Beyond Deviation press picture 2021 (from left to right: Rock Beauchamp, Kris Chayer, Guillaume Villeneuve, Fred Nylist)

Published on August 8th, 2025 by Kasia

Breaking Records: How We Released a Song with 400 Vocalists

I’ve been in the music industry since I was 15 years old, starting with small local projects before working my way into bigger opportunities. At 22, I landed the role of Label Manager at Montréal-based record label Hell for Breakfast—and one month later, the pandemic hit.

It was a trial by fire. My main mission was to develop our bands’ presence worldwide, which meant honing my skills in media relations, radio tracking, and digital strategy—while working with acts like Obey The Brave, Blind Witness, Pogo Car Crash Control, Ship of Fools, and Super Punk. There wasn’t much time to ease into the role; I was thrown in with the “big leagues” from day one.

The Night That Sparked a World Record Attempt

One evening, over a few White Claws with a friend, we got talking about my job and why I love what I do. Months later, that same friend—Kris Chayer, guitarist for Beyond Deviation—approached me with an idea so wild I couldn’t say no:

“Let’s break the world record for most vocalists on a single song.”

The standing record was 365 vocalists. Beyond Deviation’s vocalist, Fred Nylist, started a Facebook group to rally participants. Within weeks, they had 400 vocalists confirmed. The goal? Create a 37-minute deathcore track featuring them all.

The Challenge No One Had Attempted Before

Releasing a song like this sounds exciting… until you get into the nitty-gritty of digital distribution. Platforms have strict rules: maximum title lengths, featured artist limits, and formatting requirements. With 400 names to credit, we had to get creative.

Working closely with our reps at Believe Distribution Services, we found workarounds—linking only the biggest artists in the title for platform compatibility—while still giving everyone proper credit. The solution? A lyric video that listed each vocalist alongside their timestamp, complete with an on-screen counter to track the progress from 1 to 400.

For weeks, my days were a blur of Excel sheets, Reaper renders, and endless cross-checking to ensure every credit was accurate.

Building Hype (and an Unexpected Merch Hit)

With the song delivered and a five-week wait until release day, we turned to marketing. In today’s meme-driven world, even a joke can become a hit—and that’s exactly what happened when Fred doodled a child-like drawing of Earth as a gag. Deathcore fans loved it so much, we turned it into a t-shirt—Comic Sans font and all.

The first pre-order sold over 100 units, with fans begging for a restock. We expanded into wall flags, core merch restocks, and even limited-edition CDs. To avoid financial risk, we launched CD pre-orders with a minimum goal to cover printing costs. Vinyl was off the table—our 37-minute track would have had to be cut in half.

Local Pride, Global Reach

One of my favourite parts of this campaign was the media outreach. I created a shared Google Sheet for all 400 vocalists to list their hometowns, then targeted local media in those regions. The result? Coverage in local newspapers, punk blogs, mainstream entertainment sites, and more. Genre boundaries didn’t matter—everyone wanted to talk about this ambitious feat.

Release Night

On my 24th birthday, we decided to premiere the video six hours early on YouTube. I spent the night glued to the analytics, watching views skyrocket. By 12:30 AM—just 30 minutes after the official release—we’d hit 10,000 views.

A week later:
- 200+ CDs sold
- 30K lyric video views
- 23K Spotify streams from listeners around the world
- Dozens of reaction videos and endless fan engagement

More Than Just a Release

This wasn’t just about numbers or records—it was about bringing a community together. Over 400 vocalists collaborated purely out of love for deathcore, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in music.

I’m grateful to Beyond Deviation, every featured vocalist, and my team at Hell for Breakfast for trusting me with such a massive, one-of-a-kind project. I learned more in this single release than I could have imagined, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

🎧 Listen here: fanlink.tv/bd400
📺 Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/mpofhBWB1zU

"The audacity to create a track that contains 400 vocalists and to be able to acquiesce all the styles from everyone is truly a work of genius. The musicianship is quite simply peerless." - Stefan Putwain (MyGlobalMind)