Deceased - Biography
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1985-
Biography
Deceased was co-founded by multi-instrumentalist King Fowley, Doug Souther and Mark Adams in early 1985. Influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden, the band quickly became involved in an unknown world of even wilder, heavier, and more aggressive metal music known as "the underground".
This is how Mark "Chainsaw" Adams came to join the band. Deceased was hyped as a so-called band "faster than Slayer and Metallica" and "sicker than Venom". This, of course, was a lie. But the band members decided to go ahead and form as a legitimate band nonetheless, learning their instruments in the process.
Marcel Dosantos joined the band on drums, but left quickly after differing music tastes. That's when King took over the drumming duties, which resulted in Deceased being a more serious band, starting out with instrumental covers of classic metal songs. A bassist was finally recruited by the name of Rob Sterzel.
In the summer of '86 the band had nine songs ready to be recorded for their debut demo, The Evil Side Of Religion, improperly recorded by a friend with a portable eight-track studio for 20 bucks and some beer. The demo tape was given away for free, and some fans even sent the band cash for their efforts. After this promotional success, Deceased took steps to become more professional.
1987 started off strong - then disaster struck. King was forced to withdraw due to drug problems for the rest of the year. However, Deceased returned early the following year. King's mother helped with the purchase of his own first real drum set, which led to the first jam sessions with Doug and Mark in close to a year.
Then the nightmare returned. Rob was killed after being struck by a van - the driver fleeing the scene of a previous accident - along with 3 of his friends. The band pressed on, feeling it was what Rob would have wanted.
After performing for 400 people at a party for the first time in over a year, the band met their new bassist: Les. This led to the creation and release of another demo tape, entitled Birth By Radiation - recorded in a proper studio this time. Inner Ear Studios. The tape was released on Hallowe'en in 1988.
In April of '89 Deceased played their first club show ever. This led to more shows with more bands, headlining gigs, and even performing out of state.
Nuclear Exorcist was recorded a year later, again at Inner Ear Studios. The demo went on to sell very well (around 2,000 copies worldwide), leading to gigs with the likes of Morbid Angel and Immolation. 1990 rolled in with word of a various artist compilation record offer from none other than Relativity Records - but the band's material wasn't considered for the issue.
A long time pen-pal, Matt Jacobson, was starting a new record label and he wanted us as one of his very first acts. This record label became Relapse Records. In what was supposed to the be band's finest hour (preparing for their debut recording), Doug was fading away from the band.
Things went downhill from there. Doug Souther left the band in late 1990 after a slew of recording issues. But Mark called in another old friend from shows named Mike Smith to give it a go on guitar and somehow it all worked out great. It was the start of a new era for Deceased. Meanwhile, Relapse was getting their business in full stride, even relocating to Pennsylvania from Colorado to join up partners with Bill Yurkiewicz who was also trying to get a sincere yet professional record label going.
A 7" single was decided upon to give the record-buying market their first taste of Deceased. Gutwrench was the outcome: a three-track recording featuring the "Planet Graveyard" remix along with two live tracks. A small quantity repress was done after the first press sold out, to meet demands. The repress sold out just as fast. After the usual industry delays, Luck Of The Corpse - the band's debut - was finally released in early '92. It has sold around 20,000 copies to date.
The band immediately wanted to follow up the full-length with something, deciding on an EP of a few new songs and a couple old tracks. This project turned into The Thirteen Frightened Souls.
After some more touring, Deceased settled back down and started preparing for their next really important task, The Blueprints For Madness. In the summer of '94, the band returned to Inner Ear Studios with their best recording budget yet. The band spent years perfecting the sound of each song, hoping to impress even themselves.
After writing and recording The Blueprints For Madness in 1995, the band stepped away to gather their thoughts and figure out their strengths and weaknesses. After much reflection, and months of writing and rewriting material, The Silent Creature made its way into the band's discography in 1996. The recording took place in their friend Mike Bossier's Oblivion Studios. The band eventually gained widespread media coverage in the metal scene - including interviews.
With new ideas in place for a haunting, supernatural-themed release, the year-long writing process for Supernatural Addiction was under way. The band hit up Oblivion Studios in order to record some demo versions of the tracks, eventually working with producer Simon Efemy (Napalm Death, Paradise Lost) in order to complete the recording of the album - a process almost completely wasted as a result of a three-day storm. Nevertheless, the album saw the light of day in February, 2000. A short tour with label mates Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, and Origin followed - as well as various other gigs throughout the year.
With the success of their latest full-length, Relapse pressured the band into releasing new material. Since another full-length was out of the question, Deceased released another EP, entitled Behind The Mourner's Veil. Due to the nature of the release being rushed, the band members experienced some heated debates and disagreement. It was decided the EP would consist of a handful of cover songs in order to please the label with marketable material.
And that's where Deceased met their end with Relapse. After recording their EP in an extremely limited amount of time and a tight budget, they were left without a tour or merchandise of any sort to help promote the album.
With the help of Thrash Corner Records, Deceased were able to continue releasing new material in a timely fashion. As The Weird Travel On was released 4 years after their split with Relapse, followed up by an EP in 2007, and Surreal Overdose in 2011. Over the years the band released several compilation albums.
This is how Mark "Chainsaw" Adams came to join the band. Deceased was hyped as a so-called band "faster than Slayer and Metallica" and "sicker than Venom". This, of course, was a lie. But the band members decided to go ahead and form as a legitimate band nonetheless, learning their instruments in the process.
Marcel Dosantos joined the band on drums, but left quickly after differing music tastes. That's when King took over the drumming duties, which resulted in Deceased being a more serious band, starting out with instrumental covers of classic metal songs. A bassist was finally recruited by the name of Rob Sterzel.
In the summer of '86 the band had nine songs ready to be recorded for their debut demo, The Evil Side Of Religion, improperly recorded by a friend with a portable eight-track studio for 20 bucks and some beer. The demo tape was given away for free, and some fans even sent the band cash for their efforts. After this promotional success, Deceased took steps to become more professional.
1987 started off strong - then disaster struck. King was forced to withdraw due to drug problems for the rest of the year. However, Deceased returned early the following year. King's mother helped with the purchase of his own first real drum set, which led to the first jam sessions with Doug and Mark in close to a year.
Then the nightmare returned. Rob was killed after being struck by a van - the driver fleeing the scene of a previous accident - along with 3 of his friends. The band pressed on, feeling it was what Rob would have wanted.
After performing for 400 people at a party for the first time in over a year, the band met their new bassist: Les. This led to the creation and release of another demo tape, entitled Birth By Radiation - recorded in a proper studio this time. Inner Ear Studios. The tape was released on Hallowe'en in 1988.
In April of '89 Deceased played their first club show ever. This led to more shows with more bands, headlining gigs, and even performing out of state.
Nuclear Exorcist was recorded a year later, again at Inner Ear Studios. The demo went on to sell very well (around 2,000 copies worldwide), leading to gigs with the likes of Morbid Angel and Immolation. 1990 rolled in with word of a various artist compilation record offer from none other than Relativity Records - but the band's material wasn't considered for the issue.
A long time pen-pal, Matt Jacobson, was starting a new record label and he wanted us as one of his very first acts. This record label became Relapse Records. In what was supposed to the be band's finest hour (preparing for their debut recording), Doug was fading away from the band.
Things went downhill from there. Doug Souther left the band in late 1990 after a slew of recording issues. But Mark called in another old friend from shows named Mike Smith to give it a go on guitar and somehow it all worked out great. It was the start of a new era for Deceased. Meanwhile, Relapse was getting their business in full stride, even relocating to Pennsylvania from Colorado to join up partners with Bill Yurkiewicz who was also trying to get a sincere yet professional record label going.
A 7" single was decided upon to give the record-buying market their first taste of Deceased. Gutwrench was the outcome: a three-track recording featuring the "Planet Graveyard" remix along with two live tracks. A small quantity repress was done after the first press sold out, to meet demands. The repress sold out just as fast. After the usual industry delays, Luck Of The Corpse - the band's debut - was finally released in early '92. It has sold around 20,000 copies to date.
The band immediately wanted to follow up the full-length with something, deciding on an EP of a few new songs and a couple old tracks. This project turned into The Thirteen Frightened Souls.
After some more touring, Deceased settled back down and started preparing for their next really important task, The Blueprints For Madness. In the summer of '94, the band returned to Inner Ear Studios with their best recording budget yet. The band spent years perfecting the sound of each song, hoping to impress even themselves.
After writing and recording The Blueprints For Madness in 1995, the band stepped away to gather their thoughts and figure out their strengths and weaknesses. After much reflection, and months of writing and rewriting material, The Silent Creature made its way into the band's discography in 1996. The recording took place in their friend Mike Bossier's Oblivion Studios. The band eventually gained widespread media coverage in the metal scene - including interviews.
With new ideas in place for a haunting, supernatural-themed release, the year-long writing process for Supernatural Addiction was under way. The band hit up Oblivion Studios in order to record some demo versions of the tracks, eventually working with producer Simon Efemy (Napalm Death, Paradise Lost) in order to complete the recording of the album - a process almost completely wasted as a result of a three-day storm. Nevertheless, the album saw the light of day in February, 2000. A short tour with label mates Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, and Origin followed - as well as various other gigs throughout the year.
With the success of their latest full-length, Relapse pressured the band into releasing new material. Since another full-length was out of the question, Deceased released another EP, entitled Behind The Mourner's Veil. Due to the nature of the release being rushed, the band members experienced some heated debates and disagreement. It was decided the EP would consist of a handful of cover songs in order to please the label with marketable material.
And that's where Deceased met their end with Relapse. After recording their EP in an extremely limited amount of time and a tight budget, they were left without a tour or merchandise of any sort to help promote the album.
With the help of Thrash Corner Records, Deceased were able to continue releasing new material in a timely fashion. As The Weird Travel On was released 4 years after their split with Relapse, followed up by an EP in 2007, and Surreal Overdose in 2011. Over the years the band released several compilation albums.