ANDY BIERSACK On BLACK VEIL BRIDES' 'Darker' And 'Heavier' New Album: 'It's Representative Of Where We're At As A Band'

In a new interview with Rock Feed, BLACK VEIL BRIDES frontman Andy Biersack spoke about the band's latest single, "Certainty". The track will appear on the band's upcoming album, due later this year via Spinefarm. Regarding how "Certainty" was conceived, Andy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A lot of times I think this happens, and I don't know why it is. We do the whole record and then we feel like there's a missing song. And this was the quote-unquote missing song. Jake [Pitts, guitar] and I did this song. Jake had an idea; he sent it to me. I wrote on it. We tracked it. It was one of those everything-came-together — bam, bam, bam — very quick sort of songs, 'cause we knew exactly what we wanted to do. And I knew lyrically what I wanted to say with it. And so it came together really quickly, and it was the last song for the record. Everything else had already been recorded. And it just felt like a real sort of mission statement for the album — from a lyrical perspective, from the musical perspective."

On the topic of the BLACK VEIL BRIDES members' decision to produce their new album themselves, Andy said: "This record is one that we've made on our own. Obviously, we have a label and we're very supported by that label, and we were very fortunate to be in that position. But when it came down to it, this record was primarily made here in Florida by the band. Jake and I produced it. And it's the kind of record that we wanted to make without any other cooks in the kitchen. And I think it's really representative of where we're at as a band."

Asked what it feels like to be getting such a strong response from the fans to BLACK VEIL BRIDES' new music, Andy said: "Well, it's fantastic. I think we're the kind of band that, for better or for worse, people don't necess[arily]… There's a version of the band that people have in their mind, most of which is primarily based on maybe when they first heard the band or what they think of the band. A lot of people who don't even know what the band sounds like have a version of the band in their mind, so it's been very interesting, having made this record on our own, very much committed sonically to the style that we wanted to pursue, playing these festivals and having people discover the band through these songs that maybe didn't otherwise give it a shot beforehand."

Andy continued: "We've talked about this before. We're kind of the little engine that could in that way. A lot of people dismiss the band outright, don't really know what we sound like, sort of associate an image that they saw in their mind of like 2010, of us looking like MÖTLEY [CRÜE] or whatever, which is fine. That's part of our history, but they don't really necessarily know what it is that we do. And so it's been fun to kind of — I guess in some ways so far these songs seem to have kind of snuck up on people in a way. And it's fun to surprise people this many years into our career with, tonally, what we do because people hear the singles and primarily the singles from records were sometimes outside your control, but they're the big anthem songs. So people's assumption is that the totality of our records, if they've never dug into the catalog, is 12 songs that sound like 'Fallen Angels' on every record or 'In The End' or whatever else. And while I love those songs, that is much less representative of the totality of our catalog as opposed to like things that are much more kind of guitar-oriented and heavy. And certainly moving forward, this record is what you might call a darker or heavier record in that way."

When "Certainty" was first released earlier in the month, Biersack said in a statement: "The concept of 'Certainty' is central to this record and appears throughout the album. The song was inspired by the film 'Conclave', particularly its reflections on religious certainty and how rigid belief systems can become prisons of our own making. When certainty hardens, curiosity, growth, and the willingness to change become impossible. Much of today's political and social discourse exists inside these echo chambers of absolute belief, and that tension drives the narrative of this record."

To coincide with the single's release, BLACK VEIL BRIDES unveiled a striking new music video for "Certainty", directed by George Gallardo Kattah (CHELSEA WOLFE, MÅNESKIN) and filmed while the band was on tour in Colombia. Featuring stunning cinematography and an intensity reminiscent of an A24 motion picture, the video mirrors the song's themes. Further, it exemplifies the bold visual identity BLACK VEIL BRIDES have cultivated throughout their career.

Biersack added: "This was the final song written and recorded for the album. It started from an idea Jake [Pitts, guitar] sent over, and it came together quickly over the course of a few days. It felt essential both narratively and musically, capturing the overall tone of what we're aiming for. The music video, directed by George Gallardo Kattah and his team in Bogotá, Colombia, is one of our favorites we've ever done. His interpretation of fear and pride as biblical twins is stunning, and the visuals are incredible."

Last September, Biersack spoke to PK of the ALT 105.1 radio station about BLACK VEIL BRIDES' 2025 track "Hallelujah". The Tampa, Florida-based choir One Voice Ensemble lent its talents to the song, which was produced by Biersack and Pitts and was made available in July 2025 by BLACK VEIL BRIDES' label partners Spinefarm. Andy said: "We just wrapped the [new BLACK VEIL BRIDES full-length] record. We put that song out… In the old days, they used to be called a 'street track', right? It's not a single; it's just showing 'this is what we're working on' kind of thing. So we did that before the record was done. We just wanted to get something out, because it had been a year since we had released anything. And so now the [full-length] record is done. It's fully mixed. It's going into mastering. Our work's getting done. I think that we'll probably have another song out before the end of the year. And the record will get announced early next year."

He added: "I'm hyped, man. I really love the record. We're really excited about it. We produced it ourselves. And it's our first record with Spinefarm as a label, and so it's just a great relationship, a great situation."

Asked if this is the first time members of BLACK VEIL BRIDES have produced their music themselves, Andy said: "Yeah. We've been able to work with really great producers over the years, and so Jake and I feel like we learned a lot from them. We worked with Bob Rock, John Feldmann, Erik Ron, all these guys who are top of the game. And so we wanted to try our hand. And we're never gonna do what they do, but we felt like it's our record and we wanted to take ownership over it and see how good we can do on our own. And I think the result is, at least for us, it's pretty exciting. I think it's one of the best things we've done because it's unfiltered us. If you're a fan of what we do, it's going to be the most of what we do, 'cause without anybody else's voice in the room, you're left to your own devices."

He continued: "As from a writer and a singer perspective, for me, one of the things I found to be the most exciting about this record was when you write a song and you work with a producer, a lot of times the producer hears it a certain way. So I get in the booth to sing it and the phrasing, they'll say, 'Ah, sing it this way' or 'that way.' And so for this, it's exactly how I pictured it in my mind as I'm writing the thing down. And so for better or for worse, it feels the most complete."

Seven months ago, BLACK VEIL BRIDES released an animated video for "Hallelujah", directed by Marco Pavone (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, PINK FLOYD, SHADOW OF INTENT).

"Hallelujah" received its live debut at Warped Tour in Long Beach, California on July 26, 2025.

When "Hallelujah" was first made available, Biersack said in a statement: "'Hallelujah' is an important song for us, not only because it is the first track from the new record, but also as a signifier of what's to come for the band. On a narrative level, it represents the themes and ideas I am exploring lyrically on the album.

"I am fascinated by the current state of discourse and how often we seem to prioritize ideological certainty over the heart and soul of humanity. Over the years we have developed a tremendous connection with our audience, which is often dismissed or misinterpreted by the 'scene.' We stand at a unique inflection point culturally and I want to be able to speak openly about how much I believe in being true to yourself over the fear of mass hysteria or in-group recriminations.

"When my grandfather's voice spoke to 'the outcasts' in the first moments of our first record in 2010, it was a sincere call to arms for all those who feel different. In many ways this record is the natural evolution of that same idea. This is the heaviest and most vitriolic BVB record by far but more importantly I believe it is the most sincere and honest record we have ever made."

Earlier in 2025, Andy credited Feldmann and Ron with helping him develop the skills in the studio to oversee a BLACK VEIL BRIDES recording from beginning to end. Biersack told Brandy-Baye Robidoux of Idobi Radio: "I wouldn't know how any of this stuff functions without particularly those two. Jake and I have always said we learned how to be people in a studio from John Feldmann. And then that carried over to where when we started working with Erik, who also had worked with Feldmann as an engineer in his early career, we come from that same school. And so I think in a lot of ways we brought that same sort of means of production to our record. It's just that we were doing it on our own. But it really comes from that for us."

Asked if it was "more challenging or easier" to produce the new album themselves, Andy said: "I would say it was a little bit more challenging in the capacity that you've gotta make sure that you get it right. I would say the easier thing is for me vocally, sometimes — and I guess this will be determined by how people hear it — but sometimes when you're singing, if you're working with a producer who is also a singer, they have a way that they want to hear something. So if I go, 'This melody goes this way,' and they go, 'Oh, this melody should go this way.' And then you're, like, 'Oh,' and that's unnatural. I always say, like, there's certain times when I can hear on records where I would've wanted it to be pushed this certain way, and then somebody else wanted it to go this other way, and then I just end up sounding like I don't know what I'm saying in the song. With this, it's just the way I want it, for better or for worse. So we'll find out whether that was the right way or not. We'll find out. We'll see if people like it."

Regarding whether BLACK VEIL BRIDES is "pulling from any unexpected influences" this time around, Andy said: "Well, I think we have a total lack of interest in any commercial crossover. We've been in the major label system for most of our career, where even though we were a band with a lot of shreddy guitars and I'm writing about theological ideas, they're, like, 'But where's the single?' And so you'd always kind of have to temper that with, 'We've gotta make sure that there's a single.' And what we have found, and thankfully working with Spinefarm now, 'Bleeders' was not a song that was made to be a hit. And yet it was a song that, because the label believed in it, did really well at radio and traditional places. So we want to be able to make songs that are enjoyable and that people at radio wanna play — we sincerely want that — but we are not in a position now where we're going to the studio going, like, 'Okay, but we've gotta make sure that we have the song that it's cool for the executives' kind of thing, which is kind of something that we had been bogged down by for a lot of years… And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In some cases, you make a concept record that's an hour and a half long, but you happen to have a song that is a platinum single on it. People are, like, 'All right, fine. You could do weird stuff.' If you do that same thing and then you don't have that platinum single, yeah…. And we've seen both sides of that. So, at this point I feel like the best bet is just to make the coolest thing we can make as opposed to trying to go, 'I hope we've got that big hit on there,' 'cause you can't prescribe those things."

In May 2024, BLACK VEIL BRIDES released the title track from their "Bleeders" EP, inspired by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's "Sweeney Todd". The band paid tribute to the classic musical with a music video for the title track that is inspired by the musical's 2007 Tim Burton-directed film adaptation.

Released in June 2024, the three-track EP, which included "Bleeders", a cover of "My Friends" from the Sondheim classic, and a cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", was BLACK VEIL BRIDES' first release for Spinefarm.