"Church of the Nuclear Bomb": Ready for Death Thrashes with Atomic Fury (Track + Video Premiere)

Though originally intended as a demo, Chicago thrash outfit Ready for Death‘s self-titled debut album is a fully realized vision: dirty, smog-choked thrash that’s as violent and chaotic as our inevitable apocalyptic future. Hardcore and death metal lurk within these wastelands, too, wielding deadly surprises that make each short song a delightful hazard. The production’s roughness and the music’s unapologetic nastiness go hand-in-hand in bringing the band’s mix of bizarre science fiction and end time hymns to life. We’re premiering the video for new single “Church of the Nuclear Bomb” here, one such two-minute sermon.

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Incorporating the bandmembers’ penchant for extreme music of all varieties, Ready for Death is a simple premise elevated by the talent involved and its uncontrolled nature. This is highly aggressive metal only made more so by its production, trading off chrome-plated polish for a mean-looking coat of blood and grime: something thrash metal has always worn well.

Artie White explains the inspiration “Church of the Nuclear Bomb” below:

The lyrics to “Church Of The Nuclear Bomb” were written while I was sick with Covid-19 and watching random old movies including Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. The mutated post-war survivors in that movie who are worshipping the instrument of their own destruction made complete sense to me while semi-delirious with fever. In religions like Christianity you are expected to imagine God’s infinite power, but in the real world there’s no greater power than something capable of wiping out hundreds of thousands of humans at the press of a button. So a nuclear bomb seems like a much more appropriate god for this era.

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Lyrics:

In our time of greatest need and in our hour most dark
Jesus left us hanging in his place upon the cross
Society has failed and morality is fake
You deserve a god that is worthy of your faith
So join the Church: The Church of the Nuclear bomb

Abdicate the future to an arbitrary death
Abandon every fantasy of higher sentience
No one’s going to thank you for your noble sacrifice
Nothing is forever except annihilation

Everything’s on fire, join the Church
No money required, join the Church
Two hundred thousand dead in our Church
Every single one of them waiting for you

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Ready for Death releases December 9th via Translation Loss Records.