Terrorizer

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Terrorizer equals an irrefutable cult following. Alongside Repulsion and a few others, they pioneered grindcore stateside. What’s more, with Pete Sandoval’s band, the merits go beyond the frontier expansion – it is, above everything else, murderous music. Grind mixed with nipping death metal on “World Downfall” from 1989 is a cult classic and still one of the brightest gems of the American extreme. They will blast you away wholesale.

History:

Terrorizer came into this world in 1986 and never really had it easy. Initially, they changed their name a lot. Before settling on Terrorizer, they tried out Unknown Death and Decomposed. The band’s first incarnation didn’t last long, because the drummer, Fish, couldn’t keep up with his bandmates who wanted to play faster and harder. He was then replaced by the young and unknown Pere Sandoval – a perfect fit for the vision Oscar Garcia and Jesse Pintado had for the band.

The band recorded some demos and worked on their sound, but new obstacles kept on emerging. One of these was the unexpected arrest of the bassist, Alfred Estrada, and another one – one which hit the band harder – was the departure of Pete Sandoval, who chose to join the ranks of Morbid Angel instead.

In spite of all that, in 1989, the American grinders finally recorded their debut album, the now legendary grindcore record “World Downfall”. David Vincent – as in Morbid Angel’s David Vincent – had a hand in its success. He was friends not only with Sandoval but also with Jesse Pintado. He took a shine to Terrorizer’s music and then convinced Digby Pearson, the founder of Earache Records, to invest in the band.

In 2005, the band reactivated, but only a year later, they furled sails again due to the unexpected death of Pintado, leaving behind only the 2006 “Dark Days” Ahead. Three years later, Terrorizer came back again and is still kicking about. They have since released two more albums, “Hordes of Zombies” and “Caustic Attack”.

Discography:

Studio albums:

World Downfall, 1989
Darker Days Ahead, 2006
Hordes of Zombies, 2012
Caustic Attack, 2018

Demos:

Nightmares, 1987
Demo ’87, 1987

Splits:

Split Demo 87’/88, 1988 (z Nausea)
In Memory of Jesse Pintado, 2006 (z Napalm Death)
Leaders Not Followers: Part 2 / Darker Days Ahead, 2008 (z Napalm Death)

Live Albums:

Live in Miami, 2019
Live Commando Commanding Europe 2019, 2019
Live Commando II, 2023