🎸Gus Rios Talks Cold Slither, G.I. Joe, Metal & the July 5 Album Drop | MikeOnMetal Interview #3

In this episode of MikeOnMetal, I sit down with legendary metal musician Gus Rios (Gruesome, Kill Division, Union Black and others) to talk about his latest project, Cold Slither. Inspired by Cobra and G.I. Joe, this band isn’t just a tribute to Saturday morning cartoons, it’s a full-blown metal concept album that fuses thrash, death metal, and old-school grit with an unexpected twist of nostalgia.

We get into:

• How Gus got involved with Cold Slither and what it was like becoming Zartan
• The creative process behind the self-titled Cold Slither album – G.I. Joe lore and how it shaped the band’s concept
• What fans can expect from the live show on July 24 at Brick by Brick in San Diego
• Why this album is a must-listen for both metal heads and G.I. Joe fans

📀 Cold Slither’s debut album drops July 5, 2025

🎟️ Live show: July 24, 2025 at Brick by Brick, San Diego, CA

Whether you’re a fan of Gus Rios’s drumming legacy or a child of the 80s who grew up on G.I. Joe, this interview dives into the best of both worlds — heavy metal and classic animation lore.

Interview Transcript:

Introduction

Mike: Hey metalheads, welcome back to another killer interview. This time I had the chance to chat with Gus Rios. You might know him from projects like Gruesome, Kill Division, or Union Black, but today we’re diving into something a little different – G.I. Joe, or more specifically, Cobra. By that I mean Cold Slither.

Yeah, we geek out on some G.I. Joe nostalgia, but we also dive into the Cold Slither project – what inspired the album, why Gus was the right guy for the job, and what you can expect from both the record and the upcoming live show. Cold Slither’s self-titled debut drops July 5th, and whether you’re into heavy metal, G.I. Joe, or you’re like me and you love both, you’re going to want to stick around for this one.

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G.I. Joe Nostalgia and Project Origins

Mike: So let’s hop into it then. So we’re talking about Cold Slither coming out July 25th – awesome album. Now I’m coming from a perspective of both a heavy metal fan and a G.I. Joe fan. I mean, I grew up with G.I. Joe and Cobra, and I mean, Cobra was my game, right? Like, all the other kids wanted to play with the good guys…

Gus: There we go, yeah, right!

Mike: They all wanted to play with the good guys. I wanted to be the villain. So this even hits a little harder for me. Like Zartan – the fact that his little character changed color, it was just such a cool thing at the time, right? So how did this all come together for you? Like, how did the project even get on kind of your radar as to something you could work with?

Gus: So I think like 20 years ago-ish, I was playing in a band called Malevolent Creation at the time, and we were signed to Nuclear Blast. And the label manager was Gerardo Martinez at the time, who now is, of course, the head of RPM. And I think the first time I met Gerardo – and I’ve told this story a few times recently, so it’s kind of jarred my memory – I think the first time I physically met him, he came to see Malevolent at one of the shows in LA, and he had a G.I. Joe shirt on. I was like, “Dude, I’m a Joe guy, you know? Like, I am like you. I’m 48, I grew up on the cartoons, collected all the toys, and as an adult, I mean, right now in my room, there’s an obscene amount of G.I. Joe toys everywhere. My wife is like, ‘I live with a fucking 12-year-old.'”

So, you know, we’re like big – and Gerardo’s the same way. Like, he’s a big, legit G.I. Joe fan. And so we just sort of created this friendship outside of the work relationship as just two dudes that… you know, like I remember when the Pursuit of Cobra line came out, we’d text each other: “Hey, did you find this guy? Did you find that guy?”

And I think like 10 years ago now, he had the idea to do Cold Slither. Like, this is his idea, you know? He’s a label guy, and he’s like, “I love G.I. Joe, they have a heavy metal band, I’m in the business of putting out heavy metal – this is just peanut butter and jelly.” But obviously it’s Hasbro’s IP – they have to sign off on it and be on board with it.

And I think I even went so far as to make a demo of the song called “Slither” all those years ago. But at the time, Hasbro had kind of just sort of put G.I. Joe on hiatus. There was no toys coming out, there was nothing. Thankfully, I mean, all of this is the catalyst for all of this was the success of the Classified series – you know, the current G.I. Joe toy offering, which are the six-inch scale figures. And those are, you know, embraced pretty universally by the fan base, myself included. I have a ton of Classified figures.

So last year – about a year ago, almost to the day – I was in the studio finishing up on the last day of me tracking drums for the Gruesome album. Gerardo sends me a text something to the effect of, “You need to call me right now.” And I’m like, “Hey man, I’m just finishing up these last couple of takes. I’ll call you in about an hour and a half, two hours maybe.”

So I call him back, and he’s like, “Are you sitting down?” And I’m like, “I have no idea where he’s going with this.” And he says, “I just got off the phone with Hasbro.” And I just knew. I was like, “Oh dude, come on.” He goes, “Cold Slither is happening.”

Mike: Nice.

Gus: And so, you know, at the time, being such a Joe fan, you just sort of are in disbelief. And I just started writing songs, and I made the demo of the song called “Slither.” I submitted that. I was like, “Hey, is this kind of what you’re hearing, what I’m hearing?” And when he okayed it and Hasbro okayed it, yeah, I just started writing what I… you know, and this is where, you know, everybody’s going to have their own versions of what this fictitious band would sound like. I’m just the guy that was tasked with what I thought that would be.

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Creative Process and Musical Direction

Mike: And I wanted to write an album that was heavy enough that metal fans would dig it, but also accessible enough that, you know, if you’re just a G.I. Joe Cold Slither fan but you don’t necessarily like metal, you’d also like it. Like, I didn’t want to alienate anybody. So obviously, I wasn’t going to make it sound like death metal or, you know, overly hair metal or overly thrash metal or anything. I just kind of wanted to write like, you know, good chunky heavy songs with catchy choruses and fun lyrics and all that stuff. So, you know, that’s just what kind of came out and what I thought this band should sound like to me.

Mike: And I mean, you had the first song, right? The first song was there in that episode of the animated series, so you had a little bit to go off of. And I think, honestly, as a complete album, listening to that song that they did for the cartoon and then what you produced for this album along with the rest of the songs, I think you nailed it. It’s such a good album from start to finish, right? And it tells a story almost. I feel like I got like a glimpse into Zartan’s life as well as the Dreadnoks and kind of what their story is just through the music. So like, even if I didn’t have that IP in the background, this tells a story that you can really follow. And I think we’re seeing your true talent on this, because if you did the writing and the songs and everything else, it’s just such a well-done album.

Gus: Thank you. I mean, sincerely, you know, for G.I. Joe being an IP that means quite so much to me, you know, it really mattered to me for this record to be good. And I think the other kind of thing that I definitely had in the forefront of my mind is, you know, I just wanted this record to be good. In other words, like, take G.I. Joe out of it – like, is this just good heavy metal/hard rock music?

And, you know, because I’ll admit, full disclosure, selfishly, I hope the record grows some legs and there’s a demand and I can go on tour with this, because I would just love to play Zartan every day, you know what I mean? It’s like a dream.

So, dude, I mean, look at this – this is the guitar that Dean sent me, and I put it Zartan green and then the green accents, you know? Like, I just want to play that guitar every day on tour.

So yeah, I’m hoping… you’re obviously my key demographic. Like, you listen to metal and you’re a Joe guy. Like, the fact that you dig it already is like, “Okay, cool, at least I feel like that demographic is done,” or, you know, on my side now. I just need to hopefully win over the maybe not-so-heavy metal fans that still love G.I. Joe, which I’m sure there’s plenty of them.

You know, that was kind of… I had all of these things going on at the same time in my head as I’m writing the songs. And also, this was an interesting process because I had to come up with all the song titles first and submit those for approval. Remember, all of this has to be okayed by Hasbro. So once they approved the titles, and then they actually gave me, I think, three titles that someone over there just kind of came up with, and then I wrote the lyrics based on the title. And then, to a certain degree, I think the music kind of came out of what the title was. Like, what does a “Thunder Machine”… you know, if I grab a guitar, what does “Thunder Machine” sound like as a song? And that’s… I just would write the riffs and then, you know, fit the lyrics of the song.

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Recording Process and Band Formation

Mike: So did you get to pick the other bandmates? Like, first let me start – actually, did you kind of write everything and then hire the band to work with what you wrote, or did you come up with the lyrics and then hire the band and kind of write the music and everything all together? Because I know you’re multi-talented, right? Like, you do vocals, bass, guitar, drums – you play it all.

Gus: Well, I think there lies why Gerardo kind of tapped me for it, because he knows that I can just kind of produce a whole record by myself. So yeah, I recorded the drums, I recorded the bass, I recorded the guitar, recorded the vocals. I knew early on I wanted to get Matt Harvey involved just because he’s my right-hand guy in everything else I do, and he’s like a bonafide, you know, comic book toy nerd like me. And he’s a great writer, and he wrote one song, and then I sort of, you know, edited it up, and then I took some of his other ideas and made another song out of it. So he helped write two of the songs.

But the, you know, the rest is just kind of… it was beneficial to Gerardo to just have one guy do everything, just because there’s less chefs in the kitchen. Every single one of us had to be vetted by Hasbro, so the less people involved with the making of this, the better, because it’s just less headache for Hasbro. And yeah, I could just record the whole thing and turn it in as a finished product, you know, just me by myself.

Mike: Nice.

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Vocal Styling and Character Development

Mike: Now you’ve got another project that I listened to before – it was actually over the last week here – Union Black, and you do vocals on that one as well. There’s a similarity there, but your vocal styling between Union Black and this album, there’s a clear difference in them. So were you kind of channeling Zartan? Like, was this… did you have to get into character to do the vocals on this?

Gus: Completely. It’s a good ear that you picked up on that. My thing with this record was obviously based on how the vocals were on the song called “Slither” and based on Zartan’s speaking voice. I based… you know, I always had that in mind when I was coming up with melodies, because like, what would Zartan sing like? He wasn’t going to go, you know, hair metal style. Like, he was just gonna… you know, and from the cartoon perspective, you know, these guys weren’t doing Cold Slither because they loved it. They were doing… you know, there’s a little bit of that… like, there’s even a line in the cartoon: “How long are we going to do this?” “Oh, until we’re paid,” you know? And it’s like, you know, these guys are just Dreadnoks or mercenaries, you know what I mean?

Like, I think… I was even thinking about it this morning. I think I’m going to like very blatantly have lyrics there because he’d be like, “I’m not going to remember all this crap,” you know what I mean? Because he’s Zartan. Like, there’s a lot of… there’s a lot of this in Zartan and the Dreadnoks in general, which is why I think the fact that the Dreadnoks were the ones that they tapped to become a metal band was just… I don’t know if it was just super brilliant and thought-out writing or just happenstance. But looking back now, I mean, it couldn’t have been like the troopers, because they’re really mindless, just idiots. But the Dreadnoks are full of personality and like just, you know, punk rock metal attitude, like, beyond just before they even were a band.

So yeah, a lot of that psychology went into writing the lyrics. You know, it’s funny, like looking back now, I guess I didn’t realize just how… every single song, especially after we had song… like there’s a song called “Ballad of Buzzer.” And when I went and I had to look up kind of his story, because it wasn’t really fleshed out in the cartoons at all, and it’s like, okay, so he was a Cambridge-trained… you know, he was like a Cambridge University professor, and he went to go study the Dreadnoks, lost his mind, and just decided to become one. Which, to me, said that was a guy that was devoid of any real substance inside of himself, and he just fell into this like cult almost. And so I just sort of wrote like the psychological profile of what the “Ballad of Buzzer” would be. So there’s some… there’s some depth to some of this stuff, actually.

Mike: It is, yeah, for sure, right? And the more you listen to it, the more you realize it, right? I mean, it’s also gotten me into going back and actually doing more research on the characters to find out where this stuff came from, because again, like you said, like the Cambridge being a professor, I had no idea, right? Watching the cartoons, I never knew that. You don’t get that background, so somebody had to flesh that out somewhere. But yeah, it’s a cool story, and the song fits. I mean, I love that song.

Gus: I think, like, just like with the Transformers, apparently, there’s, you know, the Bible on all the characters – like a book this thick. So there’s like all of these characters have backstories. And I looked up Torch’s backstory, and he was like off to the races when he was like 14 years old because he was in trouble with the law and became a sailor on a ship. And like, you know, I put all of that into these songs, man, you know? And from kind of like a real-world perspective, I try to be PC for Hasbro while still being kind of real-world gritty at the same time. Whether I achieve that or not, you know, we’ll see, but that was at least my goal.

Mike: I think you did. I really do. I think it’s a good cross-section, right? Because it’s not too… it could have went the other way, right? If we look at the movies and we look at kind of how G-rated the movies were, this doesn’t have that feel to it, right? You’ve stuck to the origins of G.I. Joe, but you’ve also produced just a killer heavy metal album. So I think you hit a good balance on it.

Gus: Thank you. I mean, really, I appreciate that. I think, you know, I also felt… I think Gerardo made it clear from early on that there would be a show, and I was like, “Well, I got to sing these songs live. Like, I can’t get on stage and just be stupid, you know what I mean? Like, I got to… there’s got to be some honesty in here somewhere.”

And, you know, the Dreadnoks, if you really kind of peel back, and if you… and in the comic books, man, they’re super brutal dudes. And so there’s an element of that within the song. And I’ve closely watched a lot of cartoons, you know, and they say some stuff in the cartoons that would certainly not be cool today, like, “I’m going to kill such and such,” or, you know, “You won’t live to see this.” So like, even in the cartoons, they hinted at death and murder. Like, “Someone’s going to die, and it’s going to be in my hand.” Like, even the cartoon went there. So I felt like, without like writing obviously like death metal lyrics… you know, murder and mayhem and destruction were going to be part of the lyrical content of this. It had to be. The Dreadnoks – how could it not, right? It fits their character.

Mike: Yep, yep, right, exactly.

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Live Performance and Costumes

Mike: So we’re talking about the upcoming shows. Are you going to be in full character? Like, are you and the Dreadnoks getting like costumes?

Gus: No yellow pants, red wig?

Mike: So you’re doing it up old school then, just like the episodes?

Gus: Well, I feel like from a fan’s perspective, if I’m going to see Cold Slither… like, if I was there as a fan, what would I want to see? Or what would let me down? And if it was anything short of that cartoon episode coming to life, I’d be disappointed.

So, you know, is it going to be a learning curve? Funny enough, like, I have all this stuff out because basically today or tomorrow, my goal is to start going to my studio and putting all this ridiculousness on and start running through the songs, because, you know, like even having hair and these crazy platform boots and all that stuff… like, dude, it’s not super easy to obviously just playing guitar and like this T-shirt, no hair, you know, just playing. This is a bit of a learning curve, so I’m going to get used to it before the stage.

Mike: Nice. Is there going to be any recording? Because I know it’s only one gig right now, so is there going to be like a live stream or any recording of this that it’s going to be played after the fact for those that can’t make it?

Gus: Yeah, I’m hearing talks of full, you know, camera crew recording, you know, full-on recorded live, which kind of brings me… you know, why I got the musicians I got in the band, because, you know, A) they’re my friends and I’ve known them for years, but B) they’re all decade-plus, you know, touring musicians. This is what they do. And the band is going to deliver live. Like, it’s going to sound killer.

Mike: Nice. Are they… any plans on destroying the set like happened on the episode?

Gus: You know, I don’t think… because I would imagine Brick by Brick at that point would be like, “Hey, Hasbro, you guys got to pay for some of this.” So yeah, I don’t want to make any real enemies from the get-go. There’s got to be some real-world limitation.

Mike: And no backmasking or subliminal messages on the album, right?

Gus: I don’t know, man. I’m just… you know, what’s interesting to think back at, you know, anybody that was around at that time, like, remember like that whole ’80s like satanic messages craze? Like, I think about it now, and for G.I. Joe to just go fully there, you know, was kind of ballsy. You know, I don’t think parents sat and watched the episodes with us, but I feel like if they would, they’d be like, “Oh my god, there’s subliminal messages in G.I. Joe.” There’s no way my parents would have bought as much G.I. Joe for me if they had watched the cartoons. I guarantee it.

But I mean, let’s face it, like Bugs Bunny was as violent, if not more so, than G.I. Joe was. So I mean, again, you know, like watching… I watched a bunch of episodes, particularly because the samples and the… in the songs, I had an idea of a bunch of them that I wanted, but, you know, I just started watching episodes to find like new ones or different ones. So I just started watching a bunch of the episodes, and I mean, there’s like, you know, punches and like, you know, stuff that you would never ever see today in a cartoon probably. So I was just like, “Yeah, yo Joe.”

Mike: So good, so good.

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Personal Connection and Future Plans

Mike: Well, Gus, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking me back to my childhood with this album. I mean, I can’t tell you how much it means to me. I hope it has the reception that you’re looking for. I really do. It’s such a strong album, and I really look forward to seeing and hearing more about Cold Slither.

Gus: Man, you know, I’m super glad you like the record. You know, one thing that I would like for Joe fans in general to know is like, you know, G.I. Joe meant a great deal to me as a kid. Like, I wrote an article for Decibel Magazine about what this really meant to me as a kid. It’s called “The Toys That Saved Me.” So like, G.I. Joe carries a sincere place in my heart.

You know, this record came from a real genuine place. I think a lot of people today are super skeptical, and they think, you know, “Hasbro, big billion-dollar corporation, just hired anybody to just shit out this record.” No, man. They… you know, Gerardo at RPM is a bonafide G.I. Joe lover and collector. He tapped me because I could record all of it, but he also knew it would mean a lot to me. Like, I wouldn’t just write whatever and be like, “It’s good enough.” Like, it was… you know, there was… it was never good enough. Like, even now, I’m just like, “Please let people like this. I hope people like this.”

So it means a lot for me, honestly, to hear that you genuinely like the record. So thank you for that.

Mike: Hey, anytime. Now, one last question, and I’ll let you go. I don’t know if you can reveal it or if there’s been talks of it – is there going to be a second album?

Gus: You know, everybody’s asked this question. My honest answer is I really hope so, and it is completely up… kind of up to me. If I wrote a good enough record that it grows its own two feet and starts to… it starts to sell on its own and people are like, “Hey, we really like Cold Slither the band, not just the cartoon IP, but the band,” then, you know, the demand will arise and they’ll ask me to do another record.

So I… it really is in the hands of the people, and it all depends if I wrote good enough music. So I hope so, man. I would be… if Cold Slither could turn into like a real like band for me, I mean, I might as well win the lottery. Like, it’s amazing. So, you know, it’s like, I guess I’m Zartan. Come on, dude, like that’s nuts.

Mike: Yep, that’s amazing. Like, it’s funny, like a buddy of mine came to one of my gigs because locally here at home, when I’m not on tour, I play guitar and sing like covers or whatever, came to one of my gigs, and he had got the new Zartan Cold Slither figure, and he’s like, “I want you to sign this.” And I was just like, “Huh?” And he’s like, “You’re Zartan, dude. You got to sign this.” And I was just like, it kind of hit me. I was like, “Holy shit, I guess I sort of am Zartan now,” which is just mind-blowing. I got this tattoo probably like seven, eight years ago, you know, and now I’m like living…

Mike: Yeah, destiny.

Gus: Yeah, that’s so awesome. I love this for you, right? I mean, knowing that you’re that kind of a Joe fan, I love it for you, too.

Gus: I mean, I’m just grateful to be here. Legitimately, I’m just grateful.

Mike: That’s awesome.

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Closing

Mike: All right, Gus. That’s all I got for you today. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. I can’t wait for the launch date, can’t wait for the show. I hope this gets the reception with everybody that I have for it, because it’s just such an… I mean, I’ve played it literally a dozen times since I got the release for it.

Gus: Wow, thank you, man. Thank you so much. Love going back to it. So, you know, it’s funny, the song “Torch” is kind of inspired by… you probably picked that because that’s like my Metallica song on the record.

Mike: Nice. That’s awesome. All right, Gus. All right, Mike, thanks a lot, man. Appreciate it. I’ll let you go. Have a great rest of your day.

Gus: You too, man.

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Outro

Mike: That’s it for this one, metalheads – my conversation with Gus Rios, aka Zartan of Cold Slither. I hope you enjoyed the chat and are as hyped for the album as I am. Cold Slither lands July 5th, and if you’re lucky enough to be near San Diego, their only announced live show is going down July 24th at Brick by Brick. Personally, I hope this record gets the love it deserves and sparks a full-on tour, because this one has serious potential to hit home for fans on both sides of the fence.

As always, support your local scene, buy the damn album, and stay heavy.