Originally part of the road crew for fellow countrymen Celtic Frost, Swiss thrash trio Coroner—made up of bassist Ron Royce, drummer Marquis Marky and guitarist Tommy T. Baron—went on to become one of the most progressive extreme metal acts of the Eighties.

The connection between the Zurich band and Celtic Frost was so strong, in fact, that Frost frontman Tom G. Warrior offered to handle vocals for the emerging band’s demo. Warrior and Coroner entered Switzerland’s Magnetix studio on October 10, 1985, and nine days later they walked out with the impressive four-song 1986 release, Death Cult.

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In 1985, San Francisco’s Possessed released their now-legendary death metal debut Seven Churches.

Not only did Seven Churches‘ blend of thrash riffs, grunting vocals and blistering leads send shockwaves of excitement throughout the underground tape-trading scene of the day, but the album’s final track, “Death Metal”—and Possessed’s 1984 demo of the same name—just may have given an official name to the genre that had already spawned such American bands as Death, Morbid Angel and Master.

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