Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones

Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones is the third studio album by American rock band Black Veil Brides. It was released through Lava Records/Universal Republic Records on January 8, 2013 and it is a rock opera concept album. Pre-orders for the album became available to download from iTunes on Halloween, October 31. The track "In the End" is the album's lead single, and was offered as an instant download to everyone who pre-ordered the album from iTunes after October 31. "In the End" has been featured as one of the theme songs for WWE's Hell in a Cell.

Black Veil Brides will embark on a North American tour, titled "The Church of the Wild Ones Tour" in support of the album, lasting from January–March, 2013. In February, they will take a small break from the tour to headline the Kerrang! Tour in the UK, with supporting acts Chiodos, Tonight Alive, and Fearless Vampire Killers. They will then return to North America to finish off the last leg of "The Church of the Wild Ones Tour".

Release and promotion

Black Veil Brides began releasing details and teasers for Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones almost a year before the album's release date:

Guitarists Jinxx and Jake told Chris Droney in an interview for Glasswerk National that the band are constantly writing new music, and were planning on recording their next major LP in April 2012. On February 18, Jake tweeted, "Amazing stuff. This next record is going to kick your arses." In a February 2012 interview, Ashley Purdy announced that the band's third studio album is scheduled to be released towards the end of 2012. On May 2, Black Veil Brides had this to announce: "As of today, we have officially began recording our new album which will be released on October 30th!" Andy said in an interview at the Download Festival that "We've got three songs tracked. We've set ourselves a deadline of the end of August to finish it. We've got 20 to 25 songs written and we're narrowing it down now. John Feldmann is producing it. It's going to be more of a punk rock record than anything we've done before. It's Social Distortion meets Metallica." September 4, Andy announced that they had finished recording of the new album: "Well, tracking has officially wrapped for the new record! Still some stuff to finish up but I’m so happy, excited, and proud of this album!"

Release delay

It was announced that the release of the album would be pushed back from October 30, 2012 to sometime in January 2013. On October 8, the album cover and album name were released, along with the announcement that pre-orders would be launched from iTunes on Halloween, October 31. The song "In the End" became available for purchase on the same date of the pre-order. On December 12, the music video for "In the End" was released on YouTube and received over a million views in one week. On October 29, the band announced the official tracklist and release date for the album; it is scheduled to be released on January 8, 2013. On December 30, the album was leaked 10 days prior to its official release.

Reception

The album has received mixed reviews, with both criticism and praise going to the album's concept, Biersack's vocals, the interludes, the concept behind the story of the album, and the lyrics.

The album went on to sell 42,000 units in its first week, opening at number 7 in the Billboard 200, making this their first top ten entry on the chart. "In the End" reached number 39 on the Billboard Rock Charts.

Album artwork

The cover art for Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones was painted by Richard Villa, long-time Black Veil Brides cover artist who also painted the cover art for We Stitch These Wounds, Set the World on Fire, and Rebels. It depicts a child holding the Black Veil Brides pentacharm standing up against an army of evil.

Film adaptation: Legion of the Black

Along with the release of the album's pre-order information, a teaser for a full-length film was posted to the band's YouTube, as well as shared through their Facebook page. The film, titled Legion of the Black, will tell the visual story of the concept presented in the album: "The film follows a group of rebels known as "The Wild Ones" as they defend their hearts, minds and bodies against F.E.A.R". Legion of the Black was screened at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, California on December 21, December 22 and December 23. It will see a DVD release, and was issued as a 24-hour pay-per-view event on Facebook on January 6th. The film was put back on pay-per-view through Facebook on Jan. 11th, 12th, and 13th.

The film's plot follows a young girl who is a big fan of the band, but no one understands her and when she tries to fight back against everyone, she is placed inside a mental hospital. The following happens in her mind as she tries to escape. A woman is running from a soldier of the organization called "F.E.A.R." and is caught and killed. Andy, the band's singer, finds her and brings her back to his base camp where "The Wild Ones" hide. Finally fed up with F.E.A.R, The group rallies together and prepares to go to war. They storm the tower where F.E.A.R. lays and rescue all their captives and defeat F.E.A.R.'s Armies and sees the Fall of F.E.A.R. Meanwhile, someone gives the girl the key to her cell and she escapes to a church. There, she becomes a Wild One until a surviving F.E.A.R. member kills her. Also, the leader of F.E.A.R, played by Wil Francis, rises up and makes new soldiers, hinting that a sequel could be made.

The Deluxe Edition of Wretched and Divine includes a DVD depicting behind the scenes footage of Black Veil Brides' making of the album, and in the film, Biersack tells that F.E.A.R. is an acronym meaning "Forever End All Religion."

Personnel

Black Veil Brides

• Andy Biersack – lead vocals
• Jake Pitts – lead guitar
• Jinxx – rhythm guitar, violin, cello, piano
• Ashley Purdy – bass, backing vocals
• Christian Coma - drums

Guest artists

• Wil Francis - vocals (voice of the leader of F.E.A.R.)
• Bert McCracken - vocals on "Days Are Numbered"
• Roberta Freeman - vocals on "Lost it All"
• Juliet Simms - backing vocals on "Lost it All"
• Chris Cheney - Co-writer "Days Are Numbered"

Production

• John Feldmann – producer, co-writer, mixer

Guest appearances

Black Veil Brides have revealed that several guests artists are to appear on the upcoming album:

On August 27, they tweeted that Wil Francis (William Control, Aiden) had joined them in the studio to contribute to the album: "@williamcontrol joined us #inthestudio today!" Wil also appeared on the set of Black Veil Brides' upcoming music video, playing as the voice of F.E.A.R. (it is to be assumed that the reason he appeared in the studio on August 27, is that he is also the voice of F.E.A.R. on the album).

On Friday, August 31, they posted a picture to their Facebook page with the caption "It’s a good Friday in the studio! Our good pal Bert McCracken from The Used is throwing down some awesomeness on our album!!!" Andy also tweeted about Bert's studio visit, saying "Stoked to have @bro_mccracken in the studio today doing some vox #BVB2013".

The song "Days Are Numbered" was written in collaboration with the aussie star Chris Cheney from The Living End

WWE used "In the End" as one of the official theme songs for the 2012 Hell in a Cell event.