Orange County, CA · metalcore

Eighteen Visions

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The band that put the fashion in fashioncore — hair, hooks, and a metallic swagger nobody else pulled off, Orange County scene history reactivated.

Eighteen Visions formed in Orange County, California in October 1995, initially under the name Macabre, with James Hart, Dave Peters, Billy Sisler, and Kenneth Floyd; the band played its first shows at Koo's Cafe in early 1996. The new name came from a lyric, "I depict eighteen visions for its demise," and the number eighteen was chosen as the number of the beast, six plus six plus six; Hart, then sixteen, wanted the most evil-sounding name he could think of.

The band emerged from the same Southern California hardcore scene that produced Bleeding Through and Throwdown, and its early releases, including the 1997 debut Lifeless and 1999's Yesterday Is Time Killed, were abrasive metallic hardcore. That record caught the attention of Trustkill Records, which released 2000's Until the Ink Runs Out, one of the label's best-selling albums at the time.

Over time the band moved toward a more melodic, hook-driven metalcore, trading blast-heavy riffs for bigger choruses, and the styled hair, tailored clothes, and general glamour of the members led to the half-joking 'fashioncore' tag that followed them throughout its run.

Vocalist James Hart fronted the group through its best-known period, which included a major-label album released through Epic and Trustkill Records less than a year before the band broke up in April 2007. Eighteen Visions reunited in 2017 and has released new material since, including a sixth album, XVIII, issued through Rise Records.

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metalcore