STRESS TEST
CONTACT: STRESSTESTPDX@GMAIL.COM
Portland, OR metalpunk outfit Stress Test combine elements of thrash, crust punk and grindcore in their debut self-titled record released February 28, 2025 via Transylvanian Recordings.
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Rooted as much in Aus-Rotten-style hardcore punk and Napalm Death-style grind as they are in thrash metal, the band manage to carve out a bleak and aggressive sound of their own.​
​​Stress Test began as a project of Unto Others bassist and backing vocalist Brandon Hill during the peak of the pandemic lockdowns in the US. Originally a solo outlet at a time of intense isolation, the full band officially came together years later in early 2024, rounded out by fellow Unto Others bandmate Colin Vranizan, Dylan Morris (Iron Scepter, ex-Drouth), and Adam Jennings. Lyrically, Hill critiques religious zealotry and America's drift toward theocratic authoritarianism, the brutal violence and misplaced glorification of policing, escalating environmental collapse, corporate media, as well as delving into internal battles with anxiety and depression.
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"Life wouldn’t be worth living at all if it were filled only with misery, and my own has had plenty of pleasure to go with the pain so far. But with Stress Test, I’m motivated by all the hours and days and years that leave you demoralized and disgusted. Disgusted with the world, or especially with yourself."
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Stress Test’s self-titled debut was recorded Spring 2024 by Gabe Johnston (Unto Others, Hoaxed) and mastered by Brad Boatright (Integrity, Obituary.)
"With all the blends of sub-genres that make up the metal world today, grindcore and old-school thrash metal is a combination that doesn’t often pop up. But Portland’s Stress Test make it sound natural, like we all should’ve been doing this all along...Fast and heavy can be done in a myriad of ways, and Stress Test have zeroed in on a style that is as catchy as it is devastating."
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“If you like Power Trip and Glacial Tomb, Stress Test are a band you need to hear expeditiously.”
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"Eleven tracks of hammering, sneering, metallic-punk vitriol (dipping under the minute mark more often than they creep past three minutes) show Stress Test have no time to waste."