Mr. Bungle Re-Recording 1986 Demo The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny

We’ve known since last month that Mr. Bungle are back in the studio, and now we know what they’re working on: a re-recording of their 1986 demo, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny. This demo, of course, was also the focal point of the band’s recent spate of reunion shows. As you might expect, in addition to frontman Mike Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance, and bassist Trevor Dunn, Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, etc.), who were both part of the recent reunion shows, are also participating in the recording.

So why re-record the 34-year-old demo? Dunn tells Revolver:

“The music from The Raging Wrath, which we wrote when we were 15 and 17 years old, continued to be relevant to us. But the original demo was never fully realized. It was a DIY four-track tape recording fully self-produced by our naive and wandering minds whilst still learning how to play our instruments and understand songwriting at its most basic level. Not to mention I’m pretty sure we were all virgins at the time — high-strung, bored teenagers with only a limited number of options [for] where to direct our energy in an impoverished, isolated town.”

Adds Spruance:

“Trevor had this spontaneous idea when he was on tour with Lombardo — probably in Fantômas — ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we did our early thrash/death metal stuff with Lombardo?’ I think it was an informal thought at first, but then it kind of took root when my band Secret Chiefs 3 was opening up for Dead Cross on tour. 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.”

You can read the entire interview here. No word on when the re-recorded Raging Wrath might be released.