Famous Last Words (formerly known as A Walking Memory and Barlait) is an American metalcore/post-hardcore band from Petoskey, Michigan. Formed in 2008, they are known for their concept albums and have released three studio albums to date: Two-Faced Charade, Council of the Dead and The Incubus. Following their 2016 release, "The Incubus," the group departed from Revival Recordings and signed to SBG Records.
The group currently consists of vocalist Jeremy "JT" Tollas, bassist Tyler Myklebust, guitarist Evan Foley, and drummer Cody Paige.
2008-2010: Barlait and A Walking Memory
Hailing from Petoskey, Michigan, Famous Last Words (Then called Barlait) was formed in 2008 by member JT Tollas. The group released an album called A Walking Memory.
2010-2012: You Could Have Made This Easier, In Your Face, and Pick Your Poison
Renaming themselves A Walking Memory, the group quickly began to make their mark within the scene. Utilizing heavy guitar riffs, catchy hooks, folly, and symphonic elements, the band took things a step further and introduced detailed stories into their lyrics and album structure; transforming their band into more of an art project. It was characteristics like this that lead the independent label InVogue Records to sign the band in 2012.
Aaron Peano would leave the band after the release of "In Your Face" in 2010. Starting his own band "The Monsters I've Met"
They released the EP You Could Have Made This Easier in 2010. This appeared in self-initiative. After the name change this was followed by the EP's "In Your Face" in 2010 and Pick Your Poison in 2012. The latter has already appeared at InVogue Records.
2013: Two-Faced Charade
Their first studio album, Two Faced Charade, released April 30, 2013. This is the first of their concept albums, a story about an outcast (who has schizophrenia), who falls in love with his neighbor, Elise (Welcome To The Show). Situations escalate, and he ends up following her into town (Victim of the Virtuoso), and finding out she has a boyfriend (The Relentless). He grows enraged, and starts to hear a screaming internally, one very similar to the one he feels inside. This scream is soon followed by a voice, the form that his previously mentioned schizophrenia takes (Voices). It starts telling him the actions he must take to have Elise as his (Lust of the Lost). He eventually makes a plan, when the boyfriend is about to go on a business trip, the main character stops him outside and acts concerned, since it seems as if the boyfriend was heavily drunk. He brings the boyfriend inside, and proceeds to murder the boyfriend (Legends and Legacies), and then hesitantly cut up the body, and then bury it into the ground (To Play Hide and Seek With Jealousy). Afterwards, he uses the boyfriend's phone to text Elise, in the perspective of the boyfriend telling her that they're done for, and that the stress of this job that the boyfriend took was too much. Elise gets heavily upset and the next day, when the main character goes over to her house to act like he was just coming to have breakfast, she rejects him kindly, explaining how they got broken up over text. The main character tells her everything is okay, and eventually that he took care of the boyfriend (Searching for a Home). She gets extremely confused when he says this, and once the main character realizes this, he runs back to his house, with Elise on his tail. She walks into the house, and into his bedroom, where the main character is (Even A Ghost Has A Sanctuary). She sees the bloodied knife and turns to the door, smelling the stench of blood and bleach. She walks into the bathroom and sees the blood, and the main character reassures her that he took care of her boyfriend, and that it's all okay. After she calls him a monster, he grows extremely angry and yells at her that he did this all of her and himself, before she says he did it all for him. He smashes her head into the wall vigorously, before realizing what he's doing and stopping himself. Realizing he just accidentally killed Elise, he turns to the mirror and tells the "inner-demon" that he had messed up his life, before the main character cuts himself down the wrist, killing himself. (The Show Must Go On, Prt. 1 and 2) There's a short film and a short story both written by the lead singer, JT Tollas. He even directed the short film, and starred in it.