Possessed

I

n 1983 Jeff Beccara (vocals/bass), Mike Tarrao (guitar), Larry Lalonde (guitar) and Mike Sus (drums) got together in San Francisco to become one of the Bay Area's earliest examples of thrash metal. Attracting the attention of 'Combat' after contributing a track to a 'Metal Blade' compilation, their debut Seven Churches' (1985) with its ultra-fast and satanic preoccupied lyrics gave them a loyal, if not large, cult following. The follow-up, Beyond The Gates (1986), was equally infernal. By now their live shows had swelled their fan base but after personal differences following the Joe Satriani produced follow-up The Eyes Of Horror (1987) EP, the group then split, with Lalonde going on to acclaim with Primus.

Shortly after the act's folding, Jeff Becerra and Mike Torrao recorded a new demo but Becerra was left paralyzed in a shooting accident soon after in 1989. In 1993 Torrao brought back the Possessed name, but it split again a couple of years later to reform in 2007 with a new lineup to record Shadowcult EP (2019) and Revelations of Oblivion (2019) featuring the membership of Jeff Becerra (vocals), Emilio Marquez (drums), Daniel Gonzalez (guitars), Robert Cardenas (bass/vocals (backing)) and Claudeous Creamer (guitars).