Local thrash band X.I.L. released its debut six-song EP Massacre in September 2018. Yet the uncertainty of the 3 1/2 years that has followed, global pandemic and all, would’ve been enough to kill most bands’ dreams.
But if anything, X.I.L. (pronounced Exile) went the opposite route.
Vocalist / bassist Austin James, lead guitarist Joseph Aguilar and drummer Jordan L. Hoffart poured their heart and soul into recording full-length debut album Rip and Tear. While other local outfits’ careers may have been claimed by Covid-19 either affecting them personally or internally, or simply because 20 months of the virus stymied the live concert scene and suspended many bands’ desire to continue making music, X.I.L. carried on while making a smaller adjustment.
X.I.L. was a four-piece, but former guitarist Quinten Serna quit the group to “pursue other forms of music,” as he told ATM while still in attendance supporting his former bandmates last Saturday night at The Mix. James, Aguilar and Hoffart have continued as a trio and bore the fruits of their labor by playing their new recording effort in its entirety following its Feb. 25 release. Watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of the title track opener and “Speedemons”, “Motorcharge” and the clip below of “Gone Again” and “Moonlight Mass.”
James acknowledged at one point that his voice was parched, but that didn’t slow down the pits, an instance of which nearly blew out ligaments in the knee of yours truly when a burly male and his female friend decided to make The Mix’s floor their own personal thrash zone with no regard for photographers in the house.
James long ago shared with ATM that his band was moving in a more mature form of thrash direction with its music after the EP’s full-bore tunes such as “Full Throttle Ass Kickin’. " Whereas X.I.L.’s 2018 music may have harkened back to when Metallica and Slayer were a similar age to what X.I.L.’s members are today, Rip and Tear, James had said, was going to be more diverse along the lines of Motorhead with a nod to Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.
No matter.
X.I.L. still raged, simply adding an all-out assault with the opening title-track instrumental, the moody “Moonlight Mass” and vintage X.I.L. on “Speedemons” and “Breakneck.” They then capped the eight-song album performance with “Equinox,” after which James punctuated the night by declaring, “Buy our fucking CD” as Aguilar thrust his Flying V high into the air (see 21-photo slideshow below).
X.I.L. will undoubtedly continue pushing its album on the local scene throughout the year, so stay tuned to ATM’s Concert Listings page to find out details of future gigs.
