Possessed
| Possessed | |
|---|---|
 Possessed at Wacken Open Air 2017 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | San Francisco , United States |
| Genre (s) | Death metal |
| founding | 1983, 1990, 2007 |
| resolution | 1987, 1993 |
| Current occupation | |
| Jeff Becerra (1983–1987, from 2007) | |
| Ernesto Bueno (from 2007) | |
guitar |
Rick Cortez (from 2007) |
| Bay Cortez (from 2007) | |
| Emilio Marquez (2007-2008, from 2008) | |
| former members | |
singing |
Barry Fisk † (1983) |
Guitar, vocals |
Mike Torrao (1983-1987, 1990-1993) |
guitar |
Brian Montana (1983-1984) |
guitar |
Larry LaLonde (1984-1987) |
guitar |
Duane Connley (1990) |
guitar |
Dave Alex Couch (1990-1991) |
guitar |
Mark Strausberg (1991-1993) |
guitar |
Mike Hollman (1993) |
Drums |
Mike Sus (1983-1987) |
Drums |
Colin Carmichael (1990) |
Drums |
Chris Stolle (1990-1991) |
Drums |
Walter Ryan (1991-1993) |
Drums |
Vanik Vartanian (2008) |
bass |
Geoff Andrews (1983) |
Bass, vocals |
Jeff Becerra (1983-1987) |
bass |
Bob Yost (1990-1992) |
bass |
Paul Perry (1992-1993) |
Possessed ( English : "possessed") is one of the first death metal bands. The band is based in San Francisco , USA . The term "Death Metal" is most likely derived from the Death Metal demo cassette that was recorded in 1984.
history
The band was formed in 1983. At the beginning they played Thrash Metal , which was influenced by bands like Exodus , Motörhead or Venom . The 1985 debut album Seven Churches is generally considered to be the first death metal release, especially since one of the songs on the album is called that. At the beginning, the assignment of the band to a certain genre was not very clear: In the beginning, Possessed was incorrectly referred to as a hardcore band in rock-hard magazine . Seven Churches is a milestone in the genre to this day because of its good production and incisive guitar playing. In addition, Possessed managed to attract everyone's attention with a radical-looking image: The cover of the LP was only adorned with the band logo, consisting of Gothic font with flames and an upside-down cross. On the back of the cover you could see the members of the band smeared with (artificial) blood and posing with upturned crosses on which flames were partially copied afterwards. The band originally wanted to use real pig blood, but were thought to be insane and ended up using corn syrup and red food coloring instead of real blood.
Death's debut album Scream Bloody Gore was compared to Possessed, while Seven Churches was also seen as influenced by the Death demos. Becerra wrote in an interview with the Tales of the Macabre : “Chuck was just as inspired by me as I was by him. We are inspired by Motörhead and Exodus at first, but then it was free for all. We're just trying to make music. "
The significantly worse production of the successor Beyond the Gates , released a year later , for which The Rods drummer Carl Canedy was responsible, marked the beginning of the band's rapid decline from the top division of Death Metal, in which bands like Death, Morbid Angel or Obituary took over the lead.
From 1986 Larry LaLonde took guitar lessons from Joe Satriani . The result could then be heard on the EP The Eyes of Horror , which was also produced by Satriani. In June 1987 the band separated. Three years later, Jeff Becerra was shot and killed in an armed robbery on the street. a. Hit in the left chest, one of the bullets got stuck in the spine and caused paraplegia. Becerra then withdrew from musical life, studied law and social sciences and started a family. In 1990 Mike Torrao tried to bring the band back to life with a new line-up, but without being able to continue the success of the past few years. 1993 Possessed broke up in this line-up. Mike Torrao then founded the band Iconoklast , but also disbanded this band before the turn of the millennium.
When Fenriz, drummer for the band Darkthrone , put together the sampler Fenriz Presents… The Best of Old-School Black Metal , which featured prominent artists from the first and second waves of Black Metal , he wanted to include Possessed. LaLonde, however, declined to contribute a piece of his band.
In 2003 the band Sadistic Intent persuaded Jeff Becerra, who was leading his new band Side Effect at the time , to take part as a guest singer on the cover version of the song The Exorcist , which was published on the tribute album Seven Gates of Horror - A Tribute to Possessed . In 2007 Becerra decided to revive Possessed together with the musicians from Sadistic Intent after the Polish record label Immortal Records offered the band a new sign-up. A performance at Wacken Open Air should herald the comeback. It was Becerra's first appearance since his gunshot wound 17 years ago. In May 2017 the band signed a contract with Nuclear Blast . Her new album Revelations of Oblivion was released on May 10, 2019 .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 CH
|
|||
| 1985 |
Seven Churches Combat Records |
- | - |
First published: October 16, 1985
|
| 1986 | Beyond the Gates Combat Records |
- | - |
First published: October 31, 1986
|
| 2019 | Revelations of Oblivion Nuclear Blast |
DE12 (3 weeks) DE |
CH57 (1 week) CH |
First published: May 10, 2019
|
compilation
- 1992: Victims of Death: The Best of Possessed
Live album
- 2004: Agony in Paradise
Video album
- 2006: Possessed by Evil Hell
EPs
- 1987: The Eyes of Horror
- 2003: Fallen Angels
- 2003: Resurrection ( Split with Side Effect )
- 2006: Ashes From Hell
Demos
- 1984: Death Metal
- 1985: demo
- 1985: Pre-production
- 1985: Seven Churches
- 1991: demo
- 1992: Demo II
- 1993: demo
Web links
- Possessed at Discogs (English)
- Official homepage of Possessed
- Chart sources: DE / CH
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jugendszenen.com ( Memento of the original dated November 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e Possessed . In: Tales of the Macabre , No. 6, pp. 4f.
- ↑ Rock-Hard-Record Review for Seven Churches , Rock Hard , accessed on November 20, 2013 (German).
- ↑ Interview with Fenriz
- ↑ POSSESSED - the Death Metal forefathers sign with Nuclear Blast! Nuclear Blast , accessed December 1, 2017 .
- ↑ POSSESSED To Release Revelations Of Oblivion Album In May; Artwork, "No More Room In Hell" Visualizer Streaming. Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles , accessed April 9, 2019 .
