Vocalist Jason North of TRUTH CORRODED filled in for Sean Killian at VIO-LENCE‘s March 11 concert in Melbourne, Australia after Killian fell ill shortly before the performance and could not make the gig. VIO-LENCE‘s lineup for the show consisted of North, drummer Adrian Aguilar (EXMORTUS),guitarist Miles Dimitri Baker (VOIDBRINGER, INTERLOPER, ex-RINGS OF SATURN),bassist Christian Olde Wolbers and guitarist Ira Black (VICIOUS RUMORS, HEATHEN, METAL CHURCH).
In a new video message posted on the VIO-LENCE Instagram, Killian explained his absence from the Melbourne concert, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Got a little food poisoning the other day that fucked my whole day up and a couple of days after. Thank God we had some time off. But, yeah, I ate something for breakfast; I think it was these shitty mushrooms or something. And I went to soundcheck, felt okay, and then all of a sudden got my ass kicked. I puked a couple of times. You know how it is with food poisoning; it comes out of both ends. So that’s been difficult the last couple of days. Unfortunately, I missed playing in Melbourne, which I was really looking forward to, ’cause it was a great club, great crowd. And we’ll definitely be back; I’ll figure out a way to get back there and make that show up. I know Jason stepped in and he did his best, ’cause we were just thinking we either don’t play and the fans go home with half a night and half a belly of whisky instead of a full belly. So I talked to the promoter, and he found a guy that’s in a band, Jason, and he went up and did his best. It’s not what we wanted to do, but at the time, it was, like, ‘Well, these people are all here. They can still hang out, hear some music and have a good time and go home. And then I’ll figure out a way to get back to Melbourne, Australia.'”
He continued: “So, thanks for all the support. And there’s always haters out there no matter what. So they can talk all the shit they want; I really don’t care. It doesn’t affect me in any way. I don’t even read half of these clickbait magazines. Actually, I don’t ready any of ’em, to tell you the truth. I’ve got my lovely woman at home; she reads ’em and tells me the good comments and doesn’t tell me the bad ones, ’cause who cares about them anyway? A bunch of basement dwellers.”
Sean added: “I’m feeling a lot better. Just a little hiccup in the road. Shit happens. It’s not what happens; it’s how you deal with it.”
VIO-LENCE played its first show with Aguilar late last month at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. Aguilar joined VIO-LENCE following the departure of Perry Strickland.
Founding VIO-LENCEPhil Demmel is sitting out the group’s shows in Asia, Australia and New Zealand this month and is being replaced by Baker.
Notably, VIO-LENCE‘s concert in Melbourne featured none of the members from the lineup that played its first comeback gig in April 2019 at the Oakland Metro in Oakland, California. The VIO-LENCE lineup that appeared at the Metro consisted of Killian, Demmel, Strickland, bassist Deen Dell and guitarist Ray Vegas.
Strickland announced his departure from VIO-LENCE last month by sharing a video of him performing with the band and captioning it: “I’ll Miss playing these songs !” After one fan asked Perry in the comments to clarify whether he has in fact exited the group, Strickland responded: “yes about a month ago”.
Among the people reacting to Strickland‘s announcement was former OVERKILL and VIO-LENCE guitarist Bobby Gustafson, who wrote: “Good luck with what ever you do in the future. We had some good times finally.”
On February 26, Demmel addressed VIO-LENCE‘s future in an Instagram Live video, saying it was “kind of weird playing these shows” with “a bunch of fill-ins and me and Sean.” He added that while Adrian is “awesome” and the Whisky gig “was packed”, he is “just kind of really torn right now in the sense of what VIO-LENCE is and what it’s gonna be and what my role is gonna be in that and how I feel about that.” Demmel went on to say that he told Killian he “wanted to shut [VIO-LENCE] down,” but then he realized “that to ask that of those dudes to not do it anymore is selfish on my part.”
Demmel also confirmed that he will perform with VIO-LENCE at the Hell’s Heroes V preparty on March 23 in Houston, Texas and at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in late May in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but revealed that he will likely scale down his live appearances with the band, to the point where he will no longer play any live shows with the group.
In March 2022, VIO-LENCE released a new EP, “Let The World Burn”, via Metal Blade Records. The five-song collection, VIO-LENCE‘s first original release since 1993’s “Nothing To Gain”, was tracked at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California by Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS),mixed by Tue Madsen (DARK TRANQUILLITY, HEAVEN SHALL BURN) and mastered by Ted Jensen (ALICE IN CHAINS, DEATH ANGEL).
Formed in 1985, VIO-LENCE helped define and refine what came to be known as the Bay Area sound, dropping three seminal albums before splitting in 1993. Leaving behind a heady legacy, they reformed briefly a couple of times in the intervening years before becoming a full-time going concern once more in 2019. After playing a string of successful shows, the quintet started to think about new music and delivered “Let The World Burn”, showcasing their first new material in 29 years.
VIO-LENCE‘s recording lineup on “Let The World Burn” consisted of Gustafson, Demmel, Killian and Strickland along with Olde Wolbers.
VIO-LENCE reunited soon after Demmel left MACHINE HEAD in late 2018.
Demmel was in MACHINE HEAD for nearly 16 years, during which time he played on five of the group’s studio albums: “Through The Ashes Of Empires” (2003),“The Blackening” (2007),“Unto The Locust” (2011),“Bloodstone & Diamonds” (2014) and “Catharsis” (2018).
VIO-LENCE played its first show with Black in August 2022 at the Brutal Assault festival in Jaromer, Czech Republic.
Black, who grew up in the Bay Area and previously played with VICIOUS RUMORS, HEATHEN and METAL CHURCH, filled in for Demmel, who was on the road at the time with LAMB OF GOD as the temporary replacement for Willie Adler.
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 the band’s reunion.
