Vio-lence

Born in San Francisco's Bay Area in 1985, Vio‑lence belongs to the second wave of California thrash metal, with a fast, tense and abrasive sound built on razor‑sharp riffs, abrupt tempo changes and Sean Killian's rough vocals. After several mid‑1980s demos, Vio‑lence made a name on the local scene by sharing bills with other Bay Area thrash acts, then released three studio albums that became the cornerstones of their discography: Eternal Nightmare (1988), Oppressing the Masses (1990) and Nothing to Gain (1993), along with the EP Torture Tactics (1991). The lineup featuring Phil Demmel, Robb Flynn, Deen Dell and Perry Strickland is the one most associated with that period; Flynn and later Demmel went on to careers connected with Machine Head after the band's breakup in 1994. Vio‑lence briefly reformed between 2001 and 2003, and revived activities in 2019 with Sean Killian at the project's centre. That comeback produced the EP Let the World Burn in 2022, the band's first new recording in nearly three decades. Today Vio‑lence continues to operate with a revised lineup centred on Sean Killian, the only constant member in their history.