Lock up your sons and daughters (Drinks cabinets too, probably – Ed)! The original Virus lineup has returned featuring the golden voice of Henry Heston on vocals and guitars, the forceful pounding drums of Tez Kaylor and the earth-shattering bass lines of John Hesse. Supplementing the original Virus trio is phenomenal shredder Ricky Kay, formerly of Even X and Carrera.

Formed in 1986 by Heston and Taylor, Virus caused a stir from day one with their punk attitude firmly embedded into their brand of thrash metal, their raucous behaviour earning them a certain amount of infamy! Whilst those heady, crazy days may now be past, their desire to bring their blistering sound back into the open most definitely is not.

With the re-release of 1988’s classic Force Recon on November 9, 2018 on Combat Records and followed by the re-release of 1989’s Lunacy in 2019, the Original Virus are poised to hit the road in 2019 at a Metal Festival near you. When asked by a prominent music writer, “why now for the reunion?”, vocalist Henry Heston headbutted the interviewer and simply said, “that’s why!”

As one of the pioneers of British thrash metal, Virus played with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, the Cro-Mags, Kreator, Nuclear Assault, Overkill, Celtic Frost and many more. When asked about the Virus/Cro-Mags tour of England in 1987, Cro-Mag’s founder Harley Flanagan said, “These guys were punks gone metal. I thought the name “Virus” referred to some sort of plague or venereal disease. It’s good to see they’re back and I look forward to hearing what they might do after all the time off “.

Plans are in the works for Virus to hit the road with Harley’s band on a co-headlining tour of America. Other bands have suggested the same as they welcome back the true pioneers of the British thrash metal scene!

To add to the general air of madness surrounding this news, and to get the word count over the bottom limit, we asked Michael Stronge to add his remembrance of the band from back in the band’s heady late eighties heyday: “I can’t be sure really. I always felt I needed a wash after coming into contact with them though, which is always a good sign”…