Cali thrashers Take Offense have released their new single “Assassination” today - the second preview of what’s to come on their upcoming album T.O.tality.
The track kicks off with a complex riff that would sit perfectly on a Marty Friedman-era Megadeth record before settling into a swinging hardcore groove with unexpected twists. It’s the perfect sample of Take Offense’s fresh take on crossover as the band forge ahead towards new frontiers on T.O.tality .
Frontman Anthony Herrera tells, “‘Assassination’ embodies our mission to be truthful and give everything that you have.” It’s accompanying video, directed by Nicholas Hipa is a metaphor,” adds Herrera. “The assassin in the video represents anyone and anything trying to stop us – it ain’t happening.”
After nearly two decades of grinding and the accompanying blood/sweat, Take Offense have mastered their craft, reaching the pinnacle of their expansive sound. T.O.tality , their fourth overall album and label debut for MNRK Heavy , is marked with a sense of modernity– incorporating the hard-driving ethos of thrash, the finesse of speed metal, the sneering tenacity of hardcore all while nodding to their home of Southern California.
Take Offense look toward the tone and attitude of their California counterparts– bands like EXCEL and Suicidal Tendencies who also leaned heavily into skate aesthetics but worshipped Sunset Strip-and-adjacent guitar dieties like Warren Di Martini and Eddie Van Halen . T.O.tality is a love letter to that scene and those times, delivered in the form of an armada of fourteen nitro-equipped tracks that explode through barricades of genre convention and emptying the clip with fresh ideas. It’s a tribute to local heroes with familiar approaches that are wholly and undoubtedly Take Offense.
