Melvins 1983, the raw and unfiltered incarnation of the legendary band featuring Buzz Osborne and original Melvins drummer, Mike Dillard, return with new studio album “Thunderball” – their first full-length release in four years, out on April 18th, 2025, via Ipecac Recordings.
“Thunderball is the third Melvins 1983 record we’ve made together, and I wanted it to be bombastic – I think we achieved that”, says Osborne. “I also wanted to do something with electronic artists Void Manes and Ni Maîtres for a long time. Both of them are exceptional talents. Their out-of-the-box use of electronics pushed Thunderball beyond my expectations”.
A preview of the five-song, 34-minute album is out now, with today’s release of “Victory of the Pyramids”. Driven by Dillard’s unrelenting cadence, the song opens with an almost deceptively poppy feel before spiraling into the crushing, sludgy depths that have long defined the Melvins’ sound. As Dillard said, it’s “a lovely blend of beautiful noise and gut-busting grooves”. The album was recorded by Toshi Kasai at Sound of Sirens Studios.
Album pre-orders are available here, with “Thunderball” available on trio of vinyl variants including an indie exclusive “Smoke is a Color” variant and an Ipecac webstore-only “Special Mustard Gas”. The collection is also available on CD and all digital formats.
Tracklist:
1. King of Rome
2. Vomit of Clarity
3. Short Hair With A Wig
4. Victory of the Pyramids
5. Venus Blood
After a short run of California dates in March (“The Spring Break Tour”), the band will embark on a massive nine-week, nationwide co-headlining trek with Napalm Death. The Napalm Death/Melvins outing is the follow-up to the legendary bands’ 2016 joint outing, dubbed the “Savage Imperial Death March” tour. Both “The Spring Break Tour” and the co-headlining shows with Napalm Death will feature Osborne, Dale Crover, Steven McDonald and Coady Willis. Tickets are available here.
California Spring Break Tour 2025:
March 1 Bakersfield, CA The Nile Theater
March 2 Fresno, CA Strummer’s
March 3 Sacramento, CA Goldfield Trading Post
March 4 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst Atrium
March 5 San Luis Obispo, CA SLO Brew Rock
March 7 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s
The Melvins’ previously announced “Savage Imperial Death March Part II” sees the addition of two dates: April 12 at Swan Dive in Las Vegas and May 11 at Globe Iron in Cleveland. Tickets for the full run of “Death March” dates are on-sale now.
Openers include Weedeater (April 4-May 5), Titan To Tachyons featuring Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn (May 7- 20), The Hard-Ons with Jerry A (May 22-June 7), and Shane Embury’s Dark Sky Burial, who will perform on all dates.
US Tour Dates 2025:
April 4 San Diego, CA Music Box
April 5 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
April 7 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
April 8 San Jose, CA The Ritz
April 10 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco
April 12 Las Vegas, NV Swan Dive
April 13 Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren
April 14 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
April 15 El Paso, TX Lowbrow Palace
April 17 Dallas, TX The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
April 18 Austin, TX Emo’s
April 19 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall – Downstairs
April 20 Baton Rouge, LA Chelsea’s Live
April 21 New Orleans, LA House of Blues New Orleans
April 23 Tampa, FL The Orpheum
April 24 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
April 25 Orlando, FL The Beacham
April 26 Savannah, GA District Live
April 27 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade – Heaven Stage
April 28 Birmingham, AL Saturn
April 29 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
May 1 Charlotte, NC The Underground – Charlotte
May 2 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
May 3 Virginia Beach, VA Elevation 27
May 4 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage
May 5 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
May 7 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw
May 8 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
May 9 Harrisburg, PA Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center
May 10 Pittsburgh, PA Mr.Small’s
May 11 Cleveland, OH Globe Iron
May 12 Detroit, MI Saint Andrew’s Hall
May 13 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
May 15 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
May 16 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom
May 17 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
May 18 St. Louis, MO Red Flag
May 19 Chicago, IL Metro
May 20 Milwaukee, WI The Rave II
May 22 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue – Main room
May 23 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
May 24 Kansas City, MO Madrid Theatre
May 25 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
May 27 Denver, CO Summit
May 29 Salt Lake City, UT Metro Music Hall
May 31 Bozeman, MT The ELM
June 1 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory Spokane
June 2 Seattle, WA The Showbox
June 3 Portland, OR Revolution Hall
June 4 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre
June 6 Reno, NV Virginia Street Brewhouse
June 7 Berkeley, CA Cornerstone Berkeley
The Melvins are one of modern music’s most influential bands. Having formed in 1983 Montesano, Washington, the group – founded by vocalist/guitarist Buzz Osborne, with drummer Dale Crover joining a year later – has been credited with merging the worlds of punk rock and heavy music, forming a new subgenre all their own. Over their 40-plus-year career, they’ve released more than 30 original albums, numerous live records, and far too many to count singles and rarities. Recent releases include 2024’s “Tarantula Heart”, an album that Osborne wrote songs based on a series of improvisational live sessions, the six-song 2022 “Bad Mood Rising”, and “Five Legged Dog” (2021), an ambitious 36-track acoustic collection that reimagines their heaviest songs alongside covers of their favorite artists.
