METALLIAN - Nuclear Assault

Game Over – 1986 – Combat
Survive - 1988 – Under One Flag
Handle With Care – 1989 - Under One Flag
Out Of Order – 1991 – Under One Flag
Live At The Hammersmith Odeon – 1992 - Relativity
Something Wicked – 1993 – IRS
Alive Again – 2003 - Steamhammer
Third World Genocide – 2005 – Steamhammer

Members

Vocals

Anthrax, CIA, John Connelly Theory>>JOHN CONNELLY>>CIA, John Connelly Theory

Guitar

CIA, John Connelly Theory>>JOHN CONNELLY>>CIA, John Connelly Theory – Anthony Bramante>> Phantom - TT Quick, CIA>>Dave De Pietro>>TT Quick, CIA – Blatant Crap Taste, Sulaco, Lethargy, Blurring, Kalibas, Brutal Truth>>ERIK BURKE>>Sulaco, Blurring, Kalibas, Brutal Truth, Sully

Bass

White Heat, Anthrax, SOD, Dark Angel, Gods Balls, Brutal Truth, Exit 13, Holy Moses, Extra Hot Sauce, Crucifist, Venomous Concept, Nokturnal Hellstorm, Evil Wrath, The Ravenous, Malformed Earthborn, Soulfly, Autopsy, Lock Up, The Coalition, Hemlock, NunFuckRitual, Evil Wrath, Overlord Exterminator, Blurring, United Forces>>Dan Lilker>>Anthrax, SOD, Dark Angel, Gods Balls, Brutal Truth, Exit 13, Holy Moses, Extra Hot Sauce, Crucifist, Venomous Concept, Nokturnal Hellstorm, NunFuckRitual, Evil Wrath, The Ravenous, Malformed Earthborn, Soulfly, Autopsy, Lock Up, The Coalition, Hemlock, Overlord Exterminator, Blurring, United Forces – Prophet, Gotham>>Scott Metaxas>>Prophet, Gotham, Double Vision - White Heat, Anthrax, SOD, Dark Angel, Gods Balls, Brutal Truth, Exit 13, Holy Moses, Extra Hot Sauce, Crucifist, Venomous Concept, Nokturnal Hellstorm, Evil Wrath, The Ravenous, Malformed Earthborn, Soulfly, Autopsy, Lock Up, The Coalition, Hemlock, NunFuckRitual, Evil Wrath, Overlord Exterminator, Blurring, United Forces>>DAN LILKER>>Blurring, Nokturnal Hellstorm, Venomous Concept, Anthrax

Drum

TT Quick, CIA, Harter Attack>>GLENN EVANS>>CIA, Harter Attack

History & Biography

One of the forerunners of thrash metal and crossover and linked to bands like Anthrax and Brutal Truth, Dan Lilker appeared on Anthrax’s Fistful Of Metal before being fired and ending up with Nuclear Assault alongside Connelly also formerly of Anthrax. The band climbed the stage for the first time at the Union Jack in South River, New Jersey in 1984. Glenn Evans joined in 1985. The 1985 demo was called Back With Vengeance! Hang The Pope was the band’s most popular track, but the thrash metal outlaws changed the title to HTP. Live, Suffer, Die came in 1986. And featured… Hang The Pope. It was essentially the same tape. Kult Ov Azazel covered this song years later. Combat Records signed the band and issued the 1986 EP, Brain Death. Nuclear Assault had a couple of very early drummers and a guitarist upon formation in 1984, but the band has maintained a stable core line-up over the years. With that said Lilker is in as many bands as there are Big Macs in Donald trump’s yellow belly. His most significant tangent was the grindcore band, Brutal Truth. True to its name and the era, the band was socially conscious and heeded the warnings of mutually assured destruction and nuclear warfare. The group toured Europe with Atomkraft and Agent Steel in 1986. The group opened for Slayer to support Survive. The band toured Europe with Exodus in 1989. The Handle With Care European Tour '89 was a full-length video. This album had a poignant song called Surgery, which would bring the band and People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals together. PETA would even set up a booth at a Nuclear Assault concert. Oddly, John was a right-winger as a member of the US Republican party. The band did well and had momentum until 1991’s Out Of Order and 1993’s Something Wicked killed the band and the thrashers threw in the towel. Lilker had left to Brutal Truth (featuring Brent, a Nuclear Assault roadie) after Out Of Order and a Belgian festival called Mid-Summer Festival and was replaced by Scott Metaxas. Brutal Truth was a side-project initially and Lilker had not intended to leave Nuclear Assault for it. Indeed, in C.I.A. Glenn had a solo band too. Anthony Bramante had also left the band. That record featured the obligatory cover version and even more obligatory Sweet cover version. The band returned in 1997 and again in 2001 – this one yielded one ill-received record and tours with Death Angel, Agent Steel, Exodus, Testament and more – until the most recent reformation of 2011. The band had also hit Europe with Mortician in 2003.

Glenn Evans has founded his own imprint Sidipus Records since 2011. Glenn Evans used to run a label called Arena Records He has a monthly release schedule of live Nuclear Assault recordings, which could be considered demos and a collection of MP3s. The band followed the path of Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Scorpions and Status Quo and announced its Final Assault tour in 2015. The group had issued an EP, called Pounder, through Sidipus Records in late spring of 2015. Apparently, the assault was open-ended. Lilker announced his retirement from full-time bands and touring as of October 18th 2014 – to coincide with his fiftieth birthday - and then promptly announced that Nuclear Assault would record a new album and tour in 2015. Until the next reformation, however, Brutal Truth was disbanding at the end of 2014. Beginning 2013 Sidipus began issuing a series of, at first, live CDs and subsequently digital live releases of various shows the band was playing. A dozen of these were recorded and released. The band was booked for Quebec Deathfest in Canada in 2019.

According to bassist Danny Lilker, the group’s concert at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly in June 2022 could be the band’s last show. The band was to play its 1986 Game Over debut album in full. Voivod, Candlemass, Cannibal Corpse, The Red Chord and others were to also appear.

Reviews

NUCLEAR ASSAULT - THIRD WORLD GENOCIDE - SPV
The trend of bands reforming for no reason, other than band members who were not particularly busy, was already long in the tooth five years ago. Past that obvious point Third World Genocide is a lousy hardcore-tinged thrash metal album. The reformed line-up of singer and guitarist John Connelly, bassist Danny Lilker, drummer Glenn Evans and new guy Eric Burke may have some serious lyrics in the title track, but have packed the rest of the album with lousy vocals that are out of tune, mundane riffs, an oi song called Whine And Cheese, a hillbilly song from Mississippi called Long Haired Asshole and wasted so many trees to do so. A couple of good riffs on Defiled Innocence or Fractured minds are hardly enough to justify anything other than this overtly negative review. A Nuclear Assault on what? - Ali "The Metallian"

Interviews

Nuclear Assault