Bonded by Blood is an American thrash metal band, named after Exodus' debut album Bonded by Blood. Like its labelmates Evile, Gama Bomb, and Municipal Waste, Bonded by Blood is part of the thrash metal revival movement. The band was founded in mid-2005 by vocalist Jose Barrales, who with the help of friends completed the band's original lineup with guitarist Alex Lee, guitarist Juan Juarez, bassist Ruben Dominguez, and drummer Carlos Regalado. In 2006 Bonded by Blood won a battle of bands that featured over 250 musical groups. With the contest prize, the band recorded the demo Four Pints of Blood and a year later they self-financed the recording of the EP Extinguish the Weak, releasing the songs through their MySpace page. The band attracted the attention of Earache Records, which signed them in late 2007. The band released its first full length Feed the Beast in 2008. While on tour Dominguez left the band and was replaced by bassist Jerry Garcia, who had his debut on Bonded by Blood's second full length Exiled to Earth, released in 2010. Their third and last full-length studio album to date, The Aftermath, was released two years later. History Formation and win at battle of bands (2005–2006) Hailing from Pomona, California, the members of Bonded by Blood met through mutual friends. The idea of creating a band was conceived by lead vocalist Jose Barrales, a singer with hardcore punk and crossover thrash backgrounds, influenced by groups like Bad Brains, Cryptic Slaughter, D.R.I. and Black Flag. He always had an appreciation for heavy metal music, but it was not until a friend recommended him to listen to Exodus that Barrales got into the thrash metal subgenre. Exodus' debut album Bonded by Blood had a profound impact on Barrales, and it was inspiring to the point he idealized the creation of a thrash metal band, as he had noticed that there were few or even no groups in this genre in the music scene. In mid-2005 Barrales began looking for musicians for the band, asking friends of his to see if they could recommend anyone, which is how he heard of guitarist Alex Lee. When Barrales saw Lee play, he dropped the thought of trying to play rhythm guitar himself because he had a fear of not being able to keep up. There were a few years that Lee was playing guitar, but he was