Funeral Pyre Prove What Happens In Vegas Doesn’t Have to Stay There

There were boisterous times at the band's recent appearance at South by Southwest (the band's first for the festival, but hardly their Austin, Texas debut), but much like a typical crosshatching of 20-somethings, the Funeral Pyre's craziest experience on the road was in none other than Las Vegas, the country's capital for capriciousness. Currently booking a five week tour in support of the band's forthcoming album, 'Vultures at Dawn' -- which includes another stop in Sin City for better or worse -- frontman for the black metallers, John Strachan, gave Noisecreep some time to sum up one of the Southern Caliiifornia band's perpetually favorite Sin City stories to retell.

"One of our band members thought that playing blackjack in Vegas for about 18 hours straight was a good idea," Strachan tells Noisecreep, swearing that he won't reveal names. "That is," he continues, "until he walked out of the casino at about noon the next day and didn't know where he was. It was in July or August, and it was about 110 degrees."

Throw a dead cell phone on top of general disbanding over the long hours in America's most notorious adult playground and it's up to locals and fellow out-of-towners to come to (or succumb to) the rescue as the Funeral Pyre's still-unnamed band member had to commandeer strangers' phones on the street ... not such an easy task on the strip in Vegas. "I mean, what the hell are they going to do when a bearded metal guy is demanding your phone?" Strachan jokes with an impending sense of doom for his bandmate.

"So, as I wake up, I start [getting] calls from phone numbers from states that we weren't hitting on the tour," Strachan continues telling Noisecreep. "I check my messages ... He was panicking! This was a state of emergency! So ... like any good band member would do, I showered, ate breakfast, and hung out for a while knowing our drive wasn't far [to the next show]."

But what's a story without a good ending? "Well, to make a long story ... well, long," Strachan jokes, "We found him in a parking garage, covered in water bottles and sun burned like a red headed kid who fell asleep at the beach. After about five hours of walking in that desert heat, you'd be in a bitter mood as well!" At least luck was on their side. Well, one of the band members' sides.

The Funeral Pyre's fourth full-length, 'Vultures at Dawn,' will see a June 8 release through Prosthetic Records. Among a set of independent splits, EPs, and other releases across its nearly decade-long career, it is the third record for Prosthetic, and the band's tour in support of 'Vultures at Dawn' starts June 25 in San Diego, set to wrap up in San Francisco Aug. 2, crossing much of the United States and back to California.