Whiplash Sign With Time To Kill Records And Announce New Album “ROAR”

Aug 26, 2026

Time To Kill Records have announced the signing of Whiplash, welcoming one of American thrash metal’s most enduring underground forces to its roster. Led by longtime frontman Tony Portaro, the New Jersey veterans have spent more than four decades keeping the raw spirit of thrash alive, and the partnership will see the band release their new album, ROAR, on November 27, 2026.

Recorded at Studio Mozart and Concrete Island Studio, produced by Tony Portaro and mixed by Jamie King Audio, ROAR delivers ten explosive tracks that capture the raw energy of the band’s live show. Songs such as “Sonic Asylum,” “Bullet Train” and “Who Stole My Whiskey” hit with full-force precision, thrash built around riffs, songs and attitude with no interest in unnecessary embellishment.

The album was initially made available in strictly limited form during Whiplash’s European “Campaign for Musical Destruction Tour” with Napalm Death, when a small number of CD promos were distributed independently under the original title THRASHQUAKE. It now receives its official worldwide release through Time To Kill Records, with a new title, brand-new artwork by legendary illustrator Ed Repka, and a full global campaign.

“THRASHQUAKE was the original title, and we made a limited number of copies available independently while we were touring earlier this year. As things developed and we started looking at the bigger picture for the worldwide release, ROAR just felt like a stronger title and a better representation of the album as a whole. Partnering with Time To Kill Records gives us the opportunity to take this record far beyond that initial tour release and give it the international campaign and worldwide distribution it deserves. With the new title, the new Ed Repka artwork and TTK behind the official release, ROAR represents the definitive version of this album and the beginning of its real worldwide campaign.”
– Tony Portaro

Formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1984, Whiplash quickly established themselves as one of the defining forces of the 1980s East Coast thrash scene. Their combination of melodic speed metal, vicious riffs and raw energy produced the cult classic Power and Pain (1985), released through Roadrunner’s Road Racer imprint, followed by Ticket to Mayhem (1987) and Insult to Injury (1989). After further releases, lineup changes and a period of inactivity, the band returned with Thrashback (1998) before a long hiatus, then re-emerged with Unborn Again in 2009. Through every incarnation, Tony Portaro has remained the band’s constant driving force. ROAR is their eighth studio album.