Full Terror Assault recently announced the 2020 lineup which will be headlined by a who’s who list of heavy metal acts including Exodus, M.O.D., General Surgery amongst a slew of other musical acts. According to a press release, “Full Terror Assault Open Air Festival 2020 (FTA) has revealed Exodus, M.O.D., General Surgery, Ground and Shock Narcotic as the first bands confirmed for the sixth edition of the massive outdoor festival, scheduled for September 9-12, 2020 in Cave-in-Rock, IL.”

Exodus is a thrash metal band that has origins that date back to the early to mid-’80s from Richmond, California. Currently signed to Nuclear Blast Records, Exodus’ current touring roster includes Steve Souza (lead vocals), lead guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, respectively, Jack Gibson (bass) and Tom Hunting (drums). Exodus’ lead guitarist Gary Holt was enthusiastic regarding the band’s inclusion for next year’s outdoor music event festivities saying, “Exodus are proud to announce our addition to the 2020 Full Terror Assault festival!’ says guitarist Gary Holt, who will be making his return to Exodus after a six-year hiatus to tour with Slayer. ‘It’s gonna be a blast to be a part of the sixth year of this festival, and it is the first US Exodus show we have booked going forward! Raging thrash metal out in the woods, super killer underground festival -the way I like it! This will be RAD!'”

M.O.D. is a thrash metal New York-based band, also getting their start in the mid-’80s as well as signed to Nuclear Blast Records, whose lineup consists of Billy Milano (vocals), Jason French (guitar), Rob Moschetti (bass) and Michael Arrellano (drums). Milano explains the role his and his bandmates have as headliners of next year’s FTA festival and what it was like performing at last year’s event, saying “Greetings from Billy Milano, legendary grandfather and pancake maker. I also kinda sing for M.O.D. Full Terror Assault was an amazing experience. I am deeply honored to be the host of the next fest. I’m planning on interviewing all the bands for the fest, as well as the fans. A spoken word/comedy performance is going to take place with a fan interaction. I am going to video document everything so we can show Europe we have a great underground fest here in America as well.”

The press release furthers that General Surgery’ “…will make their first-ever Midwestern appearance at FTA. “We are extremely happy to finally play Full Terror Assault and to meet our fans in the mid-US,” says drummer Adde Mitroulis. “Let’s celebrate the death and gore together in Cave-in-Rock next year!”

The press release concludes with “FTA is the first true European-style open air festival for extreme music fans in the US. Fans will experience a day of early camping, which is free throughout the entire weekend, and a DJ party on September 9. Thursday, September 10 will continue the pre-party with contests, music and activities. The festival kicks into full gear on September 11 and 12 for two more days of non-stop blistering sets from the best bands in extreme music. More than 50 bands will play over the course of the weekend. In addition to live music, FTA will host food vendors and a ‘Terror Market.'”

For more information regarding the fairgrounds venue as well as to purchase tickets, visit Full Terror Assault’s official website.

UPDATE (2/23): The latest inclusion of heavy metal acts have recently been announced for the Illinois-based music festival Full Terror Assault Open Air 2020 lineup. As previously reported on The Prp, the confirmed thrash metal collectives on this year’s lineup at “The Hogrock Campground in Cave-In-Rock, IL will play host to the festival this year with the following artists now confirmed: Gwar, Exodus, M.O.D., General Surgery, Home-wrecker, War Curse, Ground, Shock Narcotic, Hidden Intent, Extinction A.D., Atoll, Duskwalker, Axeslasher, Nooses, Malformity, Pitlord, Shattered Guts, Necrolytic.”

Richmond, Virginia-based heavy metal band Gwar’s inclusion makes for an enticing addition to the already stacked lineup. Gwar are a staple to the metal scene since their inception back in the mid-1980’s. The seasoned pioneer collective even had a parody made for them in the form of last year’s Danny Boyle-helmed breakout sleeper hit, Yesterday. As previously reported here on mxdwn, “The YouTube video, titled ‘YesterSlay,’ is a parody of Yesterday, but instead of the world forgetting about the Beatles, the world forgot about the heavy rock band GWAR. The parody trailer starts off with the main character Jack Malick, portrayed by Himesh Patel, who actually does play the main character of the same name in Yesterday, getting hit by a bus at the same time electricity goes out all over the world. When Jack wakes up, he wakes up in a world without GWAR.”

Among the various announced performers, “Exodus’ lead guitarist Gary Holt was enthusiastic regarding the band’s inclusion … saying, “Exodus are proud to announce our addition to the 2020 Full Terror Assault festival!’ says guitarist Gary Holt, who will be making his return to Exodus after a six-year hiatus to tour with Slayer. ‘It’s gonna be a blast to be a part of the sixth year of this festival, and it is the first US Exodus show we have booked going forward! Raging thrash metal out in the woods, super killer underground festival -the way I like it! This will be RAD!’”

Photo Credit: Gary Moratz