Aiden

Headshot of Aiden
Aiden released Nightmare Academy (2005), Rain in Hell (EP) (2006), Conviction (2007), Knives (2009), From Hell…With Love (Live) (2010), Disguises (2011) and Some Kind of Hate (2011) with Victory Records.
Aiden released Nightmare Academy (2005), Rain in Hell (EP) (2006), Conviction (2007), Knives (2009), From Hell…With Love (Live) (2010), Disguises (2011) and Some Kind of Hate (2011) with Victory Records.

Hailing from rainy Seattle, Aiden combine post-hardcore and punk attitudes with gothic aesthetic and a love of all things horror (not to mention, of course, The Misfits) to create surging, darkly melodic music. Aiden formed in the spring of 2003 while the band members were still in high school, taking their name from the young ghost-seeing boy in the 2002 horror flick The Ring. A few lineup changes occurred early on; the quintet – Nick Wiggins (bass), Jake Davidson (drums), Angel Ibarra (guitar), Jake Wambold (guitar), and William “wiL” Francis (vocals) – was solidified, however, before entering the studio in December 2004 to record its debut full-length, Our Gang’s Dark Oath.

Making two-song samplers of their album, Aiden managed to pass out a few thousand copies around town, sparking a word-of-mouth buzz all over Seattle. The hard work paid off quickly, and the group inked a deal with Victory Records by December.

Their first label effort, Nightmare Academy, appeared in October 2005, proving to be a sickly energetic record with undeniable hooks despite somewhat morose lyrical content. Victory then re-released Our Gang’s Dark Oath with new artwork in April 2006, followed by the Rain in Hell EP arriving just in time for that year’s Halloween. In August of 2007, Aiden issued Conviction, an album that took them away from their screamo tendencies toward a more rock-oriented, melodic terrain. In 2009, the band made a return to its post-hardcore form with Knives, and followed up quickly with the live album From Hell…With Love, released in 2010. Later that year, the band went into the studio to begin work on its fifth album, Disguises. Produced by Francis, the album was released in 2011. Just five months later, Aiden announced that they already had another album in the works, and in the fall of 2011 they made good on their promise, releasing their sixth studio album, Some Kind of Hate.

Aiden released Nightmare Academy (2005), Rain in Hell (EP) (2006), Conviction (2007), Knives (2009), From Hell…With Love (Live) (2010), Disguises (2011) and Some Kind of Hate (2011) with Victory Records.