From Ashes To New release new song and video for “Villain”

For years, FROM ASHES TO NEW (@FromAshesToNew) has captured the hearts and minds of music listeners worldwide, making impact with a distinctive amalgam of alt metal combined with songs that bracingly capture their generation’s anxieties. They’re a band that doesn’t run from the darkness but instead embrace it. The Lancaster, PA band’s streaming figures are in the billions, they’ve successfully sold-out tours, and performed alongside some of the biggest names in rock. With their next album REFLECTIONS—out April 17 via Better Noise Music—Danny Case (vocals), Matt Brandyberry (vocals), Lance Dowdle (guitar), Maty Madiro (drums), and Jimmy Bennett (guitar) have created 12 songs that brim with even more confidence and power than before. Today (January 30), they’ve released the album’s third song, the potent “Villain.” Listen to it HERE and watch the video HERE.

Pre-order it now HERE.

On “Villain,” rather than singing from the perspective of the person who knows their partner is so bad for them that it’s toxic but they still stick around. Vocalist Matt Brandyberry flips the perspective. Here, he takes the other person’s viewpoint.

“‘Villain’ is a story about the magnetic pull between two people who know better, but dive in anyway,” says Brandyberry. “It’s the moment when desire outweighs consequences, when you choose the chaos you swear you shouldn’t want, and the ‘bad guy’ becomes the one voice you can’t quiet. The song leans into that dark, intoxicating tension where temptation feels like truth, danger feels like comfort, and the line between thrill and destruction disappears. It’s not about saving each other…it’s about surrendering to the part of yourself you pretend doesn’t exist.”

The 12-track REFLECTIONS will mark the follow-up to 2023’s BLACKOUT, which achieved the #1 spot on several iTunes and Spotify Rock and Metal charts across the globe. Two songs from REFLECTIONS were released last year: “New Disease,” an unflinching song about the dangers of trend jumping (listen HERE, watch HERE), followed by the sonically intense and lyrically harrowing “Drag Me” (listen HERE, watch HERE). The latter track is the album’s first song to go to radio and is just getting started on its run up the charts.

By late 2023, FROM ASHES TO NEW was at a creative crossroads. The group wrapped up demos for 16 songs for what was to be its fifth studio album. However, instead of sprinting towards the finish line and completing the record, the band decided to scrap those demo sessions. The process went against everything FROM ASHES TO NEW did before. Usually, they’d have a set number of songs they’d go into the studio with, record those songs, and maybe have one or two left over. Scrapping a session and mainly starting anew (they kept two songs) was liberating.

When FROM ASHES TO NEW scrapped those sessions, the band collectively knew they had to make something that remained true to their traditional sound yet broadened the tent to capture the ears and focus of a fresh audience. In this case, it means furthering the sound into alt-metal.

The band’s previous album, 2023’s BLACKOUT, was a step in getting there and one that the band is proud of. However, this time around, FROM ASHES TO NEW has loftier expectations and goals. “I wanted to take what we are good at and push it even further,” Brandyberry says. “That was the process for this whole record.” As always, the band continues to forge a strong bond with its fans. “I think it's better to let people know we're right there with them and feel the same way,” he continues. “Just because we have a cool job doesn't mean that life isn't hard.”

REFLECTIONS will be released as seven different configurations: CD, periwinkle vinyl, black/white/orchid vinyl exclusively on the band’s official webstore, urchin vinyl exclusively at various indie record stores nationwide, violet/black wave vinyl exclusively via GimmeMetal.com, silver/black vinyl exclusively via Revolver magazine’s website, and black/white/violet vinyl exclusively via Spotify Fans First.

Here's the track listing for REFLECTIONS:

1. Drag Me
2. Forever
3. Villain
4. Die For You
5. Black Hearts
6. Upside Down
7. (Not) Psycho
8. Parasite
9. New Disease
10. Darkside
11. Falling From Heaven
12. Your Ghost

Following a successful stint returning to past glories at the Warped Tour in 2025, FROM ASHES TO NEW is ready to unleash REFLECTIONS to the world. They’ll hit the road for a 42-date U.S. tour supporting Black Veil Brides, along with TX2, and As December Falls, starting April 25 in Riverside, CA. Tickets are available today at 10am local time HERE.

Apr 25: Riverside, CA @ Municipal Auditorium ^
Apr 26: Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort #
Apr 28: Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo #
Apr 30: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union ^
May 01: Denver, CO @ Fillmore ^
May 02: Omaha, NE @ ASTRO #
May 04: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues ^
May 05: Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^
May 06: San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec ^
May 08: Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle ^
May 11: Greensboro, NC @ Piedmont Hall ^
May 12: Norfolk, VA @ The Norva #
May 14: Philadelphia, PA @ Fillmore ^
May 15: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE #
May 17: Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore ^
May 19: Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room ^
May 21: Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore ^
May 22: Chicago, IL @ Ramova Theatre ^
May 23: Madison, WI @ The Sylvee ^
May 25: Toronto, ON @ History ^
May 26: Montreal, QC @ M-Telus ^
May 28: New York, NY @ Palladium Times Square ^
May 29: Silver Spring, MD @ Fillmore ^
May 30: Worcester, MA @ The Palladium #
^ Promoted by Live Nation
# Not a Live Nation date

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Photo credit: Sarah Carmody