A second-generation punk and post-hardcore act with ties to several earlier emo and screamo outfits, Brooklyn's
I Am the Avalanche emerged in 2005 with a style that pairs considerable sonic heft with raw, emotional intensity. They found success in 2014 with their third full-length effort, Wolverines, which cracked the Billboard 200, and continued to refine their melodic punk and post-hardcore sound on 2020's Dive.
Singer and songwriter
Vinnie Caruana was the leader of
the Movielife, guitarist
Brandon Swanson was in
Further Seems Forever, and bassist
Kellen Robson is a former member of Scraps and Heart Attacks. Formed in Brooklyn by
Caruana in 2004 after
the Movielife broke up (and following an abortive stint with the nascent
Head Automatica),
I Am the Avalanche was -- unsurprisingly, for a band with emo tendencies -- first inspired by a bad breakup. After writing a number of songs about the failed relationship,
Caruana enlisted
Swanson,
Robson, second guitarist
Michael Ireland, and drummer
Brett "Ratt" Romnes to perform them, taking the group name from a line in one of those songs. (In the band's official bio,
Caruana claims no prior knowledge of the fact that "I am the avalanche" is a key line in Stephen Dobyns' autobiographical poem "Oh, Immobility, Death's Vast Associate," from his collection Pallbearers Envying the One Who Rides.)
Signing with the indie label Drive-Thru Records in 2005,
I Am the Avalanche debuted on half of a split single with their labelmates
the Early November, previewing their debut album with two early demos. Produced by
Barrett Jones (
Foo Fighters), who also adds keyboards,
I Am the Avalanche was released in September 2005. The group's sophomore effort, 2011's
Avalanche United, debuted at number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers charts, and 2014's Wolverines became
I Am the Avalanche's first release to make an appearance on the Billboard 200. In 2020, the band issued their fourth long-player, the hard-hitting Dive. ~ Stewart Mason