Gammacide - Toxic Mercenaries (*CD, 2026, NLTM) Classic Thrash!

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💿 Release Details

Artist: Gammacide
Title: Toxic Mercenaries
Label: NoLifeTilMetal Records
Format: CD / Jewel Case
Packaging: Deluxe Jewel Case Edition with Lyric & Photo Booklet
Tracks: 8 Brand-New Songs
Produced By: Varnam Ponville & David Treadway / DDTstudio Productions
Cover Art & Layout: Scott Waters
Release Date: September 11, 2026
Status: NOW SHIPPING

☢️ Key Collector Details

• BRAND-NEW GAMMACIDE STUDIO ALBUM – this is not another reissue!
• First full-length album of newly recorded Gammacide material in more than 35 years
• The long-awaited follow-up to the cult Texas thrash classic Victims of Science
• 8 completely new tracks of ferocious Toxic Texas Thrash
• Features Varnam Ponville – vocals, Rick Perry – guitar, Scott Shelby – guitar, Chance Lehman – bass, and Joey Gonzalez – drums
• Reunites the unmistakable vocal attack of Varnam Ponville with the crushing twin-guitar combination of Rick Perry and Scott Shelby
• Includes the blistering lead track “Overload”
• Also features new thrash assaults including “Sinkhole,” “Predator Or Prey,” and “Soldier of Fear”
• Produced by Varnam Ponville and David Treadway of DDTstudio Productions
• Cover artwork and layout by Scott Waters (Mortification, Lizzy Borden, Hades, Patriarchs In Black, Anger As Art)
• Deluxe jewel-case CD edition with a comprehensive lyric and photo booklet
• Created following Gammacide's successful return to the stage and renewed demand for the legendary Texas thrash band
• High-speed riffing, chaotic solos, bulldozing drums, caustic vocals, and the aggressive sound that made Victims of Science an underground classic
• For Fans Of: Rigor Mortis, Dark Angel, Demolition Hammer, Exodus, Whiplash, Sacred Reich, Kreator, and old-school Texas thrash metal

☢️ Gammacide – Toxic Mercenaries

THIS IS NOT A REISSUE. GAMMACIDE IS BACK WITH A BRAND-NEW ALBUM!

More than 35 years after unleashing the cult Texas thrash classic Victims of Science, Gammacide returns with the album longtime fans wondered if they would ever hear: an entire full-length record of brand-new material.

Toxic Mercenaries doesn't attempt to reinvent Gammacide. It brings the band's trademark Toxic Texas Thrash roaring into 2026 with eight new songs packed with high-speed riffing, chaotic guitar solos, bulldozing drums, aggressive vocals, and the relentless energy that made Victims of Science an underground favorite more than three decades ago.

Gammacide's roots stretch back to the Texas metal underground of the 1980s. The band was formed in 1986 by guitarist Rick Perry and bassist Eric Roy. With drummer Jamey Milford and vocalist Varnam Ponville, Gammacide recorded a five-song demo in 1987 that quickly circulated through the international tape-trading and metal fanzine underground.

Second guitarist Scott Shelby joined in 1988, giving Gammacide the crushing dual-guitar attack that became a defining element of the band's sound. In the summer of 1989, the group entered Sound Logic Studios in Dallas to record Victims of Science. Released through Wild Rags Records, the album established Gammacide as one of the most intense bands to emerge from the Texas thrash scene.

Gammacide recorded additional demo material in 1991 before folding in 1992, but the band's reputation continued to grow. Tape traders, collectors, CD reissues, and eventually the internet introduced Victims of Science to generations of thrash fans who had missed the band the first time around.

Rick Perry and Scott Shelby later joined forces with late Rigor Mortis vocalist Bruce Corbitt in Texas Metal Alliance, which evolved into Warbeast and released its debut through Phil Anselmo's Housecore Records. Perry has also performed with Texas heavy metal band Iron Jaw, while Ponville released music with his Louisiana-based band Cauldron.

Then Gammacide came back.

The band's return included a 2025 appearance on the main stage at Hell's Heroes Festival in Houston, followed by an East Coast run and shows in Mexico in 2026. The response demonstrated that the appetite for Gammacide went far beyond nostalgia.

That renewed energy inspired the band to do something much more significant than simply play the old songs again: they started writing new ones.

The result is Toxic Mercenaries, Gammacide's first full album of newly recorded material in more than 35 years.

Longtime fans should immediately recognize the DNA. Songs such as “Sinkhole,” “Predator Or Prey,” and “Soldier of Fear” deliver the speed and brutality associated with the band's classic material, while lead track “Overload” makes it abundantly clear that this is a functioning thrash band with something new to say – not simply a reunion act trading on its past.

The 2026 Gammacide lineup features three names central to the band's history: Varnam Ponville on vocals, Rick Perry on guitar, and Scott Shelby on guitar. They are joined by Chance Lehman on bass and Joey Gonzalez on drums, creating a lineup capable of delivering the speed, aggression, and twin-guitar attack expected from the Gammacide name.

Toxic Mercenaries was produced by Varnam Ponville alongside David Treadway of DDTstudio Productions. Cover artwork and layout were created by Scott Waters, whose extensive metal design work includes Mortification, Lizzy Borden, Hades, Patriarchs In Black, and Anger As Art.

The NoLifeTilMetal Records CD edition comes housed in a jewel case with a comprehensive lyric and photo booklet, giving collectors a proper physical edition of a comeback album more than three decades in the making.

Thirty-five-plus years after Victims of Science, Gammacide has finally delivered the follow-up: eight brand-new tracks of high-speed, caustic, riff-heavy Toxic Texas Thrash. Toxic Mercenaries is not Gammacide looking backward – it's Gammacide attacking again. NOW SHIPPING!

💀 Track Listing

1 Overload
2 Soldier of Fear
3 Sinkhole
4 Expiration Date
5 Predator or Prey
6 These Eyes
7 Toxic Mercenaries
8 Meet Your Maker

⚡ Song Titles

Overload / Sinkhole / Predator Or Prey / Soldier of Fear / Toxic Mercenaries