Tarot cards might give perspective, soothe the uncertainty of mental health, or simply enable you to make better sense of your life. Fame On Fire use music in much the same way. The Florida quartet—Bryan Kuznitz [vocals], Blake Saul [guitar], Paul Spirou [bass], and Alex Roman [drums]—process frustrations, fears, and feelings with a malleable musicality, matching emotions to moments of precise hard rock, piano-laden melody, manic electronics, and relatable pop catharsis. After generating over 100 million streams, packing shows, and earning acclaim, the band ponder fate and the future on their third full-length offering, The Death Card [Hopeless Records].

“In tarot, ‘The Death Card’ is about closing one door and stepping into the next,” observes Bryan. “You’re killing your past and moving on to the future, which is usually better. The idea started because of this card. We were leaving a lot of mistakes behind and embarking on the next chapter. There’s a sense of salvation. For us, this is the new era of Fame On Fire.”

The band initially materialized out of South Florida with a distinct and dynamic vision. Following a series of inventive and innovative viral covers, they served up the original Transitions EP in 2017. They maintained their momentum with 2020’s LEVELS. “Her Eyes” gathered over 15.5 million Spotify streams followed by “HEADSPACE” [feat. POORSTACY] with 13.1 million Spotify streams. Welcome to the Chaos saw them ascend yet again fueled by the likes of “Plastic Heart” and “Welcome to the Chaos” [feat. Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills]. The latter vaulted into the Top 15 at Rock Radio. The band also toured alongside Falling In Reverse, Ice Nine Kills, and ONE OK ROCK. In between selling out headline gigs, the guys decamped to Los Angeles in order to record Death Card with producer Erik Ron [Godsmack, Motionless In White, Panic! At The Disco].

“This was our first time working with a producer,” recalls Bryan. “Erik kept us on track, and he pushed me as a lyricist and songwriter to make everything cohesive.”

Threading this body of work together even tighter, each song corresponds to its own tarot card. Musically, the first single “Nightmare (The Devil)” layers ethereal keys over a wave of distortion. The melodic verses build towards an instantly chantable chorus, “I’m in the middle of a nightmare.”

“When you’re living your dream and touring nonstop, the line between dream and nightmare is so thin you don’t even know it,” he notes. “Getting praised nightly feeds your ego. However, your home life deteriorates because you lose a sense of reality. Where’s my value if I’m not getting attention? I didn’t know who I was. I had gotten what I wanted, but I was going insane. ‘The Devil Card’ fits, because it’s a deal I made with myself.”

On “Unalive (10 of Swords),” glitchy electronics and turntable scratching give way to a battering ram riff as Bryan wonders, “Why do I try? I can’t help myself sometimes I feel so unalive.”

“I wrote about a person who has gone through the worst of the worst,” he goes on. ”To survive, this individual needs to numb himself until he feels unalive. The ‘10 of Swords Card’ represents a major disaster or betrayal of your morals.”

“Suicide (The Lovers)” plays out with all the drama of a classic tragedy. Cinematic keys underscore a head-nodding hook as Bryan sets the scene with an ominous spoken-word on the bridge, “Dear beloved we are here today in the final resting place to seal their fate.”

“It’s a Romeo & Juliet-style story,” he reveals. “The sentiment is, ‘If I’m going to love you, I’m going to die for it, and I’m okay with that’. With ‘The Lovers Card,’ you’re sacrificing your life to make a relationship work.”

Then, there’s “Chains (The Tower).” An upbeat groove seethes beneath the screech of big screen-worthy keys. It notably boasts a vocal cameo by MaH of Japanese metal phenomenon SiM. “It’s inspired by one of my favorite anime character Kurapika from Hunter X Hunter, because he can conjure these chains as his weapon,” Bryan says. “There’s a deeper theme. If you could change it all, would everything be better or worse? You’re still suffering no matter what. It makes sense in terms of ‘The Tower Card’.”

The trip concludes with “Lie To Me (7 of Swords).” Bryan’s vocals bleed with unfiltered emotion above stark and sparse piano as he laments, “Always leaving you when you need me most.”

“The ‘7 of Swords Card’ is about illusion,” he comments. “I wrote the song about my significant other, because it’s so hard being away. I’m saying, ‘Lie to me and tell me it’s okay, and I’ll do the same for you’. We don’t really know if it’ll be okay, so we lie. It’s at the end, because there’s a cycle of starting over. You go back to ‘The Death Card’.”

Ultimately, Fame On Fire are burning brighter than ever as they begin again. “You’ll hopefully go on a fucking journey with us,” he leaves off. “We’ve giving you a range of sounds and emotions. Fame On Fire is the dream we always wanted it to be.”