It was founded by brothers Vic and Mike Fuentes after the disbanding of Before Today, which formed out of the San Diego punk scene.

Soon after, Pierce the Veil acquired new members Tony Perry (lead guitar) and Jaime Preciado (bass).

They have toured with bands such as A Day to Remember, Chiodos, From First to Last, Emery, All Time Low, Sleeping with Sirens, The Devil Wears Prada and Mayday Parade.

They ended their record cycle with the Taste of Chaos 2009 tour along with Bring Me the Horizon, Thursday, Four Year Strong and Cancer Bats.

After a few months off the road and building anticipation for their sophomore release, the band moved to Los Angeles to record their album Selfish Machines with Producer Mike Green.

Singer and lyricist Vic Fuentes stated, "The title refers to human nature and the animal-like qualities inside all of us that we try and hide, but should just learn to accept.

Pierce the Veil also played at the Fox Theater in Pomona as a surprise appearance as part of the Alternative Press Tour 2010 with bands such as August Burns Red, Bring Me the Horizon, Polar Bear Club, Emarosa, and This Is Hell.

Throughout March and April, "The Gamechanger's Tour" with A Day to Remember, Bring Me the Horizon, and label mates We Came as Romans followed.

On December 26, 2011, Vic Fuentes announced on the band's Facebook page that the band had finished writing the songs for their third album, which they began writing during the summer and while on tour with Miss May I, Woe Is Me, The Amity Affliction and letlive during November and December, and they would now be choosing a producer to work with on the album in early 2012.

[11] On February 27, 2012, The band issued an update on their official Facebook page stating that they have chosen to work with producers Dan Korneff and Kato Khandwala at the House of Loud in New Jersey on their upcoming third album.

In order to promote the album, the band appeared on the Vans Warped Tour from June 16, 2012, to August 5, 2012, playing the event's main stage for the first time.

[19] On January 9, 2013, Vic Fuentes released information that he had recently been in the studio writing new songs with Tom Denney.

The band released this statement on the documentary: "Our first world tour was absolutely the craziest experience of our lives.. [sic] and we filmed EVERYTHING!

- Vic, Mike, Tony, and Jaime[24] On October 18, 2013, the band launched pre-orders for their documentary with a new release date of November 25.

[25] On July 21, Vic Fuentes and Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens announced a co-headlining world concert tour.

Between March 20, 2015, and April 11, 2015, Pierce the Veil played concerts in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, and the UK.

[33][34] In November 2017, drummer Mike Fuentes was accused of soliciting nude photos and statutory rape by a young woman.

On July 5, 2018, vocalist and guitarist Vic Fuentes posted on his social media that he is working on the band's fifth album.

[39] On 13 April 2020, the band uploaded a home rehearsal of their track "Hold On Till May" to YouTube, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pierce the Veil's music style has generally been regarded as a mix of post-hardcore,[50][3][46][51] pop-punk,[52] experimental rock,[53] and emo.

[55] According to German music magazine Intro the compositions on their debut album are "complex" and were compared to artists like Sparta, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and partly even to Queen.

[56] Their sophomore album, Selfish Machines, was partly influenced by punk music and has been compared to bands like Emarosa, Chiodos, The Used and Alesana.

Vic Fuentes said in an interview with Alternative Press that the band always tries to "incorporate at least a hint of Latin influence in every song.