With the dust still settling following the release of their acclaimed Volume Six LP on Cursed Blessings Records in February, Ontario thrash metal veterans SACRIFICE have sanctioned several rare live performances this year in support of the album.
Already announced earlier this year is the rapidly approaching Modified Ghost Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia May 17th where SACRIFICE will headline with support from Anciients, Bewitcher, and more, which will serve as the official release show for Volume Six. SACRIFICE now expands the year’s live schedule with two more performances, including the band’s first hometown show in nine years – which also serves as their Toronto album release show – headlining The Concert Hall in Toronto on October 11th. SACRIFICE has also been added to the Chile Terrorfest in Santiago, Chile on December 6th with Triptikon, E-Force, and more.
SACRIFICE Live:
5/17/2025 Modified Ghost VII Festival @ Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver BC w/ Anciients, Bewitcher, more
10/11/2025 The Concert Hall – Toronto ON [tickets]
12/06-07/2025 Chile Terrorfest @ Teatro Caupolicán – Santiago, CL w/ Triptikon, E-Force, more
SACRIFICE’s sixth album, and first in over sixteen years, Volume Six features ten new originals and a cover paying homage to the Toronto scene from which they originally emerged. The songs on Volume Six run the gamut from speedy, breakneck thrash (“Comatose,” “Explode,” “We Will Not Survive”) to more nuanced, layered, metallic compositions (“Underneath Millenia,” “Your Hunger For War”). Two instrumental tracks on the album show yet another side of the band’s songwriting while still clearly being SACRIFICE songs: “Lunar Eclipse” is a showcase for Rico and Urbinati’s excellent twin guitar leads, while “Black Hashish” is SACRIFICE at their most psychedelic. The album’s final track, “Trapped In A World,” is a cover of ‘80s Toronto hardcore band Direct Action, a group that had a massive influence on the members of SACRIFICE during their formative years. The song features guest vocals by Youth Youth Youth vocalist and Toronto music legend Brian Taylor, who operated the Diabolic Force label in the eighties and produced the band’s first three albums, bringing everything full-circle three decades later with his appearance here.
Working once again with engineer Darius Szczepaniak – who was also at the helm for SACRIFICE’s 2009 effort The Ones I Condemn – Volume Six was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Phase One Studios. Tracked over a period of sessions between September 2023 and May 2024, the record was produced by vocalist/guitarist Rob Urbinati and features the band’s original lineup, with lead guitarist Joe Rico, bassist Scott Watts, and drummer Gus Pynn as well as Urbinati. They are one of, if not the only, 1980s thrash band that still has its original lineup intact and playing together, and on Volume Six, the band hits it out of the park. The stunning front cover artwork for Volume Six was painted by Propagandhi bassist and lifelong SACRIFICE fan Todd Kowalski.
Stream SACRIFICE’s Volume Six everywhere including Bandcamp HERE, and watch the lyric videos for “Missile” HERE and “Antidote Of Poison” HERE.
Volume Six is out now on all digital platforms including Bandcamp HERE and on CD, MC, and LP in Blue, White, and Black variants through the Cursed Blessings Records webshop HERE and. The record is available in Europe, Asia, and Australia through High Roller Records.
“Of all Canada’s 1980s thrash bands, the one with the best quality-to-quantity ratio is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, SACRIFICE… Nestled comfortably between Testament, Death Angel, and Destruction, SACRIFICE‘s approach is simple yet very effective.” – Decibel Magazine
“One of Canada’s Big Four of thrash, here to kick ass.” – Metal Injection
“5/5” – BangerTV
“Return to form? Not really, that would mean SACRIFICE lost their grasp at some point, and listening to Volume Six that just does not seem possible. – PopMatters
“The much heralded ‘Big Four’ of thrash have largely dulled their dangerous edges over the years, to be thought of in the same light as classic rock bands, so an album like this one recaptures the excitement the classic chugs and gallops once invoked. If you want to recapture that magic, give this album a listen.” – No Clean Singing
“As someone who’s been with this band since the start, I can say with confidence: Volume Six stands tall alongside Forward to Termination and Soldiers Of Misfortune. SACRIFICE is still one of, if not the best thrash band to ever come out of Canada. This will be high on my list of top Metal Albums of 2025. 10/10” – The Metal Pit
“With its themes of impending doom on songs like ‘Your Hunger for War,’ ‘Incoming Mass Extinction,’ and ‘We Will Not Survive,’ the heavy riffs, the bass leads and the battering drums, it’s a recording that we haven’t heard from anybody, in years. It easily rides alongside the band’s best work.” – LoudTO
“Volume Six is thrash metal at its best: fast, aggressive, but also melodic. The key elements are the guitars, which deliver class in the riffing and the solos. The vocals keep the sound perfectly together. The sound is versatile enough to keep the album fresh and dynamic. 9/10” – Metal Temple
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