Possessed

Possessed is an American thrash/death metal band formed in 1983 in California’s Bay Area, a traditional general quarters of Thrash Metal bands (see: Slayer, Metallica, Exodus, Testament, etc.) and disbanded in the early 1990s. It was one of the forerunners of Death Metal bands with Death and Morbid Angel, both from Florida.

History
Formed in the 1980s, more precisely in 1983, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. It can be considered one of the pioneering bands of Death Metal; the band even has a song named “Death Metal” (on the album “Seven Churches”).

It started with Mike Torrao (guitar) and Mike Sus (drums) as a garage band. Also, in 1983, singer Barry Fisk sadly committed suicide. Then Jeff Becerra (bassist/vocalist) came along to form Possessed. Jeff came from a local metal band with more commercial appeal called Blizzard. From the same band would come guitarist Larry LaLonde and manager Debbie Abono. They recorded their first album (on vinyl) in 1985, under the name “Seven Churches”, considered a great Death Metal classic and one of the first, if not the first, album of its kind. Guitarist Larry LaLonde left Possessed to join the band Primus, where he had relative success.

The band had on their lyrics themes such as satanism, antichrist, occultism, and hell, among other subjects. Very similar to Black Metal bands. In 1993, the band broke up.

In 2004, the legendary short-lived Death Metal band got a well-deserved tribute (Sevens Gates of Horror: A Tribute to Possessed) by Dutch label Karmageddon Media, including the participation of Jeff Becerra, who had been the band’s leader, vocalist and bassist. The tribute had heavy names like Cannibal Corpse (“Confessions”), Vader (“Death Metal”), and Amon Amarth (“The Eyes of Terror”), among others.

Studio Albums
Seven Churches (Combat Records, 1985)
Beyond the Gates (Combat Records, 1986)
Revelations of Oblivion (2019)

EP

The Eyes of Horror (Combat Records, 1987)
Shadowcult (2019)