Belvedere Release Fifth Studio Album ‘The Revenge of The Fifth ’

Guildford based punk and hardcore label Lockjaw Records are extremely proud to announce they will release the new record from Canadian skate punk legends BELVEDERE later this year in the UK. ‘The Revenge of The Fifth’ is the fifth studio album from the Calgary quartet and is set for release on 5th May 2016 via BirdAttack (US), Effervescence (FR), Funtime (BE) and Lockjaw Records (UK).

The album was recorded at Echo Base Studio in Calgary and was mixed and mastered at the Blasting Room in Colorado, the studio built in 1994 by members of The Descendents,ALL, and Black Flag which has played a part in seminal records from names including Lagwagon, Rise Against, The Swellers, Flogging Molly and many more.

Taking the better part of two years to write, the band suddenly found themselves twelve years older and a good deal wiser than when they last recorded, now all trying to hold down full time jobs and raise families, sometimes having only a few hours every week or two to craft and record the songs. While this slowed the process down, it gave the band time to review and reflect on their music and lyrics, a luxury they’ve previously missed out on because of full time touring schedules.

The concept for the theme of the album comes from title track “Revenge of the Fifth”, and whilst the number five holds no special significance for the band, a lot of numeric coincidences happened fairly naturally during the process, as the band explain: “We loved the title of the song so much that we made it the title of the record, as we realised that all of our album titles have five words and six syllables in. It’s also our fifth full length album so it made sense to release on May 5th, May being the fifth month of the year.”

The title track itself is one of the more raw and dark sounding songs on the album, but the lyrical content is arguably the most positive, and the track draws a line under what made Belvedere’s racing, technically proficient brand of skate punk so iconic to begin with. Focusing on the idea of the fifth element - which has been described as “the human spirit” – ‘The Revenge of The Fifth’ is an attempt to communicate the band’s beliefs that human beings should show more compassion for each other and take responsibility for their own actions, instead of placing blame at other's doors and asking for the forgiveness of a higher power.

Formed in 1995 and originally never even meant to play a live show, the trailblazing foursome from Calgary, Alberta quickly grew a reputation on the underground punk scene for their blazing fast speed and melodic vocals. Taking their name from the '80s sitcom and influenced by the likes of Bad Religion and NOFX, they released their debut album ‘Because No One Stopped Us’ in 1998 following up with three more full length records over the course of their career and leading to tours with Bad Religion, Strung Out, Death by Stereo, Tsunami Bomb and several appearances at Warped Tour and Groezrock Festival.

The band broke up in late 2005, and after seven years apart Belvedere finally came back together for a reunion tour in 2012, after which they began work on the new record. Further details of the new album and live dates will be revealed over the coming months.

‘The Revenge of The Fifth’ is released 5th May 2016 via Lockjaw Records (UK)

Catch Belvedere live in 2016 at the following dates with more TBA:

• May 13 Dickens - Calgary, Canada
• May 14 Brixx Bar & Grill - Edmonton, Canada
• May 21 The Cave - Toronto, ON