Behind Crimson Eyes

by Jody Macgregor
When they first formed in Melbourne in 2004, Behind Crimson Eyes was typical of the Australian emo scene, sometimes jokingly referred to as "emu," but over time, and with lineup changes including the addition of second guitarist Kevin Orr, they began to mature and move closer to a hard rock sound. Singer Josh Stuart added screaming to his vocal tricks, Cameron Gilmour appropriated the double-kick drums of metalcore, and Aaron Schultz's guitar and Garth Buchanan's bass rounded out their sound.Carrying a camera with them from their first gig on, Behind Crimson Eyes -- BCE to their fans -- documented six months of their early career, which they edited down into a DVD released with their debut EP. That EP, 2005's Pavour Nocturnis, was a concept album exploring the theme of night terrors, recorded at the prestigious Sing Sing Recording Studios. A second EP, Prologue: The Art of War/Cherry Blossom Epitaph, followed. Enough radio play, and around 25,000 MySpace friends, showed that they were popular enough to make music full-time, and Stuart dropped out of his engineering degree to dedicate himself to it.2006 saw the release of their first full-length album, A Revelation for Despair, on Roadrunner Records. It reached number 43 in the ARIA album charts. A compilation of songs from their earlier EPs and an unreleased demo, Scream Out Your Name to the Night, followed the same year.