DJ 2LiveCruz
June 21 Dallas, TX @ Double Wide
June 22 Austin, TX @ TBA
June 23 Houston, TX @ Rudyard’s w/ Hog Leg, Texxxas
June 25 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
June 26 Nashville, TN @ Springwater w/ Hurts To Laugh, Friendship Commanders
June 27 Asheville, NC @ The Odditorium w/ Gold Light

Valient Thorr:

JULY 10 ERFURT, GER- STONED FROM THE UNDERGROUND FESTIVAL
JULY 11 PROSDORF, GER- KRACH AM BACH FESTIVAL
JULY 12 CASCINA (PI), ITALY- THE JUNGLE
JULY 13 SAVIGNANO AL RUBICONE (FC), ITALY
JULY 14 MILANO, ITALY- LOFI CLUB
JULY 16 LONDON, UK- 100 CLUB
JULY 17 WIESBADEN, GER- SCHLACHTHOF
JULY 18 HANNOVER, GER- GLOCKSEE
JULY 19 KOPENHAGEN, DEN- KB
JULY 20 HAMBURG, GER- HAFENKLANG
JULY 21 BERLIN, GER- CASSIOPEIA
JULY 23 TOMLIN, SLO- METALDAYS FESTIVAL
JULY 24 VIENNA, AUS- VIPER ROOM
JULY 25 MUNICH, GER- BACKSTAGE
JULY 26 JOHANNISBERG, GER- MUHLBERG FESTIVAL
JULY 27 LICHTENVOORDE, NL- ZWARTE CROSS MOTORCROSS FESTIVAL
JULY 28 SIEGEN, GER- VORTEX CLUB