Issues is an American Metalcore/Nu Metal/Pop/whatever they feel like band from Atlanta, Georgia. They were formed in 2012 by Tyler Carter, who wanted to form a band with other members of his former band Woe, Is Me (which included co-vocalist Michael Bohn, and brothers Ben and Cory Ferris). Ultimately, Ben and Cory weren't able to attend recording sessions, and left before they made any material. They released their first EP Black Diamonds soon afterwards. The lineup eventually became as follows.
Members:
- Adrian "AJ" Rebello: guitars, vocals
- Skyler Acord: bass, vocals
- Joshua Manuel: drums, percussion
Former:
- Ben Ferris: keyboards, synthesizers (2012)
- Cory Ferris: bass (2012)
- Jake Vintson: bass (2012-13)
- Case Snedecor: drums, percussion (2012-13)
- Tyler "Lophiile" Acord: programming, turntables, keyboards, synthesizers, keytar, samples, composer (2012-15; still works with the band as a producer and session musician)
- Michael Bohn: vocals (2012-18)
- Tyler Carter: vocals (2012-2020)
Discography:
- Black Diamonds (EP) (2012)
- Issues (2014)
- Diamond Dreams (EP) (2014)
- Headspace (2016)
- Beautiful Oblivion (2019)
Their sound is essentially a mix of Metalcore, Nu Metal, and R&B, along with anything else they feel like. You can expect clean vocals that wouldn't be out-of-place on Top 40 radio mixed in with harsh screams and breakdowns. There's also prominent turntable scratching, electronica and sampling, where the turntables are treated as a lead instrument as much as the guitar. Other genres make surprise appearances.
In early 2014, released their debut Self-Titled Album to moderate success, going Top 10 upon release and were signed on to tour both North America and Europe. Their success has led to talks of a possible nu metal revival, time will only tell if that's the case. They followed-up their album with a second EP, titled Diamond Dreams soon afterwards.
In 2015, it was announced that the band would become a five-piece, with turntablist DJ Lophiile leaving to focus on producing music. However, he will still work with Issues, but won't be an official member. They released their second album Headspace in early 2016.
The band confirmed in January 2018 that Michael was no longer a member, with various stories disagreeing whether it was artistic disagreements or if he was actually forced out. The band decided not to replace him, and released their third album, Beautiful Oblivion, in 2019.
In September 2020, the band kicked Tyler Carter out of the group after he was accused of sexually harassing underage fans.
In July 2022 Woe, Is Me announced their reunion with the Number[s] lineup with Hance Alligood on clean vocals. In September 2023 Issues would formally announce they were formally disbanding in January 2024 with a farewell tour. Brian Butcher of The Home Team fame would be doing vocals for the tour.
Issues provides examples of:
- Abusive Father: "Princeton Ave." is about one, who abuses his wife and daughter.
- Angrish: Michael, constantly.
- Band of Relatives: Tyler and Skyler Acord, until Tyler Acord left. Also Ben and Cory Ferris, who
left before they recorded any material. - Call-and-Response Song: Some songs go like this.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Michael swears a lot. Tyler as well, especially live.
- Due to the Dead: "Disappear (Remember When)" is a tribute to Tyler's friend Rachel Reece, who was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver.
- Gay Aesop: "Never Lose Your Flames", a song condemning homophobia.
- Genre Mashup: To the extent of Genre-Busting. Their sound seems to consist of influences from Metalcore, Nu Metal, Pop Punk, R&B, Jazz Fusion, hip-hop and electronica.
- They themselves stated they wanted to "mix metal with Top 40 music" much in the same way Nu Metal mixed metal with hip-hop music.
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- Harsh Vocals: Michael Bohn was the dedicated harsh vocalist of the band until he left.
- Indecipherable Lyrics: It's often very hard to understand what Michael is saying due his constant angrish.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to most Metalcore bands, due to extended use of clean vocals and influences from pop and R&B.
- In the context of their own catalog, Beautiful Oblivion is this compared to prior Issues material (Diamond Dreams notwithstanding).
- Metal Scream: ex-screamer Michael is mainly a Type 1, with occasional forays into Type 2. Tyler occasionally uses Type 1 and Type 4. Sky Acord is a Type 2 and Type 3 and AJ Rebollo is a Type 1.
- Mood Whiplash: Hell yes. Your reaction to an Issues song: "Wait, when did we go from hard-hitting modern metalcore to '90s boy band R&B stylings? Wait, now there's DJ scratches??? Is this nu metal now!?".
- New Sound Album: Headspace introduced more influences from Jazz, Fusion and Progressive Metal with less of their early Metalcore influence, as well as Michael doing clean vocals. Beatiful Oblivion moved away from harsh vocals towards a more melodic sound, whilst at the same time incorporating lower guitar tunings.
- Nu Metal: Fully embraces the title. Of course, that's only one of their influences.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. There's Tyler Carter and Tyler Acord, whose brother is the similarly-named Skyler. Acord is often referred to as "Lophiile" or "Ty" (formerly "Scout") to avoid confusion.
- Out-of-Genre Experience:
- The final song on their debut album, "Disappear (Remember When)", suddenly switches from their normal Nu Metal / Metalcore style to an A Cappella gospel segment complete with female choir singers at the end of the song.
- The Special Guest on "Yung & Dum" is... country singer Jon Langston.
- "Flexin'" sounds more like something from a later-era Prince album than from a metal band.
- A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: "Love, Sex, Riot" is about one. Fittingly, it features Chris Fronzak of Attila, (in)famous for their party-oriented music.
- Pop: A huge influence for their sound, with Tyler Carter clearly taking influence from acts like N Sync.
- Rap Metal: Tyler raps in some songs.
- Revolving Door Band: After Tyler Carter was fired from the band in 2020, there are no original members left. AJ Rebollo is the only musician who has played on all the band's albums.
- Even though DJ Lophiile is no longer an official member, he still works with the band.
- Sequel Song: "Tears on the Runway" has two parts, both of them featuring female singer Nylo. In a weird variation however, Part 2 came before Part 1. The former was released on Issues debut album, while the latter was part of Tyler's solo album nearly a year later. This led to a lot of confusion, to say the least.
- Solo Side Project: Tyler makes R And B music separately from the band.
- Soprano and Gravel: See Vocal Tag Team.
- Slightly averted on Headspace, as Michael also performed clean vocals on certain songs.
- Special Guest: They average one per release.
- Averted with Beautiful Oblivion, which has no guest performers.
- Start My Own: Tyler and Michael were the vocalists to Woe, Is Me from 2009-2011, until they were unceremoniously fired due to Creative Differences. As a result, they formed Issues, which quickly became bigger than Woe, Is Me ever was.
- Step Up to the Microphone: AJ and Sky took on Michael's vocal parts after his departure.
- Twice on Beautiful Oblivion. Sky sings some lead vocals on "Here's To You", whilst AJ does the screams during the breakdown in "Tapping Out".
- Take That!: "King of Amarillo" is one to the music industry, more specifically one to their former band Woe, Is Me.
- Vocal Tag Team: Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn, when Michael was still in the band.
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: Snow Tha Product in the hidden track "Embrace Your Issues".
