Obituary is an American death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1984. They were one of the fundamental acts in the development of death metal music, and are one of the genre's most successful bands of all time. Obituary has released eleven studio albums, and with the exception of a six-year hiatus from 1997 to 2003, they continue to perform live.
Death was an American death metal band formed in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in 1984 by guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, drummer/vocalist Kam Lee and guitarist Rick Rozz. Death is considered to be among the most influential bands in heavy metal music and a pioneering force in death metal. The band's 1987 debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been widely regarded as one of the first death metal records, alongside the first records from Possessed and Necrophagia.
Charles Michael Schuldiner was an American musician. He founded the pioneering death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only continuous member until his death in 2001. His obituary in the January 5, 2002, issue of Kerrang! described him as "one of the most significant figures in the history of metal." Schuldiner was ranked No. 10 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists in 2009 and No. 20 in March 2004 Guitar World's "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists". In 1987, Schuldiner founded the publishing company Mutilation Music, affiliated with performance rights organization BMI. Schuldiner died in 2001 of a brain tumor.
Six Feet Under is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed in 1993. The band consists of five members: founding vocalist Chris Barnes, guitarists Ray Suhy and Jack Owen, bassist Jeff Hughell and drummer Marco Pitruzzella. It was originally a side project formed by Barnes with guitarist Allen West of Obituary, but became a full-time commitment after Barnes was dismissed from Cannibal Corpse in 1995. Six Feet Under has released 13 albums, and is listed by Nielsen Soundscan as the fourth-best-selling death metal act in the U.S.
Shane Thomas Embury is a British musician, who is widely known as bassist and primary songwriter of the grindcore and death metal band Napalm Death since 1987—the longest-serving member of the band.
Scream Bloody Gore is the debut studio album by American death metal band Death, released on May 25, 1987, by Combat Records. It is considered by many to be "the first true death metal record". Chuck Schuldiner, the band’s founder and leader, performed guitar, bass and vocals, and composed all tracks on the album.
Leprosy is the second studio album by American death metal band Death, released on August 12, 1988, by Combat Records. The album is notable in its different tone and quality from the band's 1987 debut, it is the first example of Scott Burns' work heard on many of the death metal and grindcore albums of that era. The cover is featured in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. It is the first album to feature drummer Bill Andrews and the only one to feature guitarist Rick Rozz.
Spiritual Healing is the third studio album by American death metal band Death, released on February 16, 1990, by Combat Records. It is the band's only album to feature both guitarist James Murphy and bassist Terry Butler and the last to feature drummer Bill Andrews.
Human is the fourth studio album by American death metal band Death, released on October 22, 1991, by Relativity Records. The album marked the beginning of a major stylistic change for Death, being more technically complex and progressive than the band's previous efforts. The lyrics are more introspective when compared to the gore-based lyrics of Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy or the social commentary on Spiritual Healing. This new style would continue to evolve on all following Death albums. This is the only album to feature Cynic members Paul Masvidal on guitars and Sean Reinert on drums, both 20 at the time, and the first to feature bassist Steve DiGiorgio.
Deron John Miller is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Other bands Miller fronts include the progressive metal band Foreign Objects, the melodic death metal band World Under Blood, the death metal band Malevolent Creation, and the alternative metal band 96 Bitter Beings.
Barney Kamalani "Kam" Lee is an American death metal vocalist. He is best known for his vocal contributions to an early incarnation of Death from 1983 to 1984, and later joined Massacre in 1985.
Massacre is an American death metal band. They were formed in 1984 by Allen West, Bill Andrews, and Mike Borders, soon after vocalist Kam Lee joined. The band has reunited several times with varying line-ups, most recently in late 2016.
Steve Swanson is the former lead guitarist for the death metal band Six Feet Under. He took over guitar duties from Allen West, who left the band in late 1997. Before Swanson joined in February 1998, he was in Massacre with Terry Butler on bass.
Greg Gall is a drummer, formerly with the death metal band, Six Feet Under. He does not play the classic death metal style of drumming. He uses more of a traditional drum approach, but with the addition of speed, and has very quick feet on the double bass pedals.
Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. Despite never achieving commercial success, the band is often credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-lence – as one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and they have gone through several lineup changes, leaving guitarist Lee Altus as the only constant member. To date, Heathen has released four studio albums: Breaking the Silence (1987), Victims of Deception (1991), The Evolution of Chaos (2009) and Empire of the Blind (2020).
From Beyond is the debut studio album by American death metal band Massacre, released in 1991 on Earache Records. The album was re-released with a different cover and the Inhuman Condition EP as bonus tracks.
Inked in Blood is the ninth studio album by American death metal band Obituary. It was crowdfunded via Kickstarter and then released on October 28, 2014 through Gibtown Music/Relapse Records. It is the first studio album with bassist Terry Butler and lead guitarist Kenny Andrews, making this the first Obituary album not to feature Frank Watkins on bass since 1989's Slowly We Rot. A deluxe edition of the album was also released containing two bonus tracks. It is their first album to appear on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 5,200 copies in its first week and peaking at 75.
Florida death metal is a regional scene and stylistic subdivision of death metal. Some of the most significantly pioneering and best-selling death metal acts emerged in Florida, especially in the Tampa Bay area. As a result, Tampa is unofficially known by many death metal fans as the "capital of death metal." The scene coalesced in the mid-1980s through early 1990s around the output of bands such as Death, Nasty Savage, Deicide, Monstrosity, Morbid Angel, Atheist, Obituary, and others. The producer Scott Burns and the studio Morrisound Recording were also instrumental in developing and popularizing the Florida scene. Some bands which originated outside of Florida, such as Malevolent Creation and Cannibal Corpse, relocated to the state in order to participate in this burgeoning scene. The Florida bands featured a more technical approach to the evolving death metal sound, a style which spread beyond the confines of the state, and some were instrumental in creating the progressive death metal subgenre. The death metal genre as a whole, including the Florida scene, declined in popularity in the second half of the 1990s, but many bands within the Florida scene persisted and the scene resurged in popularity in subsequent decades.
Jeramie Kling is an American drummer, recording engineer, producer, and live sound engineer for the metal bands The Absence and Venom Inc. He is also a member of Ribspreader (drums), Goregäng, and Metal Blade act Necromancing the Stone. Kling was a member of death metal band Massacre from 2019 to 2020. In 2021, he formed the band Inhuman Condition with Massacre and Obituary bassist Terry Butler (ex-Death) and Taylor Nordberg.
