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Band of the Week: After The Ordeal

Melodic, heavy and above all intense, these Kent rock monsters are here to steal your heart

When looking through the thousands and thousands of new bands who all want to 'make it', it can be tough to find something that stands out. Every now and then a band like After The Ordeal comes along and makes you think, 'Yeah, these guys have got something'.

It's fair to say they follow in a lot of bands' footsteps - listen to 'Other Sides' below and you'll hear a bit of Thursday, a dash of Funeral For A Friend and a hefty dose of Alexisonfire's more epic moments.

You can also check out the video for 'The End Never Comes' below.

Just click play and this'll punch your ears, and then hug them to say sorry.
After The Ordeal - 'Other Sides' by RockSoundMagazine

Introduce yourselves - who's in the band and what do you do?
"I'm Gary James Broughton - vocals and in the band is Peter Herbert - bass; Jack Herbert - drums; Rhys May - guitar, Shane Carlin - guitar."

When was your first gig?
"At a dump in Dartford called The Phoenix back in September 2008. It went pretty well, we only had a 4-song set but the songs were long enough to be able to call it a set! I'll always remember some pissed-up tart getting on stage mid-song and asking me for a rizla! Needless to say I wrecked the fuck out of her for the rest of the set! She was fucking wasted!"

Name three albums which made you want to be in a band...

"Collectively we'd have to probably say that 'In Keeping Secrets...' by Coheed And Cambria would be Number One, but any of the first four albums could be Top Three material. Of course we all have our personal favourites, mine range from Story Of The Year to Millencolin, Pete counts Korn's 'Follow the Leader' in his Top Three and Jack, Rhys and Shane include the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Circa Survive and obviously Coheed as personal favourites."

What was the big ordeal?
"'Shake It' by Metro Station!"



Rate these films in order of excellence, from best to worst: Jaws, Jaws II, Jaws III AND WHY?

"Jaws was by far the best, if we're talking about the eventual killing of the shark, Jaws II would be second by default as no-one remembers the third one!"

What was the point when you realised being in a band wasn't just something fun to do but a viable way to spend your life?

"I think we've always intended ATO to be something we want to spend the rest of our lives doing since Day One. We always have fun in everything we do, whether it be touring, rehearsing or writing. Our music tends to be of a serious nature so we need to balance it out with the fun stuff. I think the moment we realised that we could potentially take ATO a lot further was when we supported Madina Lake back in the spring. The response from the fans was completely overwhelming and unexpected. It made us realise that we're doing something that people actually appreciated and can relate to, and the feeling we got from that response was one of the best feelings any of us have ever had!"

Who would your ideal tour be in support of, and why?

"Not ideally, but just because it would be such an honour, Coheed And Cambria would be top of the list. It probably wouldn't do us any favours as Coheed fans are pretty hardcore and generally wouldn't give a support band like us the time of day! But sharing the stage with them every night would more than make up for that! If we had to pick a more suitable band to support I'd have to say Story Of The Year. I've been a huge fan of them since their first record and to spend time on the road with a band you've loved for so long would be a dream come true.

How do you want people to feel during an After The Ordeal show?
"This is a tough one. We want people to hopefully appreciate the depth and diversity of our sound, but at the same time we love it when the fans go fucking berzerk! I guess as long as everyone gets a great feeling out of our performance, whether it's simply appreciating our music, or pummeling the shit out of one another in the pit, then we've done our job! We want people to feel good in their own way, and hopefully our music has the ability to do that."

Where do you want to be in five years' time?
"In rock 'n' roll covers bands playing holiday camps and social clubs! That's where the money is! Seriously though, we'd love to still be doing what we do, hopefully on a bigger scale. Making ATO self-sufficient enough to jack in our day jobs would be amazing, but we know we've got a long way to go before we can make decisions like that. We need jobs to fund the band. Without our day jobs, there wouldn't be a band. Hopefully 5 years down the line we can look back on this interview and say, 'Yeah, we've managed to do everything we spoke about in that interview with Rock Sound!' - Just hopefully not the bit about the covers bands!"

You’re playing Sonisphere – how did that come about? How excited are you? What can people expect?
"Over the last 18 months we've managed to build up a small list of reliable and helpful contacts. One of those guys was kind enough to recomend us to the Sonisphere organisers and shortly afterwards we got the offer to play at the festival. It didn't sink in for a while, but now we're just eager to get up onstage - at 3pm on Sunday August 01 - and show the Sonisphere crowds what we're all about! What can they expect? Well, our live shows are always intense no matter what the setting may be, whether it be a tiny sweatbox in Leeds or a huge festival tent in the middle of a Hertfordshire field, the passion and intensity will always be the biggest part of our show. We try to be as appealing visually as we are audibly. 'It's gonna sound huge, it's gonna look mental', lets just leave it at that!"



Their new self-titled EP is out now. Buy it, or be That Guy Who Doesn't Buy Good Music When It's There. And no one likes that guy.