Terror Squad
Tokyo thrash lifers who formed in '92 to play unhinged speed metal in the vein of Bulldozer and Dark Angel and have never once considered slowing down.
About
Terror Squad came together in Tokyo in 1992 with a simple and violent mission: play pure crazy thrash metal. The founding members cite Bulldozer, Dark Angel, and old-school European speed metal as the starting coordinates, but the band's actual sound pulls from a wider pool â thrash, punk, hardcore, even progressive rock and fusion get thrown into the blender. The result is thrash that is technically sharp but spiritually unhinged, played with a conviction that most retro-thrash bands cannot fake. The lineup â vocalist Kouichi Udagawa, guitarist Keiji Ohzeki, bassist Hiroyuki Maekawa, and drummer Hirofumi "Joker" Fujioka â has been largely stable. They dropped their first demo in 1994, contributed to the Swedish compilation "Headbangers Against Disco" in 1996, and released their debut full-length "The Wild Stream of Eternal Sin" in 1999. A German tour with Scornage and Bonehouse followed in 2001, and the split with Sabbat on "Japanese Metal Destruction" cemented their reputation in the underground. Second album "Chaosdragon Rising" arrived in 2006 with a limited-edition DVD. Terror Squad's lyrics swing between tongue-in-cheek violence ("Disco Bloody Disco" is about attacking a disco and killing posers) and fantasy-adventure themes, delivered in both English and Japanese depending on what fits the vocal line. They have kept the faith at venues like Earthdom in Tokyo, where they recorded the 2021 live album "Evilive Sentence Part I." In a city with no shortage of thrash bands, Terror Squad are the ones who never left the pit.
Upcoming Shows
- Sun, Jul 12, 2026Moonstep濁流GIG vol.5 -Convulsions Japan tour 2026-Open 16:00 / Start 16:30Details