Legendary Bay Area thrashers Hirax have announced a new round of shows for 2019 . Their schedule is as follows:

December 
26 - Pike Restaurant And Bar - Long Beach, CA
28 - The Red Room - Long Beach, CA

February 
9 - True Thrash Fest - Osaka, Japan
16 - Circo Volador - Mexico City, Mexico

April 
20 - NYDM Spring Bash - Wisconsin, MA (headliner)

July 
27 - California Deathfest - Los Angeles, CA

Hirax frontman Katon W. De Pena spoke with Austria's Stormbringer at this year's edition of the Kaltenbach Open Air. He discusses the band's history and remaining an underground cult favourite, the band's hiatus into the '90s, and interacting with their Bay Area thrash peers.

Italy's F.O.A.D. Records has unleashed another rare gem from the past.

This is the ultimate collection of early Hirax recordings on LP including their cult Demo 1984 in the best quality ever, unreleased tracks from the same era and the rare LA KAOS Demo 1983 for the first time on vinyl. Instead of the savage thashin' assault met on albums such as Raging Violence, these early Hirax recordings are a pure incarnation of denim smelling and fast heavy metal, at times showing a NWOBHM influence. Every song is a riff-fest from beginning to end topped with fierce guitar solos and the absolutely amazing vocals of Katon.

The four track Demo 1984 has been ripped and remastered from the best source around, then you'll find three unreleased songs 1983-84 ("To Be Free", "The Saviour", "War Hero") and the very hard to find LA KAOS (pre-Hirax) demotape ripped straight from Katon's personal copy.  And to complete the FOAD quality treatment, you'll also find a booklet including liner notes, lyrics, rare photos, 'zine excerpts and flyers!

Katon W. De Pena about this release:  

"You hold in your hand something very special. This record / album is Hirax’s first time in the recording studio. This release also includes music from a pre-Hirax era. We hope to give the listeners high quality with never before seen photos, lyrics, flyers, reviews, memorabilia, etc. We have to go back in time… the year was 1983… getting ready to turn over to 1984… (I was 20 years old) … We had no idea that we would be recording the most important demo of our career. We laid down four songs, most of them are one takes with a few overdubs. For us, this demo would be like Metallica’s No Life ‘Til Leather or Iron Maiden’s Soundhouse Tapes. Most of our hardcore fans know about these songs. Once the recordings were reviewed in top heavy metal magazines and fanzines, such as Metal Forces, Headbanger, Rock Hard, Kick Ass Monthly, Brain Damage, Aardschok, a handful of French magazines, etc. we developed a worldwide, cult fanbase. Tape traders spread our music like wildfire! We originally sold over 5,000 copies… after that we stopped counting and just continued pressing these cassettes / demos. At that time, there was an explosion in the underground scene and we were a part of it.  Today Hirax is still very active writing, recording and playing festivals / concerts all over the world including most countries in Central / South America, Europe, UK, Scandinavia, U.S.A., Japan, etc.

Thank you for your support! Kick back, relax and turn up the fucking volume!”

Available in two different versions:

Black vinyl

Black / Mint Green half and half vinyl