Spiritbox

About Spiritbox

Spiritbox started in 2017 when Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer left their previous band Iwrestledabearonce and relocated from California to Victoria, British Columbia. They recruited drummer Bill Crook and bassist Bill Crook initially, though the lineup would shift over time. The move was partly practical and partly creative reset — a chance to build something from scratch without the baggage of their metalcore past.

The band spent their first few years releasing singles and EPs, building an audience through strategic drops on streaming platforms. "Blessed Be" in 2017 showed they were working in progressive metalcore territory, but it was 2019's "Perennial" that started turning heads. LaPlante's ability to switch between clean singing and harsh vocals became their calling card, and Stringer's production skills gave everything a polished, modern sheen that felt more Deftones than Parkway Drive.

Then "Holy Roller" dropped in 2020 and changed everything. The song went genuinely viral, which doesn't happen often in heavy music. It hit during the pandemic when everyone was extremely online, and the djent-influenced riffing combined with LaPlante's dynamic vocals landed at exactly the right moment. Suddenly they were getting millions of streams and major label attention.

They signed with Rise Records and Pale Chord Music and released their debut full-length "Eternal Blue" in September 2021. The album debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200, which is rare for a heavy band's first proper album. Songs like "Circle With Me" and "Secret Garden" showed range beyond the crushing breakdowns — there was atmosphere, melody, genuine dynamics. "Hurt You" leaned into electronic elements. "Yellowjacket" featuring Sam Carter from Architects was the obligatory collab single, heavy as expected.

The album established them as part of a wave of bands modernizing metalcore and progressive metal for people who grew up on both Meshuggah and Portishead. They tour relentlessly, which is the only way bands survive now. LaPlante's voice remains the main draw — she can do the ethereal clean singing that sounds huge in arenas, then flip to gutturals that would fit on a death metal record.

In 2023, they dropped several singles including "The Void" with Loathe's Kadeem France and "Jaded," continuing their pattern of steady content release between album cycles. They're currently working on their second full-length album while maintaining their touring schedule. They've played major festivals and supported bigger metal acts, gradually moving up the billing.

The sound is still evolving. Sometimes they lean heavier, sometimes more atmospheric. The constant is the production quality and LaPlante's voice. They represent where heavy music is right now — genre-fluid, internet-native, built on streaming algorithms and social media presence as much as traditional touring. They're good at what they do.

Spiritbox crowds are unusually attentive for metalcore shows—people actually listen between the breakdowns. LaPlante commands the stage with focus rather than theatrics. Pits form but don't dominate; heads stay up to catch the intricate vocal arrangements. The energy feels concentrated, purposeful.

Known for Circle With Me, Holy Shit, Eternal Blue, Hurt You, Constance

See Spiritbox Live