Municipal Waste is an American

crossover thrash Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Other genres on the same continuum, such as metalcore and grindcore, ma ...

band from

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, formed in 2001. To date, the band has released seven studio albums, three EPs and four

splits A split (commonly referred to as splits or the splits) is a physical position in which the legs are in line with each other and extended in opposite directions. Splits are commonly performed in various athletic activities, including dance, figu ...

. They have gone through a few line-up changes, leaving vocalist Tony Foresta and rhythm guitarist Ryan Waste as the only constant members. In addition to Foresta and Waste, their current lineup includes Philip "Land Phil" Hall on bass,

Dave Witte Dave Witte (born August 11, 1971) is an American drummer. He is known for his work in numerous extreme metal or hardcore punk bands including Municipal Waste, Melt-Banana, Discordance Axis, Black Army Jacket, Birds of Prey, Burnt by the Sun, a ...

on drums and Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos on lead guitar.

History

Municipal Waste was formed in Richmond, Virginia in 2000. Municipal Waste played their first show at a Richmond New Year's Eve Keg party in 2000–2001. The band was blamed for inciting a small riot. The band took musical influences from

bands such as D.R.I.,

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stormtr ...

, ''

Animosity Animosity may refer to: * ''Animosity'' (comic), an American comic book series published by AfterShock Comics *Animosity (band) Animosity was an American death metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2000. The band released three ...

''-era

Corrosion of Conformity Corrosion of Conformity (also known as COC) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole const ...

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, T ...

and Attitude Adjustment. Municipal Waste toured throughout 2001 and 2002 in the US and Mexico. The band released two

split album A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "var ...

s—one 7" with

Bad Acid Trip Bad Acid Trip is an American metal band currently signed to System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian's record label Serjical Strike Records. Their 2004 album, ''Lynch the Weirdo'', was produced by Daron Malakian, another System of a Down memb ...

, the other being a 12" with Crucial Unit. They also had tracks on a number of compilations. In 2002 Brendan Trache left, being replaced by Brandon Ferrell, shortly before the '' Tango and Thrash'' on Amendment Records and '' Waste 'Em All'' was released on Six Weeks Records. Following the release of ''Waste 'Em All'', both Andy Harris and Brandon Ferrell left the band, being replaced by bassist Philip "LandPhil" Hall and drummer

respectively. In 2005, Municipal Waste signed to

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

and recorded the ''

Hazardous Mutation ''Hazardous Mutation'' is the second album by the American crossover thrash band Municipal Waste. It is also the band's debut on Earache Records. The album's main theme is zombies, other monsters, and partying all tied together with humorou ...

'' album. During 2005 and 2006, Municipal Waste shot a video for "Unleash the Bastards", with a censored and non-censored version. In June 2007, Municipal Waste toured with

Destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...

in the United States, before heading into the studio with

Hatebreed Hatebreed is an American hardcore band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, formed in 1994. The band released its debut album '' Satisfaction is the Death of Desire'' in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universal Records ...

and

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais (lead guitar, ...

producer

Zeuss Christopher Harris (born April 1, 1972), known professionally as Zeuss, is an American record producer, mixer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Biography Zeuss is best known in the worlds of hard rock, heavy metal music, hardcore punk, and ...

, to record their next album '' The Art of Partying''. The band followed this up with a headline tour of Europe, a tour with

The Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

and spots at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

in Germany and

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

. They also went on the road with

. A video was then recorded for the track "Headbanger Face Rip", which was filmed by

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pla ...

. In 2007, the band received great acclaim from the music press, with a top five album of the year placing in Sweden's ''Close Up'' magazine and top twenty positions in '' Big Cheese'' and ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' They also were on the front cover of ''

Metal Maniacs ''Metal Maniacs'' was an American magazine that was based around heavy metal music. History Founded in 1989 by Mike 'G' Greenblatt and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. Where its sister publication ''Metal Edge'' largely covered glam metal, ''Metal ...

'' magazine but also made several appearances in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. They performed at the UK's

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

on June 15, 2008. They also joined

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...

on their "Suicidal Final Tour" along with Darkest Hour,

Toxic Holocaust Toxic Holocaust is an American thrash metal band from Portland, Oregon. History Joel Grind founded Toxic Holocaust in 1999. He originally wrote and recorded all of the band's music himself, and after a couple of demo releases (''Radiation Sick ...

and Repulsion. In 2010, the band was confirmed as being part of the soundtrack for

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...

' 2010 remake of ''Splatterhouse''. Municipal Waste released their third album ''

Massive Aggressive ''Massive Aggressive'' is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Municipal Waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of every ...

'' in 2009, followed three years later by ''

The Fatal Feast ''The Fatal Feast'' (also referred to as "The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space)") is the fifth studio album by American crossover thrash band Municipal Waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States ...

'' (2012), and then five years later by '' Slime and Punishment'' (2017). The band released the EP ''The Last Rager'' on October 11, 2019, and their seventh studio album ''Electrified Brain'' was released on July 1, 2022.

Musical style and influences

The band members themselves have stated that they are influenced from groups such as

, D.R.I.,

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

, Testament,

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

, S.O.D.,

M.O.D. M.O.D. (abbreviation for Method of Destruction) is an American crossover thrash band from New York City, fronted by Stormtroopers of Death vocalist Billy Milano. The band has been around for years (minus one hiatus from 1997 to 2001), and rele ...

and the

Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among t ...

. The band's songwriting approach takes form in short,

songs. Lyrical topics have to do with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

s, or thrash metal. The music is also described as being, and the band has received the tag "Party thrash" from the media. The band's song titles are also comedic, or give nods to their influences such as "Thrashing's My Business and Business is Good", "The Thrashin' of the Christ", "Thrash? Don't Mind If I Do" and "Drunk as Shit".

Members

;Current members * Tony Foresta – lead vocals *Ryan Waste – guitar, backing vocals *Philip "Land Phil" Hall – bass, backing vocals *

– drums *Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos – lead guitar ;Former members *Andy Harris – bass *Brendan Trache – drums *Brandon Ferrell – drums ;Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Waste 'Em All'' (2003, Six Weeks Records) * ''

'' (2005, Earache Records) * '' The Art of Partying'' (2007, Earache Records) * ''

'' (2009, Earache Records) * ''

'' (2012, Nuclear Blast Records) * '' Slime and Punishment'' (2017, Nuclear Blast Records) * ''Electrified Brain'' (2022, Nuclear Blast Records) ;EPs * ''

Municipal Waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

'' (2001, Amendment Records /

Busted Heads Records Busted Heads Records was an independent record label operating between 1997 and 2004 in Umeå, Sweden. It released records by both local and worldwide punk and hardcore bands. The label was run by Christoffer Röstlund Jonsson, then bass player ...

) * ''Scion Presents: Municipal Waste'' (2012, Scion Audio Visual) * ''Garbage Pack'' (2012, Night of the Vinyl Dead Records) * ''The Last Rager'' (2019, Nuclear Blast Records) ;Splits * ''Municipal Waste / Crucial Unit'' (2002, Six Weeks Records) * '' Tango and Thrash'' (with Bad Acid Trip) (2004, Mordar Records) * ''Louder Than Hell'' (2005, Six Weeks Records) * ''

Toxic Waste Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm (e.g. by being inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin). Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemi ...

'' (with

) (2012, Tankcrimes Records) ;Compilations * ''Waste 'Em All / Tango and Thrash'' (2004, Rabid Dog Records) ;Music videos * "Thrashin's My Business... and Business Is Good" * "Headbanger Face Rip" * "Sadistic Magician" * "Wrong Answer" * "Acid Sentence" * "Wolves of Chernobyl" * "The Fatal Feast" * "Repossession" * "You're Cut Off" * "Breathe Grease" * "Slime And Punishment" * "Electrified Brain" * "Grave Dive" * "Crank The Heat" * "High Speed Steel" ;Contributed tracks to

Awards and accolades

Loudwire Music Awards , - , 2017 , , Amateur Sketch , , Metal Song of the Year , ,

References

External links

Official website

Interview with Dave Witte
{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipal Waste (Band) 2001 establishments in Virginia American thrash metal musical groups Crossover thrash groups Earache Records artists Heavy metal musical groups from Virginia Musical groups established in 2001 Music of Richmond, Virginia Musical quintets Nuclear Blast artists Political music groups Hardcore punk groups from Virginia