After vocalist Sean Killian underwent a successful liver transplant in 2018, Bay Area thrash vets Vio-Lence reunited with a clear sense of purpose. Their first set of new material in nearly 30 years(!) features classic lineup fixtures Killian, Phil Demmel (guitar), and Perry Strickland (drums) alongside ex-Overkill guitarist Bobby Gustafson and former Fear Factory bassist Christian Olde Wolbers. “It feels really cool to be able to create again and get something new out that people can listen to,” Killian tells Apple Music. “Playing live is always fantastic, but it’s the creating and recording of the music and presenting new material to the public that really excites me a lot.” Below, he discusses each track on Let the World Burn.
“Flesh From Bone”
“I’ve always been intrigued with the Dark Ages of history, and I was watching a documentary on Vlad the Impaler. He had this small army that defended Wallachia, and he was going against the Ottoman Empire. He was using these tactics of fear to conquer much larger forces. When the Ottoman soldiers saw 20,000 impaled bodies on the battlefield, they thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.’ So, I took that story from the 14th century and brought it to 2022.”
“Screaming Always”
“On this planet, at any given time, someone is screaming. I started with the title of the song and just built off of that. It goes in and out of different scenarios, but my goal with these songs was to paint a picture in people’s minds. And just think of all the different reasons that could cause someone to scream...”
“Upon Their Cross”
“With information going around so fast these days, some tragedy happens, and someone is going to hold it up and go, ‘Look, everyone—you need to be with us on this. And if you’re not, you’re the enemy.’ I don’t want to get into specifics because it’s a sensitive subject, but anything that happens that someone or some group doesn’t like, they’ll hold it up on their cross and use it as a rallying cry.”
“Gato Negro”
“I was listening to a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” on YouTube. The story is great, but the narrator of the one I listened to was awesome. He really made you feel engrossed in the story. So, that’s what inspired the song. It’s got some references to that short story, but we didn’t call it ‘Black Cat’ because ‘Gato Negro’ just sounds so much better.”
“Let the World Burn”
“We’ve had a lot of things burning in the last year or so, especially here in California. People put so much importance on their little daily lives and these snippets of tragedy and success that come and go, but if there was a cataclysmic extinction event—like the world burning—would any of that matter anymore? The only way it would be remembered is if the planet was inhabited by another life form that was able to do that. So, this song is asking, ‘Is all your stuff really that important?’”