VIO-LENCE

ERUPTION OF SCREAMS SUMMER TOUR 2026

VIO-LENCE are an American Thrash Metal band formed in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout their career, they have released demo tapes, three EPs and three studio albums. VIO-LENCE are best-known for their association with the 1980s Bay Area Thrash Metal scene and often credited as one of the leading lights of the second wave of the genre.

VIO-LENCE's most notable lineup was Phil Demmel and Robb Flynn on guitars, Deen Dell on bass, Perry Strickland on drums and Sean Killian on vocals; this lineup recorded all three of their studio albums–Eternal Nightmare (1988), Oppressing the Masses (1990) and Nothing to Gain (1993). After breaking up in 1994 and reforming for occasional live performances from 2001 to 2003, the band reunited once again in January 2019, and released the EP Let the World Burn, their first collection of new material in nearly three decades, in March 2022. The current lineup of VIO-LENCE includes Killian along with live members Nick Souza, Claudeous Creamer, Jeff Salgado and Ira Black.

On June 16, 2021, VIO-LENCE announced Let the World Burn as the title of their new EP, which was planned for release in early 2022. Prior to its release, the band was scheduled to be headlining the 2021 installment of the Headbangers Ball Tour in Europe, with support from Voivod, Exciter and Artillery, but it was postponed to the next year due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 10, 2022, a lyric video for "Flesh from Bone" was released, and on the same day, the band announced that Let the World Burn would be released on March 4. About a week prior to the release of Let the World Burn, Demmel revealed that VIO-LENCE had begun writing new material for their next EP, which he had hoped would be recorded in the fall of 2022 for a tentative 2023 release. The band later clarified that Strickland did not quit the band, implying that he was fired.