AT WAR Reteams With Legendary Thrash Producer ALEX PERIALAS For New Album

Long-running Virginia Beach thrash metal trio AT WAR has announced the next chapter of its 43-year legacy with the impending release of a new studio album, 40th-anniversary celebration of the release of its debut album, "Ordered To Kill", and worldwide festival dates for 2026.

AT WAR's upcoming studio LP will once again bring the band back together with legendary producer and engineer Alex Perialas (ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, S.O.D.),overlord and owner of Pyramid Sound Studios in Ithaca, New York.

Founding vocalist/bassist Paul Arnold recently praised the level of energy the new songs put forth on this new album as nothing short of astonishing. He also noted the combination of Perialas's history with AT WAR (2009's "Infidel" and 1987's "Retaliatory Strike"),his uncompromising dedication to metal and the addition of guitarist Rick Gress have revitalized the band's songcraft that brings this album to a degree unseen in the band's history.

Arnold, Gress and returning drummer Brian Schroeder have finished tracking for what promises to be the band's most sonically crushing work to date.

The pairing of AT WAR's own distinctive brand of "war metal" along with Perialas's iconic production style indeed makes for a highly anticipated collaboration sure to devastate the metal world in 2026.

2026 also marks the 40th anniversary of the release of AT WAR's debut album, "Ordered To Kill", and in celebration they will be performing the album in its entirety throughout the year.

AT WAR will bring its signature assault to fans across North America and Europe, including high-profile festival appearances:

March 21 - Hell's Heroes Festival - Houston, TX
September 11 - Rage of Armageddon Festival - Brooklyn, NY
October 8 - Old Grave Fest - Bucharest, Romania
October 10 - Thrash Nightmare Fest - Písek, Czech Republic
November 14 - Metal & Hell Festival - Oberhausen, Germany
December 11 - Eindhoven Metal Meeting - Eindhoven, Netherlands

AT WAR was formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1983 by guitarist Shawn Helsel, bassist and vocalist Paul Arnold and drummer Dave Stone. June of 1985 saw the release of AT WAR's first demo titled "Eat Lead". The two-song demo consisted of the songs "Rapechase" and what has turned out to be AT WAR's anthem, "Eat Lead", dubbed by Spin magazine as "America's answer to MOTÖRHEAD." This demo garnered AT WAR much attention and an appearance on the now-legendary compilations on New Renaissance Records, "Speed Metal Hell I" and "Speed Metal Hell II". This compilation is the holy grail among metal collectors all over the world. This led to their first full-length release, "Ordered To Kill", in 1986, also on New Renaissance. AT WAR immediately booked studio time with the great Alex Perialas at Pyramid Sound in Ithaca, New York to produce the 1987 release "Retaliatory Strike", with Rob "Wacko" Hunter co-engineering.

AT WAR toured relentlessly through the 1980s and early 1990s while planning the recording of its next album, tentatively titled "Calculated Risk". After negotiations began to break down with New Renaissance, the album was never recorded. The band played its last show in 1994 and a decade-long hiatus began, though AT WAR never called it quits.

It was in 2006 that saw the return of AT WAR as a result of direct intense fan pressure along with a new resurgence of the thrash metal movement. AT WAR felt the time was right to get moving again and take care of unfinished business with the original lineup of Helsel, Arnold and Stone. 2009 saw the recording and release of "Infidel", once again with Alex Perialas producing, on Heavy Artillery Records to critical acclaim, followed by touring and festival appearances. Stone retired in 2011 and Schroeder has since taken the mantle on the drums. In 2024, after a European tour, Helsel retired and Rick Gress rejoined the band on guitar.