The Black Swan (Story of the Year album)

Story of the Year's second album In the Wake of Determination was released in October 2005 through major label Maverick Records.[1] By July 2006, the band had accumulated nine-and-a-half new tracks for their next album.[2] They spent the following five months working on a live DVD until February 2007, when work began on a new album in earnest.[3] During this time, Maverick Records folded[4] and was incorporated into another major label, who opted to drop the band from their contract.[5]

On October 29, 2007, it was announced that the band had signed to independent label Epitaph Records. In addition, it was mentioned that the band were in the studio with producer John Feldmann, aiming to release their next album in spring 2008.[6] Commenting on signing with Epitaph Records, lead singer Dan Marsala said "Making this record felt like starting over. We're like a brand new band. You can hear it in these songs, we're excited again. I think we've really stepped it up on this record."[7] The album was produced by John Feldmann, who had produced the band's debut Page Avenue (2003), and Michael Baskette.[8] The latter aided with the group's drum sound, knowing when to make a certain hit sound harder.[5] Recording was reportedly finished by the end of December.[9]

Marsala said it had the heavy tone of Determination and the melodic/poppy nature of Page Avenue,[10] drawing comparisons to Underoath,[11] Alexisonfire and BoySetsFire.[12] The album was named after Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, on unpredictable events and randomness. One theme found in a few of the songs ("Wake Up", "Terrified", and in particular "Pale Blue Dot (Interlude)") is the concept that human existence is insignificant in comparison to the universe as a whole, and that wars, fighting and killing seem pointless.[7]

Opener "Choose Your Fate" is an anti-George W. Bush track[13] that is reminiscent of Atreyu[14] with its breakdowns[15] and melodic-screamo bridge section.[14] It was similar in style to the band's "Divide and Conquer" (from Page Avenue) and "March of the Dead" (from Determination).[16] "Angel in the Swamp" takes influence from the Movielife,[15] touching on pop punk, and concluding with Queens of the Stone Age-esque guitar work.[14] Marsala wrote it in response to a message he received on Myspace. The sender relayed that she had been in an abusive household and was having problems; she mentioned that the only thing that was helping her was the group's music.[17]

"We're Not Gonna Make It" talks about a couple in a biracial-relationship;[13] its chorus recalled the Page Avenue single "Anthem of Our Dying Day".[15] The piano ballad "Terrified"[18] is a lo-fi track the channels Funeral for a Friend, specifically their song "History".[14] The track "Pale Blue Dot (Interlude)" was inspired by the famous photograph of the same name and features an excerpt from astronomer Carl Sagan's book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space read by its author.[7] "Welcome to Our New War" was compared to Bullet for My Valentine.[12]

On January 26, 2008, The Black Swan was announced for release in April, and "Wake Up" was made available for streaming.[19] The album's artwork and track listing were revealed two days later.[20] "Wake Up" was released to radio on February 19.[21] On April 2, the music video for it premiered on MTV; it sees the band performing in an abandoned warehouse while people use spray-paint around them.[22] In early April, the band appeared at the Bamboozle Left festival.[23] The Black Swan was released on April 22.[20] Between June and August, the band performed on the 2008 Warped Tour.[24] "Message to the World" was released to radio on July 1.[25] The group toured as part of the 2008 Taste of Chaos European tour in October.[26] A music video was released for "Terrified" on June 30, 2009;[27] it trails a soldier in Iraq as his wife and daughter await his return home. Clips of the soldier are intermixed with video diary-style footage of his family.[28]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	71%[15]
AllMusic	[18]
Alternative Press	3/5[29]
Chart Attack	Favorable[11]
Cleveland Scene	Favorable[13]
Gigwise	[14]
Las Vegas Review-Journal	A[16]
Melodic	[12]
Metal.de	8/10[30]
Rock Hard	8/10[31]

Critical reception for The album was generally positive, and the album did fairly well commercially. It debuted on the UK rock charts at number 6 [32] and at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling about 21,000 copies in its first week.[33]

All lyrics written by Dan Marsala and Adam Russell, all music composed by Story of the Year

• Dan Marsala – lead vocals
• Ryan Phillips – lead guitar
• Philip Sneed – rhythm guitar, vocals, piano
• Adam Russell – bass guitar, vocals
• Josh Wills – drums, percussion
• Michael "Elvis" Baskette – producer
• Dave Holdredge – engineer
• Jef Moll – digital editing

• The Black Swan at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)