Disclaimer: Yes, the bear cubs on the cover were a deliberate move. Would you have said no to those faces? Didn’t think so.

If you’re into heavy music, you probably know Alex Terrible — the frontman of Slaughter to Prevail and one of the scariest (but weirdly wholesome) dudes in deathcore.

Amidst bare knuckle fights, adopting cubs, bear wrestling and preparing for a new album, Alex opened up about his childhood and gave us a little peek into how his upbringing lapidated his way of thinking in a recent interview with Rock Feed.

“Yeah, I stole my stepdad’s car when I was like nine, and I crashed it because I was escaping police.”

He went on to talk about growing up in Russia in the ’90s, a time when life was rough for just about everyone. He spent part of his youth in military school because his stepdad was in the military — and while he admits it was brutal, he now credits it for toughening him up and teaching him to handle himself.

“If you do something wrong or say something wrong, the society of the school will eat you. If you’re fake or hypocritical, they’ll eat you.”

Honestly, it makes a lot of sense when you think about the feral lyrics, no-BS behaviour and presence he’s known for on and off the stage today.

But let’s not pretend Alex’s name hasn’t been tangled in its fair share of drama. Between some questionable old tattoos and controversial videos that stirred up the pot — he’s had a great taste of the internet’s rage. Oh, and his tight friendship with Falling In Reverse’s frontman, Ronnie Radke, doesn’t exactly help with the “unproblematic fave” image, but definetly gives us bangers like “Ronald” (clearly unbiased).

That said, Alex has been pretty open about his past. He’s spoken out against the war in Ukraine, distanced himself from political subcultures, and is currently living his best Florida Man life while focusing on pushing deathcore into the mainstream.

So let’s see where Slaughter to Prevail’s upcoming album will take Alex Terrible to.

“Grizzly” is set to be released this July, and already features some huge names — including BABYMETAL and Ronnie Radke himself. Chaos is definitely coming, and I’m excited for it.

While we wait for the official release of Slaughter To Prevail’s album, check out its stacked setlist:

01. Banditos
02. Russian Grizzly In America
03. Imdead (feat. Ronnie Radke)
04. Babayka
05. Viking
06. Koschei
07. Song 3 (feat. BABYMETAL)
08. Lift That Shit
09. Behelit
10. Rodina
11. Conflict
12. Kid Of Darkness
13. 1984