Around 2022, I started proposing reissuing Day of Suffering’s 1997 album, The Eternal Jihad, to vocalist John Chafin. I started putting out music around 2009 with my label Contraband, had mostly stuck to releasing cassettes, and decided that my final release with the label would be a banger.
It would be nearly 2 years and uniting with Bitter Melody Records’ Grant McCracken to make that a finalized reality with the advent of a new vinyl version of the album, complete with artwork sourced from the original material and a powerful remaster courtesy of Scott Crouse (Earth Crisis, SECT, Path of Resistance).
Now, at the end of 2025, we are offering CD and cassette versions of the album, and a second vinyl pressing is on the horizon. I wanted to get some input from John, Scott, and Grant about The Eternal Jihad ahead of their appearance at Hellfest West in February.
Give me an elevator speech about how Day of Suffering became a band.
(John Chafin, Day of Suffering vocalist): Sometime in 1994, I randomly went to see Earth Crisis without having heard them and was completely blown away. Before that, I had been trying to work on a death/doom project but was getting nowhere. I started going to hardcore shows and eventually met Paul Hart, who basically invited himself over to my house because he heard I had a drum set and wanted to learn how to play.
We started jamming with me on guitar, and eventually Paul got his brother, Steve, to come over, and it started to click. I remember the first practice we just played songs from Those Who Fear Tomorrow by Integrity. We knew from the beginning that we wanted a dark, heavy sound.
Your only full-length, The Eternal Jihad, has become a cult classic within hardcore circles. When you were making it, did you have any idea that decades later we would still be talking about it in such high regard?
Never. When 'The Eternal Jihad' originally came out in 1997, it didn't really feel like people in the United States liked it. We got a great response from Europe, though and that was encouraging. It probably didn't help that we didn't play many shows after the record came out. It wasn't until years later that I realized people were actually still listening to it.
Let's talk about our first experience with The Eternal Jihad.
(Scott Crouse, remastering engineer): My first experience was listening to it in the van while on tour in the ‘90s. I remember [Earth Crisis vocalist] Karl [Buechner] saying, “ok, let’s check out this new vegan straight edge band from North Carolina.” I wasn’t expecting much, but you could tell right away these guys knew their death metal.
(Grant McCracken, Bitter Melody Records): Well, I was a little late to the party on this record. I grew up in the thriving NCHC scene in the late '90s. I’m 43 and started going to shows in 1997/1998. I frequented Cedar St in Greensboro and 533 in Winston-Salem regularly, and our locals Catharsis, Undying, Codeseven, Zegota, Prayer for Cleansing, and BTBAM were staples. I missed Day of Suffering during its initial run, though.
I was a vinyl collector very early on, but being young and money was tight, I certainly had a ton of burned CDs too. I feel like the first time I heard The Eternal Jihad was on a burned CD someone gave me. I still have 3 or 4 thick CD binders full of burned CDs from the late '90s and early '00s in my garage. At some point, I did get a legit CD of The Eternal Jihad, but never had the original LP
(Javier Van Huss, Contraband): Around that time, [Bleeding Through vocalist, ex-Eighteen Visions guitarist] Brandan Schieppati and I were really into finding the newest hardcore and metal. Reading about bands in zines and getting dubbed tapes were the easiest ways to be exposed to them.
All I know is that I got the original Digipack CD and it never left my brain. When the opportunity came to be involved with a reissue of the album, what did you think?
(Grant McCracken): I’ve been doing Bitter Melody Records since 2010 and have brainstormed many records and reissues over the years. I know the idea came up a couple of times. I remember discussing it with my late friend John Rivera at some point. I don’t know why it never made it past discussions earlier.
Fast forward years later and my friend Javier from Contraband (I had done a 7” for his previous band as well) hit me up and said “Hey, I started this Day of Suffering reissue months and months ago and got it remastered from the tapes, but life has kinda gotten in the way and I’ve stalled out, would you wanna come on board and help take this to the finish line.” I remember reading the text at work and it was an immediate “yes” on my part. I was like “send me everything you have” and I got to work that day on getting things in templates and getting the audio ready to go.
One thing I’m good at is project management and keeping things moving once I start a project. I think we had it at the record plant about a week later. The remaster sounds so good and it’s such a classic metalcore record and one of the best NCHC records of all time, so I’m thrilled that I was able to be a part of it.
(Scott Crouse): I love the band, so being part of giving the album a refresh was great! (Having access to the original DAT tapes courtesy of Steve Hart) It was very fun to hear it, since it was recorded at our local Penguin Studios in Syracuse. It had that sound. The main thing I noticed immediately was it was off balance.
The left side of the mix was much quieter, so I balanced it out as much as possible and, overall, just tried to clean it up a little. I think it came out really well, and it’s the best approach when dealing with a classic album people have heard thousands of times. No fundamental changes, just an update. Like getting the car washed.
When revisiting this album for its reissue, what kind of memories and feelings were brought up for you?
(John Chafin): Just how much fun we always had being in the van and travelling around. Being in the band opened my eyes to so many things and created this bond between us all that still exists to this day.
Making the album was probably the only stressful time for the band. Paul and I were rushing to finish the songs, and Steve Hart had moved and left the band. We got to the studio and were completely lost without Steve. I remember driving back to North Carolina after recording, thinking we'd blown it. I love the record now, and I hope that it still resonates with people because I feel like the message of earth, animal, and human liberation is still relevant.
Tell me a bit about how you came to be on the lineup for FYA and Hellfest.
(John Chafin): The FYA show was basically, they asked, and it all just aligned, and everyone said yes. That show was special because it was the only one we've done with Paul, Steve, Jonathan, and me.
The Hellfest show came about because I met Xavier from Upon Stone when they opened for Undying and Earth Crisis here in California. He liked DOS, and I liked his band, so after that, I sometimes ran into him at shows. A few months ago, I ran into him at Cradle of Filth, and he told me he was putting together a fest and asked us to play. DOS has never played the West Coast, and I'm excited it's finally happening.
Anything you wish you had achieved with the band?
(John Chafin): Not really. I don't think we ever thought of making a career out of the band or anything. It would've been cool to go to Europe and tour, but no one wanted to pay to get us there, and we didn't have the money.
I remember Steve and I talking about a second record and going full Neurosis with it. I think that idea would've been interesting. I just can't believe that almost 30 years have passed, and we're talking about a DOS reissue and show, it's just so awesome.
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The Eternal Jihad reissue is available on CD and cassette via Contraband and Bitter Melody Records. The vinyl version will be available soon.
Tagged: day of suffering
