Reunited San Francisco Bay Area thrashers VIO-LENCE will enter Trident Studios in Pacheco, California on January 18 to begin recording their new EP, tentatively due in late summer via Metal Blade Records. Helming the sessions will be producer Juan Urteaga, who has previously worked with TESTAMENT, MACHINE HEAD and EXODUS, among many others.
Singer Sean Killian previously described VIO-LENCE‘s new material as “a cross between ‘Eternal [Nightmare]’ [1988], ‘Oppressing [The Masses]’ [1990] and also our ’93 demo. It’s fast, it’s heavy. We’ve got a couple of good chunk riffs and stuff like that,” he explained. “We wanna get stuff in that’s gonna start a pit up too. But we think people are gonna go crazy when they hear it. We’ve got some heavy lyrics, some heavy subjects. I mean, we’re not a political band by any means, so when I say ‘heavy,’ it’s just heavy shit that comes out of my demented head.”
Back in May, guitarist Phil Demmel told EXODUS frontman Steve “Zetro” Souza‘s YouTube channel, Zetro’s Toxic Vault, that VIO-LENCE was taking its time coming up with the best material possible. “When [the songs are] ready, they’re ready,” he said. “This [coronavirus pandemic] has given us more time. But still, it’s gotta be fucking killer. I had a riff that the [other] dudes were kind of digging, and I’m all, ‘I don’t got a boner with this one.’ I want a 10-foot boner with everything that we’re doing now. It’s gotta be better, it’s gotta be fucking kick-ass… I don’t wanna put out some crap.”
This past August, VIO-LENCE released a new digital single, “California Über Alles”, a cover version of the DEAD KENNEDYS classic. The band also filmed a music video for the song with director Scott Kirkeeng.
In January, VIO-LENCE parted ways with guitarist Ray Vegas and replaced him with Bobby Gustafson (ex-OVERKILL). The band’s current lineup also includes drummer Perry Strickland and bassist Christian Olde Wolbers (ex-FEAR FACTORY).
VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reunited soon after Demmel left MACHINE HEAD in late 2018.
VIO-LENCE performed its first comeback concert in April 2019 at the Oakland Metro in Oakland, California and spent the last year playing select shows in the U.S. and Europe.
Although MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn was part of VIO-LENCE‘s classic incarnation and played on the band’s debut album, “Eternal Nightmare”, he wasn’t approached about taking part in any of the comeback shows.
Killian underwent a successful liver transplant surgery in March 2018. The year before, Killian was diagnosed with stage four liver cirrhosis, which was caused in part by a genetic condition called hemochromatosis.
Photo credit: James Willard
