Nuclear Assault

Biography

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Nuclear Assault (1984-1995, 1997-1998, 2002-2008, 2011-): a Thrash Metal band from New York, New York, USA.

ounded by Dan Lilker (vocals/bass), Nuclear Assault opened shop after Lilker was dismissed from Anthrax shortly after their debut effort. Nuclear Assault was originally a side project Lilker used to express a more aggressive style of music, but when it became a full-time job, he recruited John Connelly (guitar/vocals; who had also been involved with Anthrax in a pre-debut configuration), Mike Bogush (guitar) and Scott Duboys (drums) to record their first two demos. Anthony Bramante (guitar) and Glenn Evans (drums) would soon later replace Bogush and Duboys respectively. Nuclear Assault would take its influences equally from each of its founding fathers. The band remains as one of the earliest examples of modern thrash metal. While brothers Anthrax followed a more metallic road, Nuclear Assault went for a more hardcore punk/heavy metal base.

Signing to the 'Under One Flag' (the thrash metal offshoot of 'Music For Nations'), Nuclear Assault made an immediate impact with their debut Game Over (1986). Unlike other thrash metal acts of the time, Nuclear Assault preferred politically motivated lyrics, sometimes uncompromising, with tracks titled Hang The Pope, for example. The debut album was followed by the extended play, The Plague, released to coincide with the 1987 European tour with Agent Steel and Atomkraft.

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Survive (1988) and Handle With Care (1989) were released at the time when their musical style was at the height of its popularity, and as a result they achieved their most sales success simultaneously. On these albums, they excelled at precision and aggressiveness, giving them the status of contenders in the thrash metal genre.

Out of Order (1991) and Live at the Hammersmith Odeon (1992), their only live album, quickly followed to cash-in on this newfound success. That success, however, was short lived, for after Lilker left to occupy himself with his new side project Brutal Truth full time, the band never fully recovered. Bramante was dismissed and both were replaced with Scott Metaxas and Dave DiPietro (both ex-Prophet). Their ill advised continuation attempt, Something Wicked (1993), would be their last studio effort with only the "best of..." compilation Assault and Battery summing up their career in 1997 for they disbanded sometime earlier due to exhaustion.

In 2002 the band reunited, however, to release Alive Again (2003) with Lilker, Connelly and Evans returning to recruit Anthony Bramante. Ex-Lethargy guitarist Erik Burke recently replaced Bramante for Third World Genocide (2005). Pounder would follow in 2015. In 2016 a large number of live albums would be released in quick sequence.