Venice, CA · crossover thrash

Suicidal Tendencies

2 upcoming festivals ↓

Venice crossover legends — 'Institutionalized' and a pit that never ages, Cyco Mike still leading the charge.

Suicidal Tendencies formed in Venice, California, in 1981 around vocalist Mike Muir, the one constant across every version of the band. The 1983 debut album mixed hardcore punk speed with a sardonic lyrical streak, and "Institutionalized" became one of the first hardcore videos to receive heavy MTV rotation, helping the band reach an audience well beyond punk clubs.

Join the Army, released in 1987, was the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200 and pushed the sound toward a heavier, more metallic attack. Alongside D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity and Stormtroopers of Death, Suicidal Tendencies is often credited as one of the bands that built crossover thrash out of hardcore and metal.

Signing to Epic Records brought three albums between 1988 and 1990, two of which went gold. The Art of Rebellion, from 1992, became the band's best-charting record and produced the singles "Asleep at the Wheel", "Nobody Hears" and "I'll Hate You Better"; that album and its successors leaned further into funk and progressive playing, particularly during Robert Trujillo's time in the band before he left for Metallica.

The group disbanded in 1995 after parting ways with Epic, and Muir reformed it the following year. Studio output slowed through the 2000s, with the band working mostly as a touring act, before a run of new albums in the 2010s, including 13 and World Gone Mad, was received as a comeback.

Suicidal Tendencies' bandanas, skate-culture ties and pit-starting reputation have stayed constant through a lineup that has rotated around Muir for more than four decades, with dozens of musicians passing through its studio and live ranks.

Read more

crossover thrash