There’s a new thrash metal band obsessed with pizza, for some reason

(Image credit: Pizza Death/Disdain Records)

For diehards of the subgenre, “pizza thrash” is a derogatory term aimed at new speed metal bands that lean just a tiny bit too heavily on such ’80s idols as Metallica, Exodus and Kreator. Pizza Death clearly didn’t get the memo, and seem to be a band that have taken the term far too literally.

Pizza Death write songs about pizza. You never asked for it, but it’s happened – and it’s surprisingly fucking excellent. Their second album, Reign Of The Anticrust (yes, seriously), comes packaged with a big demonic margarita slice on the cover and sample The Simpsons and South Park. However, it’s also fucking nasty.

With 20 tracks that clock in at a svelte 27 minutes, Reign Of The Anticrust is party-time thrash that parties hard. Opener Pepperabies (again, seriously) sounds like Power Trip have guzzled all the coffee in America, adding more and more guitar heft and imposing gang vocals on top of a scurrying drum beat. Reclaim The Hut is a hardcore chant-along, while Frankenslice briefly deadens to a crawl with some burly groove metal. For anybody enamoured with Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust, it’ll surely prove a beastly discovery.

As for the band behind this brilliantly violent ridiculousness, they’re a four-piece of longtime thrash players hailing from Melbourne, Australia, known only as Kane, Tim, Pat and Plonk. “When writing songs, our general approach is to come up with a funny pizza-related pun and then write a song around that,” Pat once told blog InEffectHardCore of Pizza Death’s creative process. Considering their discography includes tracks called Pasta Of Muppets, Eaten O-live By Zomb-olives and Tsunami Of Salami, we believe him.

Obviously, nobody expects Pizza Death to be the next Iron Maiden, but the band’s brand of deep-dish-heavy thrash is so batshit and high-octane that it demands to be heard. Next time you and your mates are having a night of beers, music and the greasiest food available, stick Reign Of The Anticrust on for a rager you’ll never forget (hangover permitting).

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.