The hard rock group Pop Evil released the third single, ‘Dead Reckoning (Ft. Fit For A King)’ from their upcoming album, Skeletons due March 17 via MNRK Heavy.
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The concept and instrumentals for ‘Dead Reckoning’ were brought to the table by bassist, Joey “Chicago” Walser and co-written with singer, Leigh Kakaty. The producer of Skeletons, Drew Fulk (WZRD BLD), heard the demo and immediately suggested that Ryan Kirby from Fit for a King would be the perfect fit for a vocal collaboration. In describing the song, the band said, “’Dead Reckoning’ is about a clear and unwavering decision a person makes within themselves.”
The 11 tracks include the already released single, ‘Eye of the Storm,’ which landed at the #5 Most Played Song in 2022 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart, and the most recent single, ‘Paranoid (Crash & Burn).’ The album also includes guest performers such as Blake Allison from Devour the Day providing guest vocals on ‘Wrong Direction.’
In discussing the album, frontman Leigh Kakaty said, “This is about us as a band stripping everything down to the bones. It’s more uptempo, it’s got bigger riffs, and we’re trying to capture the energy of our live show.”
“But it’s also a positive message,” he adds. “I know it’s a morbid visual, but behind every skeleton, there’s a story and something worth talking about. Overall, it’s about looking at something in a positive way. And I’m excited for everyone to hear that.”
Skeletons see the band once again working with producer WZRD BLD (Disturbed, Papa Roach, Motionless in White), a friend and collaborator on a few previous albums that generated # hits. “With ‘Versatile,’ we had a bunch of producers, but for this album, we just wanted to work with one person and get back to our roots,” says Kakaty. “There’s an energy he and I have, and he’s been great at helping us build these songs and work around some collective themes.”
Skeletons Tracklist:
1. Arrival
2. Paranoid (Crash & Burn)
3. Circles
4. Eye of The Storm
5. Sound of Glory
6. Skeletons
7. Worth It
8. Who Will We Become
9. Wrong Direction (Feat Devour the Day)
10. Dead Reckoning (Feat Fit For A King)
11. Raging Bull (Feat Zillion)
POP EVIL has massive anthems and built a new rock’n’roll institution on a foundation of showmanship, raw relatability, and hard rock hooks, both forward-thinking and timeless from frontman, Leigh Kakaty, lead guitarist Nick Fuelling, rhythm guitarist Dave Grahs, bassist Joey “Chicago” Walser and drummer Hayley Cramer. No matter the headline-grabbing declarations from legendary icons, lamenting the changing of the guard, the slow-burning success of Pop Evil demonstrates the hunger for hard-hitting honest music persisting worldwide.
Their 2011 album, War of Angels debuted at #8 on Billboard Top Rock Albums with three singles landing on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Top 10 including ‘Last Man Standing’, ‘Monster You Made’ and ‘Boss’s Daughter.’ The momentum continued with their 2013 album Onyx, landing them on the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 for the first time, plus it was #9 on the Billboard Independent Albums in America and #25 on the Billboard 200. The album included three #1 Billboard Mainstream Rock singles, ‘Trenches’, ‘Deal with the Devil’ and ‘Torn to Pieces.’ In 2015, the band released their album, UP, which would make its way to #1 on Billboard Independent Albums, with four Top 5 Billboard Singles such as ‘Ways to Get High,’ ‘Take It All,’ and ‘If Only for Now’. The hit single ‘Footsteps’ is still one of the biggest songs to date and returned Pop Evil to Billboard’s #1 spot for four weeks. Their 2018 self-titled album landed three singles on Billboard Mainstream Rock, ‘Waking Lions’ at #1 with ‘Be Legendary’ peaking at #2, and ‘A Crime to Remember’ peaking at #7.
op Evil’s last #1 single include ‘Survivor,’ which also topped Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart in late 2021, joining previous Top 10 single ‘Work,’ and #1 single ‘Breathe Again,’ from their album VERSATILE, out now via MNRK Heavy. Over the course of their career, the band has achieved four gold singles with ‘Torn to Pieces,’ and ‘Trenches’ from Onyx, ‘Footsteps’ from UP, and, ‘100 in a 55’ from their debut studio album, Lipstick on the Mirror.
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