Deceased (band)

Deceased (often written as DECEASED) is a death/thrash metal band from Virginia. Their music is built around horror themes, with vocalist and founder King Fowley delivering lyrics in a barked or narrated style. In 1991, they signed with Relapse Records, putting out four albums and several EPs before leaving the label in 2003.

The band was started in 1985 in Arlington, Virginia, by King Fowley and guitarist Doug Souther, who wanted to "out-thrash Slayer." After trying out different names and lineups, they settled on the name Deceased and a stable lineup in 1986: Fowley on drums and vocals, Mark Adams on guitar alongside Souther, and bassist Rob Sterzel. On March 3, 1988, Sterzel and a friend named Mike were killed in a hit-and-run. Les Snyder joined as bassist later that year. Souther left in 1991 and was replaced by Mike Smith. The core lineup of Fowley, Smith, Adams, and Snyder lasted over a decade and recorded many of the band’s most acclaimed works. In 2003, Dave "Scarface" Castillo took over drums, allowing Fowley to focus on frontman duties. Mark Adams left in 2007, replaced by Shane Fuegel. Mike Smith left the band entirely in 2006. Les Snyder moved to Texas in 2009 and typically plays only local shows.

After leaving Relapse, Deceased kept releasing material: *As the Weird Travel On* (2005, Thrash Corner Records), the vinyl-only live album *Blood Orgy in College Park – Stalking the Airwaves* (2010), and *Surreal Overdose* (2011) on their own Shrieks From the Hearse label with PATAC Records. The November 2012 issue of *Decibel* included a flexi-disc of a new track, "The Luck of the Corpse." A split 12-inch with Conceived By Hate, *The Figure of Uneasiness*, came out in fall 2014 on El Salvador’s Morbid Skull label, featuring four live-in-the-studio recordings. The album *Ghostly White* was released in 2018 through Hells Headbangers Records. Drummer David Castillo died of a heart attack in November 2018. The band continued with friend Amos Rifkin on drums, playing live throughout 2019 and releasing a tribute live recording of one of Castillo’s last shows, *Death Metal from the Dave*. In June 2020, they put out *Rotten to the Core Part 2 [the Nightmare Continues]*, a covers album of punk/hardcore songs on Malt Soda Records.