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Terrorizer is an American
grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...
band from
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. It was originally formed in 1985 as Unknown Death by vocalist Oscar Garcia and guitarist
Jesse Pintado Jesus "Jesse" Ernesto Pintado Andrade (July 12, 1969 – August 27, 2006) was a Mexican-American guitarist best known as a guitarist for the British grindcore band Napalm Death. Biography Pintado was born in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico and mo ...
. They would rename themselves Terrorizer after recruiting drummer Pete Sandoval, who remains the band's sole constant member throughout their discography, in 1986. The band's current lineup consists of Sandoval, bassist David Vincent, vocalist Brian Werner and guitarist Richie Brown. They are currently 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 r ...
. Terrorizer struggled to find success during their initial existence, and would disband in 1988 after Sandoval left to join
Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...
. They were briefly regrouped by David Vincent to record their highly influential debut album ''
World Downfall ''World Downfall'' is the debut studio album by American grindcore band Terrorizer, released on November 13, 1989, through Earache Records. It was produced by David Vincent (musician), David Vincent of Morbid Angel, who also performed bass on the a ...
'' (1989), before they split up again later that year when Pintado left to join
Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...
. In 2005, Pintado and Sandoval reformed Terrorizer without Garcia, recording and released their second album '' Darker Days Ahead'' in 2006. Terrorizer became inactive once again due to Pintado's death only five days after the album's release on August 27, 2006. After being revived by Sandoval in 2009, Terrorizer has released two more albums, '' Hordes of Zombies'' (2012) and ''Caustic Attack'' (2018), each featuring a different lineup.


History


Early history (1985–1988)

In 1985, after a brief stint in a band called Majesty, Oscar Garcia began searching around the
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
area for musicians he could form a band with which he could front as both a vocalist and guitarist. Garcia first met guitarist
Jesse Pintado Jesus "Jesse" Ernesto Pintado Andrade (July 12, 1969 – August 27, 2006) was a Mexican-American guitarist best known as a guitarist for the British grindcore band Napalm Death. Biography Pintado was born in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico and mo ...
, and after helping each other with their guitar skills, the two formed a
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band known as Unknown Death. Afterwards, Garcia and Pintado recruited bassist Alfred "Garvey" Estrada and a drummer
mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...
ously known as "Fish". Initially taking inspiration from thrash metal acts such as
Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...
and
Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...
, Garcia and Pintado would soon decide to take Unknown Death in a faster direction, after Pintado received a
demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
featuring what would become the
A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
to
Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...
's '' Scum'' (1987). Garcia recalled: "I remember one day, intadosaid, 'Check this out'. And when I listened to it for the first time, I called him and said, 'That's it, that's the way I wanna play'." Fish was unable to play to the speeds that Garcia and Pintado wanted, and he soon left the band. Upon the recommendation of a friend, drummer Pete Sandoval auditioned for Unknown Death and was instantly hired. "The first beat that andovalplayed was a superfast beat, and when we heard that, Jesse and I looked at each other and we looked at Pete, and we were like, 'Hey man, you wanna join this band?' And he said, 'You guys haven't seen me play.' And I said, 'We've heard enough'." Sandoval's drumming style complemented Unknown Death's older songs, and Garcia felt that "everything just started to click" musically when he joined the band. Unknown Death soon changed their name to Decomposed, and then to Terrorizer, after a song of the same name by
Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
. Having attained a stable line-up, Terrorizer began playing around the Los Angeles area, performing their first show at the Hoover Recreation Centre on March 21, 1987. The band released four rehearsal/demo tapes during 1987 that were circulated throughout the underground tape-trading scene. Terrorizer were limited to performing in small venues or at backyard parties for most of their initial existence, and struggled to attract record label interest due to the speed and intensity of their music, which made them unappealing to both the heavy metal and
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
audiences of the Los Angeles area. In the summer of 1988, with both interest in and activity within Terrorizer waning, Sandoval was presented with the opportunity to join the Florida-based
death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
band
Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...
by the band's bassist, David Vincent. He would subsequently announce to the other members of Terrorizer during a band rehearsal with new bassist Carlos Reveles (who Garcia had played with back in Majesty) that he was leaving to join Morbid Angel, resulting in their disbandment. Garcia recalled of Sandoval's departure: "At the time I thought we errorizerwere just about ready to do an album. Then one day out of the blue at a practice, Pete just busted out saying that he was leaving the band and that he was moving out of state. And that was pretty much it for us then. It was like we never had a chance."


''World Downfall'' and disbandment (1989–2004)

In early 1989, whilst he was in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
delivering the master tapes of Morbid Angel's debut album '' Altars of Madness'' to the offices of
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 r ...
, David Vincent discussed Terrorizer with the label's founder, Digby Pearson. Pearson told Vincent that Terrorizer had been signed to Earache before Morbid Angel were, but that he had struggled to get the band to record an album due to its members being based in differing locations. Vincent subsequently offered to regroup Terrorizer to record an album, should Earache be interested in releasing one. In April 1989, Garcia and Pintado travelled to
Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
, where both Vincent and Sandoval were based, to record Terrorizer's debut album ''
World Downfall ''World Downfall'' is the debut studio album by American grindcore band Terrorizer, released on November 13, 1989, through Earache Records. It was produced by David Vincent (musician), David Vincent of Morbid Angel, who also performed bass on the a ...
''. The band spent two weeks of " ehearsingall the songs like crazy" to make them sound as tight as they could be (according to Vincent) before going into
Morrisound Recording Morrisound Recording (also Morrisound Studios) is an audio recording facility in Tampa, Florida, United States, owned and operated by brothers Jim and Tom Morris. Since its opening in 1981, Morrisound has been responsible for the popularizat ...
, where they recorded and mixed the album in the space of three days with engineer Scott Burns. According to Burns, the album was recorded on a budget of $1,200. Pintado played all of the guitars on the album at Garcia's insistence, as he had not played guitar for six months and did not want to hold up recording. Furthermore, as Terrorizer did not have a bassist at the time and because Pintado and Garcia did not have any bass equipment, Vincent ended up playing bass on the album. Although he is credited as both the producer of ''World Downfall'' and Terrorizer's bassist in the album's
liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
, Vincent later claimed that he "just played on the record" and was not an official member of the band (at that point). ''World Downfall'' was released via Earache on November 13, 1989. Shortly before the album's release, Pintado left Terrorizer to join
Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...
, before the start of the band's Grindcrusher Tour in November 1989. With Vincent and Sandoval refocusing their attention on Morbid Angel—who were also participating in the Grindcrusher Tour as a supporting act (along with
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and
Bolt Thrower Bolt Thrower were a British death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling ba ...
)—Terrorizer disbanded for a second time. Garcia subsequently returned to his other band, Nausea. In the 2018 documentary film ''Slave to the Grind: A Film About Grindcore'', Sandoval said of Terrorizer's disbandment:
"There was not a lot of interest in Terrorizer, and plus, these other bands, for us, were big bands, y'know. Morbid Angel, they had like, a beginning of a history, you know what I mean? So it was something cool, nice for me to join. And then Napalm Death, another big band... so it was what it was supposed to be, man."
''World Downfall'' has retrospectively been seen as one of the classics of early
grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...
. Morbid Angel would later incorporate the album track "Dead Shall Rise" into their setlists during their tours in support of '' Blessed Are the Sick'' (1991), which Vincent said the band were happy to do as "half of Morbid Angel had been in Terrorizer". Although Terrorizer were still under contract for another album with Earache, attempts to make another album with the ''World Downfall'' line-up of the band were unsuccessful due to its members' conflicting schedules. Garcia claims not to have talked to Sandoval since Terrorizer's disbandment.


Later history and albums. disbandment and reformation (2005–present)

In 2005, after leaving Napalm Death, Pintado agreed to reform Terrorizer with Sandoval to release another album, '' Darker Days Ahead'', through
Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...
in August 2006. Garcia declined to join the reunion due to creative differences with Pintado, who wanted him to leave Nausea—he was subsequently replaced by Anthony Rezhawk. Tony Norman also joined the band on guitar and bass; Pintado had been recording and playing shows with Rezhawk's band Resistant Culture and asked him to join Terrorizer. Pintado would die five days after the album's release due to
liver failure Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute- ...
. In 2009, Terrorizer released a new demo track, "Hordes of Zombies", on its MySpace page. In June 2011, Terrorizer signed to
Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pa ...
, and released its third album, '' Hordes of Zombies'', on February 28, 2012. Resistant Culture guitarist Katina Culture replaced Pintado and David Vincent rejoined on bass. In November 2012, Sandoval announced that Terrorizer started writing new material for their next album. The fourth album ''Caustic Attack'' was released in 2018 under
The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specialized in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. History Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of ...
. On August 9, 2021,
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 r ...
announced a new worldwide record deal with Terrorizer, as well as revealing that a new album was in the works. On January 22, 2023, Sandoval announced the split of Terrorizer and would shift his attention to his other band I Am Morbid. However, on August 12, Sandoval reformed Terrorizer with Vincent, alongside former Vital Remains vocalist Brian Werner and guitarist Richie Brown. As of May 2025, the band has been working on new music.


Terrorizer LA

In 2014, Oscar Garcia was invited by Jesse Pintado's sister to put together a new lineup of Terrorizer (his version known as Terrorizer LA or TLA) for a festival celebrating what would have been Jesse Pintado's 45th birthday. He asked fellow Nausea member
Leon del Muerte Leon del Muerte (born 1977) is a musician living in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is a guitarist, a vocalist, and also a founding member of the band Murder Construct. He is a guitarist in Terrorizer LA, and Lightbreaker vocalist in Impaled (band), Impa ...
(
Murder Construct Murder Construct is an American extreme metal band from Los Angeles, California, United States. The band members are Travis Ryan ( Cattle Decapitation), Leon del Muerte (Nausea LA, ex- Exhumed, ex-D.I.S., ex- Intronaut, ex- Impaled, ex-Phobia), ...
) to play guitar, and shortly afterward Cosmo Reveles, Rick Cortez (
Sadistic Intent Sadistic Intent is an American death metal band from Los Angeles. Active since 1987, it is one of the longest-standing death metal acts in all of California, and a prominent Latino metal band. As of 2017, the band had never released a full-lengt ...
), and Mike Caffell (Dreaming Dead, Exhausted Prayer) were recruited to fill out the band. The band continues to play under the Terrorizer LA name. ''Before the Downfall,'' a collection of demos and unreleased material, was released by FOAD Records in 2015.


Band members

;Current line-up * Pete Sandoval – drums (1986–1989, 2005–2006, 2009–2023, 2023–present) * David Vincent – bass, backing vocals (1989, 2011–2013, 2023–present) * Brian Werner – vocals (2023–present) * Richie Brown – guitars (2023–present) ;Previous members *
Jesse Pintado Jesus "Jesse" Ernesto Pintado Andrade (July 12, 1969 – August 27, 2006) was a Mexican-American guitarist best known as a guitarist for the British grindcore band Napalm Death. Biography Pintado was born in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico and mo ...
– guitars (1985–1989, 2005–2006; his death) * Oscar Garcia – vocals (1985–1989), guitars (1985–1988) * Alfred "Garvey" Estrada – bass (1986–1988) * "Fish" – drums (1986) * Carlos Reveles – bass (1988) * Anthony Rezhawk – vocals (2005–2006, 2009–2013) * Tony Norman – bass (2005–2006, 2009–2011) * Katina Culture – guitars (2009–2013) * Sam Molina – bass, vocals (2013–2023) * Lee Harrison – guitars (2013–2023)


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums

*''
World Downfall ''World Downfall'' is the debut studio album by American grindcore band Terrorizer, released on November 13, 1989, through Earache Records. It was produced by David Vincent (musician), David Vincent of Morbid Angel, who also performed bass on the a ...
'' (1989) *'' Darker Days Ahead'' (2006) *'' Hordes of Zombies'' (2012) *''Caustic Attack'' (2018)


Split releases

*''Terrorizer / Nausea'' (1987)


Demos

*''Nightmares'' (1987) *''Demo '87'' (1988)


References

Notes Citations


Bibliography

* * * *


Further reading

*


External links


Official website
{{Authority control 1986 establishments in California American deathgrind musical groups American grindcore musical groups Century Media Records artists Death metal musical groups from California Earache Records artists Hardcore punk groups from California Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Season of Mist artists