The San Jose band Ripped To Shreds are rising stars in the metal world thanks to their ferocious, electric take on death metal, largely inspired by their experiences as Asian-Americans. They signed to Relapse a year ago, and they’re finally ready to announce their first album for the label, 劇變 (Jubian), is dropping in October. Bandleader Andrew Lee recorded and mixed the album in his home studio; he says the painting of the Taiwanese sea goddess Mazu was inspired by visits to his local temples in Taiwan. “I felt like it was important to have something standing in for Chinese people,” Lee says in a press release, adding that a major driving force behind the band is “to increase the visibility of ABCs [American-born Chinese] in extreme metal by being very blatantly Chinese.”

Lead single “Reek Of Burning Freedom” is out today with a video by Kevin Burleigh. Let yourself be eviscerated by it below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Violent Compulsion For Conquest”
02 “Split Apart By Five Chariots”
03 “獨孤九劍 日月神教第三節 (In Solitude – Sun Moon Holy Cult Pt 3)”
04 “Harmonious Impiety”
05 “漢奸 (Race Traitor)”
06 “Reek Of Burning Freedom”
07 “Peregrination To The Unborn Eternal Mother”
08 “Scripture Containing the Supreme Internal Energy Arts That Render The Practitioner Invincible Throughout The Martial Realm”

劇變 (Jubian) is out 10/14 on Relapse.