Experimental rock band Mr. Bungle are re-recording their 1986 demo The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny. The band began teasing the recording plans in February.
After disbanding in 2004 and taking a years-long hiatus, the band announced in fall 2019 a series of three reunion shows for February 2020 in Los Angeles. At the first show, they played The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny in its entirety.
The reunion shows featured a lineup of founder and lead vocalist Mike Patton and long-standing members guitarist Trey Spruance and bassist Trevor Dunn, with Scott Ian of Anthrax and Dave Lombardo of Suicidal Tendencies (and formerly Slayer) joining to play guitar and drums, respectively. The fivesome also reunited to re-record the album.
In an interview with Revolver, Spruance described the slow emergence of the plan to re-record the album with the influence of the new styles of their current lineup, and how it finally came together. “That put all of us in the same room — me, Trevor, Mike and Lombardo — and Trevor brought it up again. Like, ‘We’re all standing here with Lombardo. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we did this?’ About a year later, Lombardo called me and suggested we surprise Patton for his birthday by doing a demo of these tunes.”
Patton has remained especially busy in his own right since even before Mr. Bungle’s breakup. He’s released three solo studio albums and collaborated with countless other artists. He has also formed and/or been a key member of myriad bands and supergroups, including the iconic alternative metal band Faith No More, with whom he will be touring this summer, Tomahawk, who are currently working on a new album and Fantômas.
The album is expected to drop sometime in fall 2020 through Ipecac Recordings, per The PRP. The linked interview with Revolver includes the first of a two-part studio report of the recording process, with the second part due out March 24.