New Jersey thrash metal institution Whiplash have released “Bullet Train,” the first single from their forthcoming album ROAR, due out worldwide November 27, 2026 via Time To Kill Records.
Driven by Tony Portaro’s unmistakable guitar work and vocals, the track offers a first taste of a record built on the direct, riff-heavy attack that has defined the band across four decades.
“‘Bullet Train’ is our high-octane anthem for the speed freaks,” says Portaro. “It’s about that headlong rush of living life at 200 MPH; the addiction to speed, chaos and the constant chase that has always been part of the heavy metal lifestyle. ‘Time is racing like a speed machine, motor speedway in your brain’ really sums up what the song is about. It’s all horsepower and adrenaline: breakneck speed, faster than a jet stream. This is metal with no brakes.”
Stream “Bullet Train”: https://ffm.to/whiplash-bullet-train
From THRASHQUAKE To ROAR
Recorded at Studio Mozart and Concrete Island Studio, produced by Portaro and mixed by Jamie King, the album delivers ten tracks built for the pit. Songs like “Sonic Asylum,” “Bullet Train” and “Who Stole My Whiskey” hit with full-force precision.
The record first surfaced in strictly limited form during the band’s European Campaign for Musical Destruction Tour with Napalm Death, when a small number of CD promos went out independently under its original title, THRASHQUAKE. It now gets its official worldwide release with a new title and brand-new artwork by legendary illustrator Ed Repka.
“THRASHQUAKE was the original title, and we made a limited number of copies available independently while we were touring earlier this year,” Portaro explains. “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. 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.”
Pre-order ROAR: Time To Kill Records | Bandcamp
ROAR Tracklist
- Thrashquake
- Bullet Train
- Can’t Take Back a Bullet
- Sword Meet Skull
- Who Stole My Whiskey
- When the Deadman Calls
- Red Tape Riot
- Mother’s Kill Club
- Sonic Asylum
- Graveyard of Good and Evil
Four Decades Of Thrash
Formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1984, Whiplash quickly became one of the defining forces of the 1980s East Coast thrash scene. Their mix of melodic speed metal, vicious riffs and raw energy produced the cult classic Power and Pain in 1985 on Roadrunner’s Road Racer imprint, followed by Ticket to Mayhem in 1987 and Insult to Injury in 1989.
After lineup changes and a period of inactivity, the band returned with Thrashback in 1998, then re-emerged after a long hiatus with Unborn Again in 2009. Through every incarnation, Portaro has remained the constant driving force. ROAR is their eighth studio album.
Whiplash
- Tony Portaro – vocals, guitar
- William Winton – bass
- Mitch Hull – drums
