If anybody knows about that old-school shit, it’s Gus Rios. The Gruesome drummer also beats the skins in Death tribute act Left to Die and is an ex-member of Sickness and Malevolent Creation. He’s joined by a massive lineup in Kill Division, including drummer Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth, ex-Soilwork, Cadaver), vocalist Kyle Symons (ex-Malevolent Creation) and bassist Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc., Inhuman Condition).
Kill Division is a nod to the old way of doing things, a group formed to blast through grindcore in the style of Terrorizer and Napalm Death, particularly in the style that late guitarist Jesse Pintado wrote. On their new album, Peace Through Tyranny, the quartet keep things simple: fast-as-fuck drumming, crunchy guitars and bass, and half-intelligible growls with an anti-war sentiment. Songs like “Freak” and “Hatred Inspired” in particular reflect Pintado’s best quality as a songwriter—the moshable, slower grooves that he wrote in songs like Napalm Death’s “I Abstain” and Terrorizer’s “Dead Shall Rise.”
“Peace Through Tyranny is actually quite an important album for me in particular,” Rios tells Decibel. “Aside from coming out 30 years after Kyle Symons and I recorded our first demo with our first band, Sickness, as teenagers, this album will be a time capsule of sorts having documented our innermost tensions from a life-altering pandemic and catharsis from my own severe demons. Also, getting to do a record with my good friend and certified drumming legend Dirk Verbeuren was so amazing!
“And guitar was actually my first love and instrument, so getting back to that has been so fulfilling. My hope is that death metal guys like me who were also way into Terrorizer and early Napalm Death will find this album to be a nostalgic trip down old school grindcore memory lane, and that grind heads of today will also take in both its purity and its aggression.”
Peace Through Tyranny will be available through the propagandists at Redefining Darkness on September 16, but Decibel has it right now.
