MR. BUNGLE Is Re-Recording Songs From 'The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny' Demo

MR. BUNGLE is re-recording songs from its very first demo, 1986's "The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny", as well as laying down various cover versions and three previously unreleased tracks from their days as teenage metalheads growing up in Eureka, California for an upcoming album, to be released this fall via Ipecac Recordings.

"The music from 'The Raging Wrath', which we wrote when we were 15 and 17 years old, continued to be relevant to us," MR. BUNGLE bassist Trevor Dunn explained to Revolver. "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."

The material is being recorded with MR. BUNGLE's current lineup, which consists of Dunn, Mike Patton and Trey Spruance, along with Scott Ian (ANTHRAX, S.O.D.) and Dave Lombardo (DEAD CROSS, SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES).

"Holy crap — the songs sound so great!" Ian said of the recording process. "Every day at the studio is like Christmas morning for me — each song we finish another present. I don't know if I'm more excited about this record as a fan of MR. BUNGLE or as a member of MR. BUNGLE. Either way, I can't wait for the world to hear it."

Asked if MR. BUNGLE knew it was going to re-record "The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny" demo when it announced the shows last year, Spruance told Revolver: "Everything was kinda up in the air. We knew we were gonna do the shows and resurrect the band for that, but we didn't really have solid plans for the future. In fact, when the idea first came up, we weren't even sure we were gonna call the band MR. BUNGLE. We thought we should call it THE RAGING WRATH OF THE EASTER BUNNY. But then, over time, we all realized that when bands do reunion tours and go back to their roots, it usually means playing some blues or something. For us, this is really MR. BUNGLE. This is our beginnings. This is the heart and soul of the band. Even the arrangement philosophy hasn't changed that much. The style and presentation and elaborate orchestration — all of that changed. But if you listen to the logic of the songs, it's all there in that first demo. The way we arrange music is right there in the beginning."

MR. BUNGLE played its first show in close to 20 years on February 5 at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, California.