Something Old...

Overcomer has been a long time coming for the Gold Coast five-piece. It's been worth the wait – from their rough beginnings as young teens, the band's sound has matured into a highly modern, hyper-melodic and really heavy concoction of metal and hardcore.

One of the first questions that springs to mind is what inspired their name? The gently-spoken Bowles explains. “We got the name Prepared Like A Bride from The Book Of Revelations, which is actually the last chapter from The Bible. Revelations is actually quite an interesting chapter which talks about a lot of different things, and it's very confusing to most people on a quick read of it, and it's very metaphorical, and it talks about the end of the world. Basically, it says in Revelations that there will be a new heaven and earth, and that it will be 'beautifully prepared like a bride'.”

However, Overcomer is an album borne out of terrible darkness. In November 2012, roughly five months into the writing process, Bowles' father was suddenly killed. “My dad was flying a light aircraft with another pilot, and basically there was an emergency accident that claimed both of their lives,” he recalls with a remarkable calm. “From there that just stirred up huge, different emotions and feelings, and all sorts of anger and a whole bunch of stuff that we just channelled into this album and into the writing process.”

The subsequent writing and recording process “definitely helped [me] vent a lot”, yet despite the devastating turn of events, the album wasn't simply an exercise in pain relief. “I think it can be taken directly in my circumstance, but on top of that I've seen a lot of family members lose battles to cancer, I've seen friends lose their lives in terrible accidents, and I know a lot of other people have as well. It's not just me. The title Overcomer is not just for myself, but for absolutely everybody and anybody that has had to face horrible circumstances – many that are a lot worse than mine.”

Although the band is unified in their own faith, Bowles states, “We've never tried to force anything on anyone. We don't want to just sing to our Christian friends, or otherwise there's no point in what we do. The whole reason we're a band is to spread love and to encourage people in every single facet in life. If a CD we write can encourage somebody to push through a hard circumstance, or maybe just get past the brink of suicide and get through another day, that's what we're aiming to do, and not just for a Christian market at all. We wanted to write something that is applicable to every single person, no matter what they believe.”