ONSLAUGHT's NIGE ROCKETT To Return To Live Stage After Undergoing A Number Of Cancer Removal Operations

January 22, 2025

ONSLAUGHT founding member and guitarist Nige Rockett is preparing to make his return to the live stage with the band after a three-year absence following a long battle with illness. His first appearance back will be on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise later this month as ONSLAUGHT kicks off a year of 40th-anniversary shows celebrating the release of the veteran British thrash metal group's debut album, "Power From Hell".

Rockett has endured a number of cancer removal operations, chemotherapy as well as two spinal operations — upper and lower spine — during his forced hiatus, with both conditions now thankfully in full remission/recovery and continuing to heal.

Rockett comments: "It's been a kinda brutal time over the past few years but it's great to finally be back. I'm not 100% by any means and it's gonna take a fair while to get the fitness back, but this will help massively for sure."

He added: "Sadly, no more headbanging for me. The surgeons have told me that it was the likely cause of one of the original injuries and that I must behave in the future or risk a recurrence.

"See you in the pit."

ONSLAUGHT will embark on a European tour in May/June 2025, performing "Power From Hell" in its entirety

ONSLAUGHT's latest album, "Generation Antichrist", came out in August 2020 via AFM Records. It was the first ONSLAUGHT LP to feature new vocalist Dave Garnett, who replaced longtime singer Sy Keeler.

Garnett made his live debut with ONSLAUGHT at the House Of Metal festival in Umeå, Sweden in February 2020.

ONSLAUGHT announced Keeler's departure in April 2020, explaining in a statement that "some things simply aren't sustainable year after year due to the nature of the modern-day music industry."

ONSLAUGHT is one of the most ferocious, explosive and controversial metal bands ever to come out of the U.K. The group released three now-legendary albums in the 1980s — "Power From Hell", "The Force" and "In Search of Sanity" — and became a major influence for many metal generations to follow.

Since reforming in 2005, ONSLAUGHT has performed countless shows in no less than 70 different countries across the globe, earning themselves the reputation as one of the very best live acts in the metal scene today. ONSLAUGHT also has the enviable kudos of being the first international thrash band to perform in Vietnam and Lebanon.

Five critically acclaimed albums were released between 2007 and 2015 — "Killing Peace", "Live Damnation", "Sounds Of Violence", "VI" and "Live At The Slaughterhouse" — with millions of streams between them.

Produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, BEHEMOTH),"Generation Antichrist" gathered huge international acclaim, with many renowned rock and metal pundits declaring it the album of the year.

Find more on Onslaught
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email