The County Medical Examiners

Lore & Background

The County Medical Examiners were formed in 2001. The original lineup consisted of Dr. Morton Fairbanks on guitar/vocals, Dr. Jack Putnam on drums/vocals, and Michelle Hayes on bass/vocals. Hayes was first exposed to the band when, as part of her probation due to a DUI charge, she toured the morgue where Dr. Fairbanks worked. Soon after, they recorded the EP Fetid Putrescent Whiffs, which saw limited release. The band recorded their debut full-length for Razorback Records, Forensic Fugues and Medicolegal Medleys. Not long after the album's release, Hayes left to devote her time to medical school and was replaced by Dr. Guy Radcliffe, who is reportedly around 60 years of age. The current lineup went on to record a split LP, an EP, and a second full-length album, Olidous Operettas.

TCME released their Relapse Records debut, Olidous Operettas, in January 2007. The CD took more than a year and a half to write and record since all three band members live in different states. Dr. Fairbanks described the effort as 'somewhere between Symphonies of Sickness and Necroticism-era Carcass' and 'not something you would want to put on before church.' The disc was a scented-face CD, meaning it was scratch-and-sniff-able and smelled like rotten meat. For a while, the identity of the band members was shrouded in mystery, as they used pseudonyms to avoid the wrath of hospital administration and fan attention.

Reader's Guide

The County Medical Examiners occupy a unique niche in extreme metal as a goregrind band whose members are all medical doctors or medical students, a fact reflected in their name and lyrical themes. Their refusal to perform live shows and their use of pseudonyms to protect their medical careers added an air of mystery. The band's significance lies in their deliberate, almost parodic homage to early Carcass, pushing the goregrind style to an extreme while incorporating doom metal elements. Their 2007 album Olidous Operettas is notable for its scratch-and-sniff packaging that smelled like rotten meat, a gimmick that underscored their commitment to visceral, grotesque aesthetics. The revelation that the band was a side project of Exhumed's Matt Widener, intended as an experiment to take the Carcass clone phenomenon to its logical extreme, further cements their legacy as a conceptual project rather than a conventional band. Their discography, though small, is a cult curiosity within underground metal.

Did You Know?

• The band's CD Olidous Operettas was a scented-face CD that smelled like rotten meat.
• All current members have graduated with an MD or are currently taking medical school classes.
• The band does no live shows at all.