Sounding good so far! I'm glad Tom decided to record the vocals even though he's not in the band anymore because he's such a huge part of the band. I know this band doesn't have many fans on this board, but maybe this will be the record to change a few minds.

Eh, I doubt anyone who hasn't liked Lich King before will change their minds now if they haven't already since World Gone Dead or Born of the Bomb.

Funnily enough, I really enjoy a lot of these guys. I thought Born of the Bomb had some great stuff on it. In the End, Devastation is one of my all-time favorite modern thrash songs actually, haha. I'll probably end up checking this out.

I think the whole "Tom is leaving" thing was a joke. How is a guy who's responsible for putting together the first two or three albums, does all of the vocal work, does all of the art and manage the merch stores just bow out? If he leaves, the band should disband, logically, but he's so engrained in Lich King, that him "leaving" seems like an extended rib.

I believe he's just not touring with them because he's not into the touring life. But yeah initially it seemed like he was completely done, even with studio recording vocals.

Remember when we had multi-page threads about whether or not they used a drum machine?

I'm one of those guys who can't get into Lich King. They are talented, but it's hard for me to put my finger on. I think most of it is the silly lyrics and the way they spoof the genre of thrash. I'm sure some people find it funny, but the older I get, the less I'm interested in pizza thrash. It's not just them. They're are a lot of re-thrash bands I can't get into for one reason or another.

You are probably right. I know the MA page says a couple of guys have been in the band since 2004, but I always thought the first two albums were just Tom.

HIYA FOLKS

I knowwww, I know... it's a whole thing that it must have been a prank, but it's real and I can't think of a way to convince people, because my schtick has been pranks like this from the start. It doesn't help that the band is very VERY lazily looking for a replacement. It helps even less that the auditions haven't been great.

If it were up to me I'd always be the studio vocalist, but the others are pretty serious about doing a ton of touring and I think they'd not be a fan of having a studio vocalist that doesn't match the guy on stage. I'm hoping that going forward there can always be a "Tom version" of an album, an alternate release where I do vocals.


I totally get that. The overly jokey bands, called pizza thrash or re-thrash or whatever you want to call them... I don't like them either (with a handful of exceptions). I feel like they're mostly trucking in gimmicks and gags, and I always say that priority one has to be the riffs. If the riffs are shit, funny lyrics aren't going to make things much better. That's not music, that's doing what Weird Al does. Plus the jokes tend to be pretty lame- songs about zombies that want to eat pizza and drink beer sung by people still shelling out cash on ebay to purchase the 80s thrash costume.

I hope you and anyone reading this that dismisses us for joke-thrash can maybe give us another shot at some point and see if you can ignore the lyrics and just enjoy the music. I put tons of effort into the riffs and try to write the most savage and stomping stuff I can. Early on I used to put out shit songs I didn't love because I thought they were funny, and I regret that now. The stain lingers but I keep trying.

Of course, anyone that criticizes us for not trying to break any new stylistic ground in 2017 also has a good case to make against us, and I'm fine with that.


Yeah, it was just me until August of 2009.

I've given you a chance. I own everything except for your Super Retro Thrash album. Some of your songs are quite catchy, but overall I get the vibe that you are just making a parody of the genre and the bands that came before you. There was pizza thrash back in the day that I didn't care for either so it's not just Lich King. I think you are very talented musicians. I'm sure I will check the new album out, but I can't say that it will change my mind (music is subjective after all). I appreciate you coming on here with your thoughts. I hope the new album does well.

Thanks man, I hope you like what you hear and at any rate I appreciate your candor.

BUT THE RIFFS THOUGH... It's really the main thing that gets you to listen to this genre. It's not like they seriously hate thrash and so they're making fun of it, while at the same time writing some good ass material. Lich King is easy to understand, the music is serious, the lyrics are not. Half of my metal listening journey has been ignoring lyrics and just listening to the music because it's good, pretty much forced to do that because I can't understand a lot of metal bands when they growl.

Music is all subjective and we are not all going to like the same stuff. I've got to like all of what I'm hearing and if there is one thing off then it throws the whole thing off for me. I've already said they do have some catchy songs that I enjoy, but others do nothing for me because there is just something there not clicking for me.

You bought all of their music even though you don't like them that much..? Unless I misunderstood what you meant by owning everything they put out.

I know right...lol. Seriously though, they have songs I enjoy, but others I don't. Between all of the albums, there's probably 8 or 10 songs I like, but the rest are like I said before just a parody of the genre IMO. It's not just these guys, I feel the same way about other re-thrash/ new wave thrash bands. I don't just buy a song or two because I collect albums so yes, I bought all of their stuff for those 8 or 10 songs that I like. I'll check the new one out more than likely and who knows, it could change things or it could stay the same.

I'm so happy that Tom is on it, very glad of this, if the album just be a HALF of a World Gone Dead, it'll kick asses badly, I'M THE HYPE!

The band has put out two songs so far:





I've spun through the full album a few times and I really like it. I would say it's just as good as the last couple, maybe even a bit better. Getting Mike from Condition Critical makes a huge difference - the bass playing on this record is awesome. It'll need a lot more listens to really sink in for me, but I dig it a lot. The only thing on the album that sucks is the annoyingly long intro to Preschool Cesspool (the song itself is awesome though).

Have not listened to the songs yet, but I gotta say, that cover art is great. Perfectly captures the ridiculous and delightful look of 90's computer game box art.

I still think not closing the album with "I Quit" was a serious missed opportunity. That song is surprisingly catchy.

Thanks y'all. I'm pretty proud of what we've coughed up this time. It's more aggressive than anything we've done yet. Raw and fast, with a few dollops more punkiness than we normally add to the stew.



Nahhh, I don't count that song as having been worthy of the album. Brian had to convince me to put it out as a bonus track. I think it's got okay riffs, but i wrote it in a few days. I feel like it's not fully cooked. All the other songs on this album are better (minus Civilization, that one's gonna split people, it's the Agnosticism of this album) and the track we ended on is one of our best ever.

"my favourite closing song on a lich king record for sure" -some dude I know

Looking forward to this, I have a soft spot for LK. They are not the best but they are far, far from the worst but I like Tom's humor and the whole Lich King vibe. And they write good songs, getting better with each release. Vocals get much better too and I was sorry to hear that Tom quit, because I seriously thought he was starting to realize his potential as a vocalist. That Agent Steel cover man, still impresses me today, never thought I'd hear an Agent Steel cover worth relistening (over and over).

I like good humor, it has its place in thrash, Tankard is one of my all-time favorite bands with lots of comedic songs. I don't mind thrash going different places, fun thrash is definitely one of those, I have absolutely no problem with song matters not being serious. On the contrary I have laughed and cringed with many a song or band that was supposedly serious. Not everyone can do serious well, nor fun for that matter. And like Tankard, who have many serious lyrics, the same applies to LK.

Anyway, good luck with the release

I have a weird relationship with Lich King. Back in like 2007 when Evile and Gama Bomb were making waves and the movement was still called "neo thrash", I bought right the hell into it. Even then, before I realized Merciless Onslaught was a terrible band, I never bothered giving Lich King a chance purely because they seemed to be the one band that was "too jokey" at the time. I've since revisited them and I think Born of the Bomb is genuinely really good, but everything before then just hasn't really grabbed me. I'm anticipating this one though because I do think each album has been an improvement upon the one before it. Oddly enough, despite this, I actually own a Lich King shirt, and I bought it before I ever heard a note of their music on record. I was there for Diamond Plate's video shoot/album release show when Generation Why came out, and Lich King was one of the openers. I chatted with Tom briefly before the show and mentioned I had never heard any of his music, and he said "Well if you have fun, you have to buy a shirt, it's the rule", and I was like "A'ight, deal." I had fun, so I bought a shirt.

There was something about them that really stuck out to me though, and that's that for all the crap they get for not taking music seriously and just acting like goofballs all the time, it's clear that they're not just doing this for yuks, they're god damned professionals. Not only was the energy insane and the musicianship super tight, but I clearly recall near the end of the set Tom announced "Okay we only have time for one more, so you guys have to pick between two." He held out his right hand and said "Who wants to hear Attack of the Wrath of the War of the [yak yak yak]", to moderate cheers. He then held out his left and said "Who wants to hear Black Metal Sucks?" and the crowd erupted. Everybody onstage was shaking their heads, the guitarist they borrowed from Mantic Ritual was pleading to not choose that one. Tom said "Come on we really don't want to play that one, let's try again", and again Black Metal Sucks won in a landslide. So despite everybody in the band vocally pleading for the crowd to choose the other one, they relented and played Black Metal Sucks... and they killed it. All that energy from before was ramped up, everybody was going nuts on stage, they played it faster than usual and flawlessly, just ripped the shit out of the entire place. They love to have a good time, but they knew to give the fans what they want and they gave 110% in doing so, even though they all so obviously wanted nothing to do with the song (pretty sure Tom has mentioned here that it was a goofy joke song that caught on and he just can't escape it). It sounds dumb but I really respected just how fucking hard they went when they played it.

So yeah, I don't see them as a joke band, and I'll surely give The Omniclasm a listen when it drops next week.

So, what are some bands considered "pizza thrash"? I always see people use this derogatory term but no one ever cites specific examples...I thought Gama Bomb might be, so I bought one of their CD's recently for dirt cheap, and it just sounds like Overkill with comic book/B-movie horror themed lyrics, I hear no pizza or TMNT (not to mention it's also pretty darn good). I wonder if it's like norsecore or mallcore, in other words completely meaningless...

Municipal Waste is the standard example.

Get the version with bonus tracks! It closes the album on that version and is the perfect closer!

Edit: Pizza thrash has to be Bonded By Blood, right? They covered the TMNT theme.

Also, BBB is amazing, and I hope they can get a new album out soon!

...Thanks man, I appreciate that. I hope you like the new album. I'll be paying attention to see what you think.

I'm gonna rant about pizza thrash for a moment.

The jokiness definitely didn't do us any favors. That gets us lumped in with the pizza thrash bands, and it bugs me, because the term tends to define bands that coast on their jokes and clothes being the main draw with the music a tertiary priority at best. I see tons of pizza thrash bands out there, and I hate them too. I see them as tourists, ironically wearing thrash outfits they bought on ebay like a hipster wears a bowtie. They're not here for metal. They're here as a goof.

So I get using "pizza thrash" as a slur. I just resent being lumped in with the pizza bands simply because we have humorous material. I put riffs first and I look down on any band that doesn't do the same, you know? I could have named any of the funny songs SATANIC BLOODLUST ORGY or anything else, but I think that's about as unimaginative as it gets. There's enough of that crap.

I don't know what the solution is. I think the best I can do is to keep trying to make the best and most ferocious riffs I can, and to hope that eventually people will forget that we also made BLACK METAL SUCKS. It's an anvil around our necks.

The only thing worse than a pizza thrash band is a self-hating pizza thrash band

The unreasonable offense people took to that song is the original reason I got into Lich King. I don't see any problem with being humorous. Tankard does it and they have always been very well received.

As much as I'm not a fan of Lich King's early material (Much like everyone apparently) and the new stuff doesn't blow my mind by any means, I can't be the only one who's noticed that their sense of humor has evolved along with their music. While the early albums were clearly trying too hard to be parody and pop culture heavy, they seem to have a much better grasp on meta humor in recent years. Don't think Thrash or Die will ever write something as legitimately amusing as Crossover Songs Are Too Damn Short or Cut The Shit, even if they opted for similar song titles.

Might catch them on tour in three weeks.