# New Years Day (band)
**New Years Day** (ニュー・イヤーズ・デイ) is an American rock band formed in 2005 in [Anaheim, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/anaheim-california), fronted by vocalist Ash Costello and known for a goth-tinged blend of pop-punk and modern metal; through the 2024 album *Half Black Heart* the band has released five studio albums.[1](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2005, Anaheim, California, after bassist Adam Lohrbach left the pop-punk band Home Grown[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) |
| Frontwoman | Ashley "Ash" Costello, described by Sony Music Japan as the band's leader[1](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999) |
| Style | Spirited pop-punk mixed with flamboyant, goth-tinged stadium rock, invoking Evanescence, Garbage, Alkaline Trio, and Motionless in White[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) |
| Studio albums | *My Dear* (2007), *Victim to Villain* (2013), *Malevolence* (2015), *Unbreakable* (2019), *Half Black Heart* (2024)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) • [3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) |
| First rock-radio hit | "Shut Up", the band's first Mainstream Rock Top 40 entry and a top 15 rock-radio-charting single in 2019[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) |
| 2024 reunion | *Half Black Heart* reunited Costello with Jeremy Valentyne, Brandon Wolfe, and Trixx, the lineup behind 2015's *Malevolence*, the band's highest-charting record[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) • [4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/) |
## History and formation
In 2005, Adam Lohrbach, the bassist and main songwriter for Home Grown, a veteran first-generation pop-punk band, departed that group in order to start a project of his own. The early lineup featured singer Ashley Costello, who usually goes by "Ash", guitarist and keyboardist Keith Drover, guitarist Mike Schoolden, and drummer Russell Dixon.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
By early 2006 the band had signed to TVT Records after a flirtation with Decaydance, Pete Wentz's Fueled by Ramen-affiliated vanity label. A self-titled five-song EP followed in fall 2006 with the single "I Was Right", which drew MTV attention, and the full-length debut *My Dear* came in spring 2007. TVT went out of business in 2008, and Lohrbach and Schoolden left the group.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
The surviving members posted new material on social networking sites in 2009, joined the [Warped Tour](https://www.edgepedia.org/warped-tour) in 2010, and signed to Hollywood Waste for *The Mechanical Heart* EP in 2011.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) Formed at the height of the MySpace era, the band used that platform to carve a foothold in the modern rock landscape, and over time its sound shifted from pop-punk to a harsher modern metal sound.[4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/)
A later rupture came in 2017. Costello told the magazine Louder that the band had spent 30 days in the studio before Warped Tour 2017 and finished a 15-song record, but the label rejected it; the band scrapped the album and changed its management, band members, and record labels.[5](https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-years-day-invited-us-into-the-studio-to-talk-about-their-new-album) By the 2018 *Diary of a Creep* EP, Costello had repopulated New Years Day with an entirely new lineup, and the fourth full-length *Unbreakable* followed in 2019 with the single "Come for Me".[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) The EP included a cover of Pantera's "Fucking Hostile".[5](https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-years-day-invited-us-into-the-studio-to-talk-about-their-new-album)
## Musical style and aesthetic
AllMusic characterizes the band's sound as an opulent mix of spirited pop-punk and flamboyant, goth-tinged stadium rock, invoking the dark pageantry of [Evanescence](https://www.edgepedia.org/evanescence), Garbage, Alkaline Trio, and [Motionless in White](https://www.edgepedia.org/motionless-in-white).[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) The band's own Spotify profile puts the boundary differently: the songs "may touch on metal or goth, but are ultimately undeniable modern rock 'n' roll".[6](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7IEyUxk8jyEVz9Zm9H8bfg) Kerrang! calls the group "California goth-rock mainstays".[7](https://www.kerrang.com/artists/new-years-day)
Each album has staked a distinct position. For *Unbreakable* (2019), which the band's Spotify profile describes as signifying a new outlook and a high-water mark for the California lineup, Costello said, "We set out to write the poppiest metal album".[6](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7IEyUxk8jyEVz9Zm9H8bfg) *Half Black Heart* works the opposite seam: Costello says the title visually symbolizes the band's essence, half red and half black, half heavy and half pop, half dark and half fun, half metal and half rock.[1](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999)
## Discography
- **New Years Day** EP (2006, TVT), with the single "I Was Right"[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **My Dear** (2007, TVT)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **The Mechanical Heart** EP (2011, Hollywood Waste)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **Victim to Villain** (2013, Century Media), released while the band was on that summer's Warped Tour[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **Epidemic** EP (2014), which entered the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart; bassist Tyler Burgess and drummer Nick Rossi had joined that year[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **Malevolence** (2015), the band's highest-charting record[4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/)
- **Diary of a Creep** EP (2018), including the Pantera cover[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) • [5](https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-years-day-invited-us-into-the-studio-to-talk-about-their-new-album)
- **Unbreakable** (2019), with the single "Come for Me"[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **Through the Years** (2020), a limited-edition box set collecting the band's albums and EPs on vinyl plus a Blu-ray of music videos[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
- **Half Black Heart** (2024), released March 1, 2024, with the Japanese edition on [Sony Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-music) following on May 22, 2024[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) • [1](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999)
## Tours and live presence
The band played the Vans Warped Tour in 2010 and again in 2013 with *Victim to Villain*, and headlined Warped Tour in 2017.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) • [8](https://distortedsoundmag.com/new-years-day-inner-inspiration/) It later joined the women-powered US arena tour with [Halestorm](https://www.edgepedia.org/halestorm) and [In This Moment](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-this-moment), an all-female-fronted bill that Halestorm initiated; Costello noted that although tickets do not sell as they used to, the three frontwomen were selling out arenas.[5](https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-years-day-invited-us-into-the-studio-to-talk-about-their-new-album) In late 2023 the band supported Avatar, In This Moment, and [Ice Nine Kills](https://www.edgepedia.org/ice-nine-kills) on the Kiss of Death 2023 Tour.[4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/)
The band has a running WWE connection: it created the entrance theme "Brutality" for WWE star [Rhea Ripley](https://www.edgepedia.org/rhea-ripley) in 2019, and returned in 2023 at NXT Halloween Havoc to perform the single "Vampyre" while announcing *Half Black Heart*.[8](https://distortedsoundmag.com/new-years-day-inner-inspiration/) In 2024 the band toured the US with [Lacuna Coil](https://www.edgepedia.org/lacuna-coil) in May, with Costello saying she "loves touring with female-fronted bands", and returned to the UK for the first time since 2020.[8](https://distortedsoundmag.com/new-years-day-inner-inspiration/) • [9](https://distortedsoundmag.com/interview-new-years-day-a-beacon-for-self-expression/)
## By the numbers
"Shut Up" became the band's first Mainstream Rock Top 40 entry in 2019 as a top 15 rock-radio-charting single, and "Hurts Like Hell" finished 2022 as one of SiriusXM Octane's Top 25 songs of the year.[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) Fans have streamed "Angel Eyes" more than 14 million times on Spotify alone.[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) The *Epidemic* EP hit the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart in 2014.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
## How it compares with In This Moment and Halestorm
New Years Day sits in the same female-fronted gothic and dark rock circuit as In This Moment and Halestorm, with whom it has shared the all-female arena tour, and with touring peers Blabbermouth lists as Halestorm, Falling in Reverse, Motionless in White, Ice Nine Kills, and In This Moment.[5](https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-years-day-invited-us-into-the-studio-to-talk-about-their-new-album) • [3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) Its critical touchstones are Evanescence, Garbage, and [Alkaline Trio](https://www.edgepedia.org/alkaline-trio), and the band resists a pure gothic-metal label, framing itself as modern rock 'n' roll that touches on metal or goth.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792) • [6](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7IEyUxk8jyEVz9Zm9H8bfg) Sony Music Japan's promotional copy compared Costello's aura to "the Lady Gaga of the metal world" (メタル界のレディー・ガガ), and released a Japanese-subtitled video for the lead single "Hurts Like Hell" for the Japanese market.[1](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999)
## What has changed since 2023
The band lay dormant through the COVID-19 pandemic before releasing "Hurts Like Hell" in 2022, a single that announced both the band's return and its new lineup: Nikki Misery remained on lead guitar, with Jeremy Valentyne returning on rhythm guitar, Brandon Wolfe on bass, and new member Tommy Rockoff on drums, led by Costello.[8](https://distortedsoundmag.com/new-years-day-inner-inspiration/) Three singles from *Half Black Heart* were out by November 2023: "Vampyre", "Hurts Like Hell", and "Secrets".[4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/) The album arrived March 1, 2024 in the US[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) and May 22, 2024 in Japan, the band's first new album in about five years.[1](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999)
The reunion details deserve care. Blabbermouth, quoting Costello, describes *Half Black Heart* as reuniting the band with its original lineup of Jeremy Valentyne, Brandon Wolfe, and Trixx, tapping into the original sound that initially defined the band; Kerrang! similarly says the album "sees the band's first line-up reunite".[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) • [7](https://www.kerrang.com/artists/new-years-day) This description sits awkwardly beside the documented 2005 founding lineup of Lohrbach, Costello, Drover, Schoolden, and Dixon, and WOUB instead identifies the returnees as the lineup behind 2015's *Malevolence*; the sources also disagree on the drummer of the 2024 era, Distorted Sound reporting Tommy Rockoff in the 2022 lineup while Blabbermouth implies Trixx on drums.[3](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup) • [4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/) • [8](https://distortedsoundmag.com/new-years-day-inner-inspiration/) Costello herself framed Valentyne's return in sound terms: "It was like we got our actual sound back, the sound that made us who we are", a sound she suggested was partly missing on *Unbreakable*.[4](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/)
## References
1. [ニュー・イヤーズ・デイ | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト, Half Black Heart Japanese edition announcement](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/NewYearsDay/info/561999)
2. [New Years Day, AllMusic biography](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-years-day-mn0000282792)
3. [New Years Day Announces New Album 'Half Black Heart', Blabbermouth.net](https://blabbermouth.net/news/new-years-day-announces-new-album-half-black-heart-featuring-reunited-original-lineup)
4. ['Ash' Costello of New Years Day speaks with WOUB Culture, WOUB](https://woub.org/2023/11/30/new-years-days-ash-costello-reflects-on-the-groups-forthcoming-2024-album-and-bonding-with-kiss-of-death-tourmates/)
5. [New Years Day invited us into the studio to talk about their new album, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-years-day-invited-us-into-the-studio-to-talk-about-their-new-album)
6. [New Years Day, official Spotify artist profile](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7IEyUxk8jyEVz9Zm9H8bfg)
7. [New Years Day News, Kerrang!](https://www.kerrang.com/artists/new-years-day)
8. [New Years Day: Inner Inspiration, Distorted Sound Magazine](https://distortedsoundmag.com/new-years-day-inner-inspiration/)
9. [New Years Day: A Beacon For Self Expression, Distorted Sound Magazine](https://distortedsoundmag.com/interview-new-years-day-a-beacon-for-self-expression/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Heavy metal scenes › Artists, groups, and people: Heavy metal scenes › Gothic & dark metal*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license