One of the most impactful grindcore albums of all time, Pig Destroyer’s Terrifyer, turns 20, and it’s roaring back onto the scene in totality.
“This is the first time that every single thing we recorded is together,” reports vocalist and co-founder J.R. Hayes, commenting on how Relapse Records has packaged Terrifyer in remastered form along with demo tracks, unreleased gems, and a classic Melvins cover, “Claude.”
“It was a little strange,” notes Hayes. “It’s always cool to revisit stuff, but it’s always weird going back in time. It’s like watching videos of yourself when you were a kid at Christmas. It’s emotional.”
2004 was a strikingly different time in the world and for Pig Destroyer. At the time of recording Terrifyer, the band was still a trio and starting to build a name for themselves. With their budding success, however, came serious decisions with songwriting. “When you got a couple of albums under your belt, you kinda have to figure out where to go from there because you don’t wanna remake the same thing over and over again, even if that’s what people want,” declares the frontman.
The call to turn things up a notch for Terrifyer paid large dividends. The 20-track grind extravaganza was dubbed one of “The Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” by Rolling Stone Magazine, and its distinct energy level propelled Pig Destroyer into a position of prominence in the genre.
Not resting on their laurels garnered by Terrifyer, Hayes reflects on the band’s mission to test their creative limits, “You learn so many things as you go through the years, and a lot of it is subconscious; you’re not trying to be different, but you just are different. It’s challenging … when you have over 100 songs you’re, like, wow, what else is there for me to write about?”
Not only were there expectations to live up to following the classic release, but Pig Destroyer endured lineup changes along with massive loss. Longtime synth player and sample wielder Blake Harrison passed away in early 2024, dealing a devastating blow to his family, friends, the band, and the metal community.
“It still feels really fresh to me, I’m still dealing with it. I think I’ll always be dealing with it,” admits Hayes, “He introduced me to some of my favorite bands and vice versa. We were about as close as you can be as friends, and it’s never easy to lose somebody like that.”
Although Harrison wasn’t in the band during the Terrifyer release, his 15+ years of contributions to their craft gave Pig Destroyer a significant layer to their exclusive style. “His legacy is the band. He was just as important as the rest of us,” begins Hayes, “He was one of my best friends, and I wish things were different, but life is what it is, man.”
Replacing Harrison is Alex Cha, who has some large shoes to fill. He definitely was an ideal candidate, though, as Hayes comments, “We’ve known Alex for many years. He was our roadie and merch guy. He already knows how we roll–our sense of humor and our stupid jokes.” The lead vocalist humbly adds, “It’s seamless the way it’s worked out.”
Picking up the pieces is never easy when a great loss is suffered, but Hayes understands the mission is still in effect in all its adversity. “We definitely have stuff in the works. Some of the other guys in the band are really busy with other projects, and we’re also busy in our personal lives ‘cause being in a band isn’t our job,” he broadcasts. “It’s like trying to get a bunch of cats together,” as he chuckles, “It’s just hard; everyone’s got their own thing going on, and you just have to get lucky sometimes.”
The lyricist gives a sneak peek into some the band’s ideas for their first record without Harrison’s pivotal presence, “It’s hard to get outside the box, but I really want to incorporate a lot more noise on the next record, a lot more bass–the last record was the first record that we really had a bass guitar on, and I think we want to take advantage of that–and make some really interesting arrangements.”
Hayes also recognizes the battles that are in store when it comes to writing a Pig Destroyer full-length, “When we did the last record, I probably went through 75 album titles before I found something that everybody liked. It’s a grind, you gotta fight, and you gotta argue sometimes, but it’s because we all care so much. It’s a difficult process but fun.”
Of course, with a new album comes live performances in support, and Hayes divulges unfinished business in that regard, “I really want to play in Russia. We were supposed to play there before the pandemic, and now it’s probably not gonna happen in my lifetime–the way it looks right now,” as he shamefully chuckles.
A major Eastern Hemisphere country isn’t solely on his hit list, “Pretty much any place we’ve never been, because I know if we have Pig Destroyer fans there we wanna play for ‘em. I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to stay a band for as long as we have: because there are still things we haven’t done, and we still get to experience that excitement.”
The Terrifyer reissue, including the deluxe box set, is available now from Relapse Records. Follow Pig Destroyer on Facebook and Instagram for future updates.
