The band currently consists of vocalist Tyler Smith, guitarist Jose DelRio, and drummer Daniel Nelson.

[4][5] As a side-project of Mabbitt during his part in Escape the Fate, the remaining required members he recruited to start The Word Alive were chosen to be Nick Urlacher (bass guitar), Dusty Riach (keyboards) and Tony Aguilera (drums).

"[11] The band set out to create an EP to be released through the label wherein it was titled Empire and was recorded with producer Andrew Wade in Ocala, Florida.

[12] In regards to the creation of the EP, Smith stated that The Word Alive all "feed off of each other really well, we take a little bit of everything we like and put it together to try and give the listener at least something to grasp onto when they hear a song for the first time.

[14] The Word Alive headlined with We Came as Romans on the "Dreams & Empires Tour" during the summer of 2009; from late July to mid-August.

Aguilera was replaced with Justin Salinas, who was previously a part of the bands Scars of Tomorrow and Catherine as well as serving as a past live drummer for MyChildren MyBride.

For the heavy driven track from the sextet's Empire EP, the obvious choice was to bring eyes and ears to their live show  – which has been getting the band quick success for only being a little over a year old.

[25] Guitarist Zack Hansen explained upon this premiere that "We all felt like that was going to be the best choice considering how comfortable the recording process is with Andrew.

Hansen later followed along explaining that his favorite track on the record is "The Hounds of Anubis", which was written by him and Pizzuti and stated that he "wrote this song with an 'Egyptian feel' to it and I think we got our point across."

[29] The band was a part of "The Anti-Hero Tour" where the group performed alongside Bleeding Through, After the Burial, Stray from the Path and Dead & Divine.

[35] Both the "Heartless" and "Over the Mountain" covers by the band are the last recorded songs to feature bassist and founding member, Nick Urlacher before his departure from the group on December 27, 2010.

[36] Daniel Shapiro of Sharks Never Sleep served as a touring member for The Word Alive shortly after Urlacher's leaving.

[39] However, by February (and before the date of entering the studio), the announcement of two members leaving occurred; keyboardist, Dusty Riach and drummer, Justin Salinas were simultaneously confirmed to no longer be a part of the band.

Once again, They also joined Parkway Drive again in March 2013 with Veil of Maya and While She Sleeps for the "United States Atlas Tour".

In the summer of 2013, they supported Killswitch Engage along with Miss May I, Darkest Hour and Affiance on the "Disarm the Descent U.S Tour".

while on the Manchester date of their UK tour supporting Parkway Drive in November, guitarist Zack Hansen revealed that the band plans to release a new EP in 2013 followed by another full-length record in 2014.

[46] On December 18, the band announced "The Unconditional Tour" beginning in late February through March with fellow acts Memphis May Fire, A Skylit Drive, Hands Like Houses and Beartooth.

[48] On January 6, 2014, the band officially announced that Cameron Mizell and John Feldmann are the producers for their forthcoming album on Facebook.

Real remains the most personal album to date from The Word Alive, which has received enormous support from fans (especially the track "Never Forget").

In March 2015, the band also supported The Devil Wears Prada on the "Zombie 5 Tour" along with Born of Osiris and Secrets.

Then they played at Pulp Summer Slam XV: Angels Descend in the Philippines on April 25 with bands such as Escape the Fate, Cradle of Filth, Chthonic, Suffocation, Carcass and Killswitch Engage with the crowd of 30,000 metal fans.

While on the "Apollo X Tour" with Motionless in White and The Devil Wears Prada in mid-November, frontman Tyler Smith broke his back, several ribs, and bruised a lung while stage diving during a show.

[52] The band also revealed the tracklist and a headlining North American tour with support from Fit for a King and Out Came the Wolves.

[57] In November 2016, Luke Holland announced he will be leaving the band at the end of 2016 after finishing their last tour of the year to pursue other musical endeavors.

[67] The band also supported Blessthefall on their "Hard Feelings Tour" with Ded, Thousand Below and A War Within also joining up on the line-up.

[68] On September 26, Riot Games released the song "Rise" on which the band collaborated with electronic artists The Glitch Mob and Mako.

On October 24, Riot Games released an official remix of "Rise" featuring Bobby from the South Korean boy band iKon.

Tyler Ross formerly of Being as an Ocean and Mat Madiro of From Ashes to New would fill up their places on Starset's Horizons U.S. tour along with All Good Things, which started in November 2021.

[81] The album spawned five singles with "Wonderland",[75] "Nocturnal Future",[82] "Slow Burn",[83] "Hate Me" (featuring Julian Comeau of Loveless),[84] "Strange Love",[85] and "New Reality".

On May 31, The Word Alive stated that Hansen had been removed from the band in response to allegations of domestic violence made against him by a romantic partner.