Today Is The Day

Today Is The Day is an experimental metal band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1992. The group is led by Steve Austin, who founds the band with drummer Brad Elrod and later becomes the constant centre of a line-up that changes repeatedly. Its sound is associated with experimental rock and metal, and it is also tagged across grindcore, noisecore, hardcore and noise rock, alongside broader metal styles including black metal, doom metal, heavy metal and industrial metal.

Early releases and AmRep period

The band begins with the self-financed EP How To Win Friends And Influence People, released in 1992. That record draws the attention of Amphetamine Reptile Records, which signs the band in 1993. At that point the line-up includes Austin on vocals and guitar, Elrod on drums and percussion, and Mike Herrell on bass. AmRep releases the debut album Supernova later in 1993, followed by Willpower in 1994.

Also in 1994, Today Is The Day appears on the split EP Clusterfuck '94 with Chokebore and Guzzard, and contributes to the tenth volume of AmRep’s Dope-Guns-'N-Fucking In The Streets 7-inch series alongside Brainiac and Steel Pole Bath Tub.

Line-up changes and Relapse years

The band’s 1996 self-titled album is the first recording made at Austin’s own studio, Austin Enterprise, in Nashville. For that release, Austin replaces Herrell with keyboardist Scott Wexton. After leaving Amphetamine Reptile, Today Is The Day signs with Relapse Records in 1997 and releases Temple Of The Morning Star the same year. For that album Austin assembles a new line-up with Christopher Reeser on bass and keyboard and Mike Hyde on drums.

In 1997 the band also contributes a version of Black Sabbath’s “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” to Hydra Head Records’ In These Black Days 7-inch series; the cover also appears as a secret track on Temple Of The Morning Star.

In The Eyes Of God follows in 1999 with Bill Kelliher on bass and Brann Dailor on drums, both formerly of Lethargy and later of Mastodon. The band first presents this line-up live at Milwaukee Metalfest and the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. By this time Austin has moved to Massachusetts, and the album is recorded at the relocated Austin Enterprise studio in Clinton, Massachusetts.

Live releases and later albums

Live Till You Die appears in 2000 and collects live tracks from the Temple Of The Morning Star and In The Eyes Of God tours, plus cover versions of songs by The Beatles, Bad Company and Chris Isaak, along with other studio leftovers from the late 1990s. New songs appear in 2001 on split releases with Metatron and 16, and those tracks lead into Sadness Will Prevail, a double album released in 2002. That record takes around three years to record, mix and master, and is the band’s most ambitious release. On it, Kelliher and Dailor are replaced by Chris Debari and Marshall Kilpatric. The same year, the band also releases Temple Of The Morning Star Tour, its second live album.

Today Is The Day returns in 2004 with Kiss The Pig, a short and fast record that contrasts with the scale of Sadness Will Prevail. It marks the debut of drummer Mike Rosswog, formerly of Circle Of Dead Children, and is the last album the band releases on Relapse Records.

Later personnel and activity

By 2006 the band announces former Hate Eternal drummer Derek Roddy as the next drummer for its following studio album, Axis Of Eden, due in 2007. Roddy follows short stints by Jeff Lohrber and Graham Leduc in the drummer role. In 2008 French drummer Julien Granger, known for work with Four Question Marks and Darkness Dynamite, joins the group.

The group remains active from 1992 to the present. Known members across its history include Steve Austin, Christopher Frey, Jeff Lohrber, Curran Reynolds and Marshall Kilpatric, alongside a long list of changing collaborators around Austin’s leadership.