After nearly a decade making waves with its frenetic brand of thrash metal, San Antonio's Life Cycles has signed to Massachusetts-based 1126 Records.
The band will promote its first EP for the label, Portal to the Unknown, with a Texas mini-tour that culminates with a release show at Paper Tiger on Sunday, Feb. 25. LIE and Soledad will round out the bill.
The St. Mary's Strip venue makes an ideal place to celebrate the milestone, since it stands in the same spot where Life Cycles played its first show. The band made its debut at the White Rabbit in 2014, just as that club reached the end of its lengthy run.
"That was like the last show ever at the White Rabbit," said Xavier Rios, the band's drummer and co-founder. "And it was our first set."
Rios and vocalist Jeremy Cuervas were just 18 when they performed that show, but the pair had known each other since fourth grade. They'd been involved together in SA's music scene for nearly as long.
Rios cut his teeth drumming in a cover band playing Slayer, Metallica and System of a Down songs. After he moved on to other musical projects in high school, Cuervas began tagging along to shows to sell merch and show support.
Cuervas had his chance to deepen his involvement when Rios and a guitar player began writing music for the band that would become Life Cycles. Their first choice to sing for the band chickened out.
"It was weird. Like, he just was scared to do vocals," Rios recalled. "So, [Cuervas] was like, 'Well, fuck it, I'll do it."
Turns out Cuervas didn't just bring his gravelly, sepulchral vocals to the party. He also gave the band its name — a moniker he'd had going through his head long before the group even came together.
Solid lineup
While Life Cycles' first few years were disjointed and chaotic, the band — which also includes Chris Buckner and Luis Lopez Jr. on guitars and Christopher Sanchez on bass — has since settled into a lineup that's remained solid for the past six years.
That kind of stability breeds camaraderie, according to Rios.
"A lot of people tell us it's crazy that y'all are all friends," he said. "You know, we're just, we're all homies — no, more brothers."
A solidified lineup also helped the band relentlessly work the Texas touring circuit, opening for acts including Upon a Burning Body, Brujeria and Knocked Loose.
That involvement in the Lone Star State metal community even led it to its current deal with 1126 Records. An introduction to the label's boss came courtesy of friends in a Dallas-based band already releasing recordings through 1126.
Conveniently, Life Cycles was working on new songs at the time, which made the timing perfect for dropping a new EP, Rios said.
The new release sticks with the band's aggressive formula, combining uptempo metallic riffs with the blistering energy of hardcore. The band's inspiration by worthy forbears including Slayer, Testament, Pantera, King Diamond and Sepultura shows in its breakneck approach.
Portal to the Unknown spotlights the members of Life Cycles' personal struggles and frames them in an us-against-the-world mindset. The band has already dropped two singles, "Serpent's Kiss" and "Death from Above," in anticipation of the EP's official release.
Repping the 'hood
Life Cycles self-released its three prior EPs via Bandcamp and Apple Music. But since signing to the new label, the band has set its sights higher, according to Rios, who said he hopes it can land on festivals and begin tackling nationwide tours.
While Life Cycles is looking for a wider audience, its members said they remain dedicated to representing Southeast San Antonio, where the group came together.
"People always look at us, and they don't think we're in a metal band because, for the most part, we don't look like rocker fools," Rios said. "We just kind of look like, you know, dudes from the Southeast side of town."
Life Cycles embraces that origin story, incorporating it directly into the band's tagline on social media, music platforms and merch. It's Southeast Side metal, and it always will be.
"We just try to really push that," Rios said. "It's just a thing. We've always been proud to be from this side of town."
$10-$15, 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary's St., papertigersatx.com.
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