Track By Tracks: Madicide - Madicide (2024)

1. Nicotine Love:

This is the 2nd single from Madicide's up-and-coming self-titled album "Madicide". "Nicotine Love" is a very dark song thematically, dealing with issues of addiction, manipulation, and controlling behaviors.

The lyrics work with metaphor to create a twisted Frankenstein image "...replace her bones with cigarettes, ashtrays for brains". The main riff used in the song is particularly stripped back and raw sounding compared to previous Madicide releases, going for hard-punching grooviness over complex speed-metal riffage "FEED MY NICOTINE LOVE". It will stick in your head. Whether that's a good thing or not is for you to decide!!

2. The Pit and the Pendulum:

A Madicide deep-cut from back in the early days, given a new lease on life with this 2024 recording. This is a live favourite for Madicide fans, often resulting in some serious pit action and lots of crowd interaction 'Jump into the PIT!!'. Lyrically it is based on Edgar Allen Poe's short story, detailing the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition.

With Madicide's strong Welsh roots and Josh 'Bean' Bevan's strong valleys accent on backing vocals however, the track also serves as a Madicide national anthem of sorts, conjuring images of the old Welsh coal 'pit's' and the men who still work in them today.

3. Ozymandias:

If you thought that 'Nicotine Love' was a little dark, read with caution. This is another brand new Madicide track (and a recent crowd-favorite).

'Ozymandias' tells the tale of a man with certain 'issues'. The 'Emperor' protagonist suffers from severe delusions of grandeur, believing himself to be the fallen King 'Ozymandias'.

In reality, he is a sick-minded shut-in who stares uncomfortably as children play, before embarking on a trip to his Kingdom (the jobcentre) where he pisses himself and then shoots dead the children as they laugh at him. Enjoy.

4. Killing Machine:

One of the band's oldest tracks and a live-show staple, "Kill every human being, we need more fuel for the KILLING MACHINE!!'

Written back when Ceri Roberts was still learning his craft on guitar, 'Killing Machine' is fairly straightforward musically, based around just two main riffs but has proven to be another crowd favorite with its ultra hooky chorus and driving beat lead by Jack 'Wilbo' Williams on the drums - The fact that it has been featured on more Madicide E.P's and been played live more consistently than any other Madicide track says it all.

There's life yet in the old Killing Machine and in this 2024 recording, it's finally been given the professional upgrade that it deserves.

5. ...Our King in Yellow:

"... Our King in Yellow" was the first completely new track written as the band reformed in the early 2020s. It has since gone through many, many iterations before finally morphing into a track that is the closest Madicide has come (so far) to writing a progressive metal song.

Lyrically "... Our King in Yellow" is based around the gothic horror collection "The King in Yellow" by Robert W. Chambers. Ceri first stumbled upon the collection after being hooked on season 1 of "True Detective" which makes many references to themes and characters in Chambers's collection as well as referencing Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of 'eternal recurrence': "Dreams of flat circle time, too much for the human mind ..."

This is definitely a unique track for Madicide who subsequently favored a more stripped-back approach with tracks like "Nicotine Love".

"... Our King in Yellow" is the longest track on the album at nearly 7 minutes long, complete with a mandolin solo from Ian Woolfe, neo-classical shredding, and even (a little bit) of string instruments used in the background. It's a rare one.

6. Trapped in Purgatory:

Another of the older Madicide tracks, "Trapped in Purgatory" was written back when Chey Currie was still on lead guitar (early 2010) before being re-worked in 2011 when Ian Woolfe joined the band, introducing more guitar harmonies and a fresh solo that solidified the track to what it is today. "Trapped in Purgatory" is now another live staple for the band, especially the heavy chugging end riff introduced by Josh 'Bean' Bevan and Woolfe.

This one again is used for a lot of crowd interaction and caused major stage diving and pits when the band played "Thrashchester" in late 2023 (Manchester Rebellion, headlined by Shrapnel). If you've seen Madicide live, you've definitely moshed to this one.

7. Into the Dark:

"Into the Dark" is one of the slower and heavier Madicide tracks and is another one of the reworked older numbers from the band's early days.

Lyrically "Into the Dark" is inspired by sci-fi works such as 'Interstellar', the 'Alien' franchise as well as recent concerns around global warming and the dangers posed by AI for future generations.

Ceri was still in school studying English literature when he wrote the lyrics and also threw in a bunch of lyrical references to William Blake's "The Little Girl Lost" (1794) which inspired the rhyming structure to "Into the Dark" as well as some of the lyrics:

"... grave the sentence deep", "lost in desert wild". It also has a really cool guitar solo!

8. TommyKnockers:

"TommyKnockers" was the first single and the first music video for the "Madicide" album. Lead guitarist Ian Woolfe provided 90% of the riffs and song structure for "TommyKnockers", using his grunge influences for the heavy chorus riff and introducing more harmony and melodic structure than most other Madicide tracks to date. Ceri based the lyrics around Stephen King's novel "The Tommyknockers" (1987) and added a sci-fi-esque lead pattern for the intro adding to the overall sci-fi horror vibe.

"TommyKnockers" proved to be one of the most successful Madicide tracks, 2nd only to Death March in streams and radio play. This, alongside their most 'professional' music video so far (watch out for "Nicotine Love" coming soon!) propelled the band to new heights, landing them gigs with much bigger acts such as Gama Bomb, Tailgunner, Baest and Shrapnel. The band is hoping to capitalize on this momentum now that their first album is finally ready to reach further than ever before.

9. (Bonus Track: Death March):

"Death March" is another of Madicide's 'classic' tracks, first released on YouTube back in 2015 just before the band's 'short' 5-year hiatus.

Ceri Roberts, restless and bored during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown then decided to re-release the track to radio and streaming platforms. No one in the yet-to-be-reformed band expected very much to happen.

Luckily, Adam Walton (BBC Radio) liked the track enough to play it on his "The Adam Walton Show" using it as an opportunity to inform his listeners that yes, BBC Radio WILL occasionally play thrash metal and urging the band to send more music. This gave Madicide a new incentive to keep going and they officially re-formed shortly afterward with the success of "Death March" on radio and streaming platforms driving them forward. Thank you, Adam.