STAIND Guitarist, Ex-THREE DAYS GRACE Singer Working On Second SAINT ASONIA Album

February 21, 2019

SAINT ASONIA, the act featuring ex-THREE DAYS GRACE frontman Adam Gontier, STAIND guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Cale Gontier and drummer Sal Giancarelli — has signed a worldwide deal with Spinefarm Records, a Universal Music Group label.

At the moment, the musicians are gathered in an upstate New York studio working on a fresh set of songs with producer Brian Sperber (ALTER BRIDGE, STAIND). The full-length is planned for release later this year.

"We're very excited to share our new material with the world," exclaims Adam Gontier. "Plus, we're super happy to have signed with Spinefarm Records! It's such a fantastic group of people there, and they've got a solid roster of incredible bands and musicians. Additionally, Spinefarm's presence overseas is amazing, and for us, that's a really big deal."

SAINT ASONIA sparked into life four years ago when Gontier and Mushok (also an important part of the NEWSTED setup in 2013) decided to turn their joint ambition to make music that is "raw, real, and straight from our hearts" into a new band and a fully-fledged studio outing. The result was their acclaimed self-titled debut, released in 2015, which charted Top 10 in Canada and entered the Billboard U.S. rock albums chart at No. 2. The album was driven by the Top 10 radio tracks "Better Place" and "Let Me Live My Life", as well as the high-concept video to the featured track "Fairy Tale".

Given the pedigree and profile of the musicians involved — they are collectively responsible for 28 Top 10 U.S. rock radio hits, including 17 No. 1s — the demand was immediately there for SAINT ASONIA to take to the road. Following an inaugural main stage appearance at Rock On The Range in 2015, the band set off on U.S. amphitheater tours with BREAKING BENJAMIN and DISTURBED.

In Europe, they guested on an arena run with MÖTLEY CRÜE, visiting the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, and Finland, as well as playing several dates in Russia and Eastern Europe. As a consequence, Gontier has been back to the region for extensive solo acoustic shows.

With Adam's cousin Cale Gontier of Canadian band ART OF DYING on bass and STAIND's Sal Giancarelli on drums, the latest SAINT ASONIA lineup is now primed for a comprehensive live campaign in support of the forthcoming sophomore release; this will include key festivals and headline shows, both at home and abroad. With a new deal in place and a new chapter primed to unfold, the four musicians are keen to place as much emphasis on the international arena as continuing to build their success story at home.

Right from the start, SAINT ASONIA has been fueled by a single vision: to put music and emotion first and to deliver recordings that aren't overly produced or messed around with. It's a vision that's reflected in the very name of the band, which is derived, with a grin, from the desire to block out distraction and focus on the purely creative. "Asonia" is the term for "tone deafness" and it's a vision that very much underpins the latest studio recordings.

"This new album is a giant step forward for us in many ways," says the frontman. "Of course, there's those elements that have always been present in the music, like the heavy riffs and the vulnerability within the lyrics. But there's also a completely new element that takes things to a different level. Our goal is to raise the bar on every record, so we're incorporating a lot of different sounds and instruments on this one. For me, this is the best stuff I've written since 2005. I guess you'll have to hear it to judge for yourself!"

Find more on Staind
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).