Psychosomatic

PSYCHOSOMATIC is an American thrash metal band based in Sacramento, CA. Formed in 1988, the current lineup consists of founding member, bassist, and vocalist Jeff Salgado, drummer Toby Swope, and guitarists Daniel Mills and Viktor Hansen. To date, the band has released six studio albums, two EPs, and four music videos. In August 2018, PSYCHOSOMATIC entered the studio to record their seventh full-length effort, The Invisible Prison. The album was produced, engineered, and mixed by David Sanchez (Havok), mastered by Mark Lewis (Chimaira, Trivium, The Black Dahlia Murder) at MRL Studios, and will be released in summer 2020 via Nefarious Industries.

PSYCHOSOMATIC was born in Salinas, California in the summer of 1988 with bassist Jeff Salgado, drummer Mikkel Andersen, guitarist Jody Morris, and vocalist Mike Smith. Smith left in 1990, leaving Salgado as the primary vocalist with new recruit Justin Reyes on guitar. This lineup released a 5 song demo called ...and Now You've Had It! and contributed 2 songs on Thrasher Magazine’s Skate Rock Vol. 9 compilation cassette, Pawns Of The Apocalypse, alongside Bad Religion, Integrity, and Sheer Terror. The band played extensively around the San Francisco Bay Area, and throughout Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, performing at skateboard contests and backyard parties as well as venues like The Stone, The Omni, and One Step Beyond, and sharing the stage with The Vandals, BL’AST!, Melvins, Vio-lence, Good Riddance, D.R.I., The Mentors, and many more.

In 1994 PSYCHOSOMATIC shifted to a power trio with Salgado and Reyes at its core - a 21 year partnership that would see the band through 5 full-length releases, carving out and cementing the crossover thrash sound that would endure throughout their career. Joined by drummer Marc Woodward, the trio released their full-length debut, Drunken Nights of the Round Table (1995), followed by Psychosatanic Drunkaholics (1997) with Todd Worley behind the drumkit. In late 1998 the band decided to move from Salinas to Sacramento, reuniting with drummer Marc Woodward, and immediately began writing and recording their third full-length album. Featuring 15 blistering tracks of speed punk, Tales of the Unbelievably Cheap (1999) was the band’s last self-released record, and also the last to be recorded and mixed at Soundwave Studios, Campbell, CA, by Brett Tyson, who lent his talents to the previous two releases. Woodward’s last recording with PSYCHOSOMATIC would be a cover of “Wrong Side Of The Grave” by legendary Seattle thrash band The Accüsed, appearing as the opening track on the 2002 Mechanized Death: A Tribute To The Accüsed compilation 12”.

Woodward’s vacancy was soon filled by Toby Swope, and the trio began working on their fourth full-length release, The Unquenchable Thirst. The album was recorded and mixed by Joe Johnston at Pus Cavern Studio in Sacramento, CA, and was released in 2006 on Thrashcore Records, quickly becoming a fan favorite and creating real momentum for the band who were now in a brand new city and scene. A video was shot for the song “Buckshot Breakfast” and was submitted to Blank TV’s YouTube channel but was rejected for its graphic imagery and content. PSYCHOSOMATIC toured extensively in support of the record, including a west coast run with Bled, a 2007 outing with Dr. Know, SXSW dates in March 2008, and an appearance at Tidal Wave festival in July 2008 with Exodus, Hirax, Attitude Adjustment, and Havok, among others. The band continued to play as many shows as possible throughout 2009, sharing the stage with such notable acts as Verbal Abuse, Witchaven, Havok, Head on Collision, Toe Tag, The Accüsed, TSOL, Hoods, Call the Paramedics, Anal Cunt, Kill the Client, Bonded by Blood, Merciless Death, Fueled by Fire, Hatchet, Beercan, and many more.

April 2010 saw the release of PSYCHOSOMATIC’s fifth studio album, Another Disease, released via Thrashcore Records, and once again recorded and mixed by Joe Johnston at Pus Cavern Studio in Sacramento. At this point, almost all prior material was produced and written by Jeff Salgado, whereas Toby Swope wrote the majority of the music for this album. During the recording of the record, Jeff asked Toby to record all of the guitar tracks as they were far more technical than ever before. The band lowered its guitar tunings for a heavier sound and recorded 18 songs that clocked in at a total of 45 minutes. Two videos were released for the tracks “Another Disease,” which featured a fake infomercial for the intro, and for “Everybody Hates Me” which featured guest vocalist Nicki Sicki of Verbal Abuse.

The band toured heavily in support of Another Disease beginning with an 18 date headlining US tour in 2011. With a more demanding tour schedule ahead, 21-year veteran Justin Reyes decided to part ways with the band. The trio played one final show together at Slim’s in San Francisco on July 2, 2011, as direct support for Attitude Adjustment’s album release show in front of a packed house. Guitarists Daniel Mills and Vince Cassinelli were soon brought into the fold, reinventing PSYCHOSOMATIC as a 4 piece thrash metal outfit ready for the rigorous tour schedule to follow in 2012 and 2013, including two headlining US tours, several outings with NJ beer-guzzlers Hammer Fight, and a west coast tour with legendary Australian harcore band Vicious Circle.

The band retreated for a year in 2014 to write and record Clicking Sound of a Hammer Pulled Back to be released via Buriedinhell Records in September of 2015. The album was once more recorded and mixed by Joe Johnston at Pus Cavern Studio in Sacramento, CA. At this time the band consisted of bassist and vocalist Jeff Salgado, drummer Toby Swope, and guitarists Daniel Mills and Joel Barrera. This was a straightforward thrash metal album from front to back, predominantly written by Toby Swope (who once again recorded all the rhythm guitar tracks as well as drums), with the exception of a few songs and lyrics written by Jeff Salgado. The lineup changed directly after the recording of the album, with Toby Swope switching from drums to lead guitar and his younger brother Jared Klein (Rivers of Nihil, Flub) stepping in to handle drumming duties. A video was released for the album’s first single, “Grand Mal Seizure,” which featured Hal Rotter from Plague Widow and was filmed by Jesse Davis. The band toured immediately after it’s release embarking on a 5 week US tour in fall 2015, followed by a 2 week northwest run as direct support for Havok.

PSYCHOSOMATIC went on hiatus for most of 2016 but remained busy with other musical projects. Toby Swope filled in for drums with Revocation on a North American tour during the spring of 2015. Jared Klein returned to his former band Flub and resumed session work for various bands. Later in 2017 Jared joined Rivers of Nihil full time and recorded on 2018's Where Owls Know My Name, which debuted at #61 on the Billboard 200, selling 2,750 copies in its first week. Jeff Salgado was invited to perform at a benefit show for Vio-Lence singer Sean Killian entitled "Killian on Command" featuring an ensemble cast of Chuck Billy & Eric Petersen from Testament, Steve Souza & Tom Hunting from Exodus, Ted Aguilar and Will Carroll from Death Angel, Matt Harvey from Exhumed, David White from Heathen, Craig Locicero and Matt Camacho from Forbidden among many more. Afterwards Phil Demmel (Vio-lence, Machine Head) invited PSYCHOSOMATIC to open for them at the Oakland Metro after it was already sold out.

In 2018 PSYCHOSOMATIC recruited Flub guitarist Vikor Hansen, Toby Swope returned to drums, and Havok’s David Sanchez was brought in to produce, record, and mix the group’s strongest effort yet, The Invisible Prison, set to release summer 2020 via Nefarious Industries. The new album features twelve tracks of modern crossover thrash, including a cover of “Serial Killer” by Bay Area thrash legends Vio-lence, and marks the band’s first time working with an actual producer considering Jeff Salgado produced all the band’s prior material. Recording sessions lasted from August to September 2018 and were mixed during winter of 2018. In May 2019 Toby Swope was recruited by Skeletonwitch as their touring drummer and embarked on a 4 week North American tour, during which time producer Mark Lewis (Chimaira, Trivium, DevilDriver, The Black Dahlia Murder) mastered the album at MRL Studios in Sanford, Florida. Three decades in and over a thousand US and Canadian shows under their belt, PSYCHOSOMATIC is as motivated and unstoppable as ever with a new album on the way and more touring on the horizon.