July 11th, 2007

Demo Download: POSSESSED’s 1984 Death Metal

Posted in Classic Demos, Downloads, MP3s

Possessed

Possessed Logo

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.

Right-click the song names below to download each track.

“Death Metal”
“Evil Warriors”
“Burning In Hell”
“Fallen Angel”

Months before Seven Churches hit the stores, cassettes of Death Metal had been spreading throughout the extreme metal community. While the tape typically traded contained four tracks: 1) “Death Metal,” 2) “Evil Warriors,” 3) “Burning in Hell” and 4) “Fallen Angel,” the original self-produced demo did not contain “Fallen Angel.” “Fallen Angel” was reportedly recorded during the Death Metal session, but did not make the official demo, because it was banged out quickly at the end of the recording session. But, through the tape-trading process, “Fallen Angel” became tacked on to the end of Death Metal.

Possessed
Torrao, Becerra, Lalonde and Sus

While the classic Possessed lineup is universally considered to be bassist/vocalist Jeff Becerra, guitarist Larry Lalonde (who went on to gain notoriety as a member of Primus), guitarist Mike Torrao and drummer Mike Sus, the lineup for the Death Metal demo was Beccera, Torrao, Sus and guitarist Brian Montana.

After Seven Churches, Possessed released another full-length studio album, 1986’s Beyond the Gates, and an EP the following year called The Eyes of Horror (produced by Joe Satriani, oddly enough). The group disbanded soon after, and in 1989 singer Jeff Becerra was shot while being robbed on his way home and left paralyzed from the waist down. Although confined to a wheelchair, Becerra is still planning to appear onstage with a reunited Possessed at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, on August 2-4.

For more info on Possessed, check out myspace.com/jeffbecerra and myspace.com/666possessed.



31 Responses to ' Demo Download: POSSESSED’s 1984 Death Metal '

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  1. CamelSpider said,
    on July 11th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    These mp3’s are sweet. Jeff, try to see if you can get more extreme metal mp3’s up on this site. Thanks a ton!

  2. Luke said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 1:47 am

    POSSESSED!!! TRUE DEATH METAL

  3. cantu_72@hotmail.com said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 7:48 am

    now this is the shit baddass all you other s recognize!

  4. STRANGER AEONS Magazine... said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 9:18 am

    [...] POSSESSED: 1984 ‘Death Metal’ Demo Available For Download POSSESSED’s classic 1984 “Death Metal” demo has been made available for download at MetalKult.com. [...]

  5. “Sounds Kinda Satanic” « Bang! Bang! said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 9:45 am

    [...] POSSESSED * “Death Metal” demo 1984 (w/bonus track) [LINK] [...]

  6. MaDThrasheR said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 12:29 pm

    Fuck yes! One of the first Death Metal bands to come out! Get DEATH’s old demos up!

  7. Big Bad Wolf said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 1:53 pm

    I remember listening to possessed for the very first time, it was Seven Churches’ “The Exorcist”. To say I was blown away is an understatement.
    A real shame they disbanded.
    I enjoy Larry LaLonde’s work in Primus, too. Very different, but very sick also. (Yeah, I know Primus is not metal, but who cares)

  8. David110869 said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    POSSESSED rules !!!
    I hope that in Wacken, they’ll do a excellent show!!

  9. adas said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

    fuck

  10. Serch & Destroy » Posesión Clásica said,
    on July 12th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

    [...] Gracias al blog Metalkult, el primer demo de 1984 de Possessed, puede bajarse gratuitamente en esta ubicación. [...]

  11. Way Too Loud! > Possessed Have 1984 Demo Posted Online For Download said,
    on July 13th, 2007 at 8:22 am

    [...] Possessed have had the songs from their 1984 demo, “Death Metal”, posted online for download at MetalKult.com. [...]

  12. sinisterfukk said,
    on July 15th, 2007 at 4:50 am

    this is what musik is all about, You can either like it or hate it but you can never ignore it…..DEATH FUKKING METAL

  13. satanic said,
    on July 17th, 2007 at 3:11 am

    thx for this!!! a .flac version of this demo is available ???

  14. Demetrio said,
    on July 17th, 2007 at 7:48 pm

    SON LOS PADRES DEL METAL / DEATH FUKKING METAL/ THANKS

  15. Darkstalker_XIII said,
    on July 17th, 2007 at 7:58 pm

    Hey, you fucking guys rule, can’t wait to see you mother fuckers live, i’m really looking forward to your L.A. gig. Wish you the best of luck.

    Keep it loud, keep it brutal…. keep it METAL.

  16. gerhard metal said,
    on July 18th, 2007 at 12:20 pm

    Fuck hell yeah!POSSESSED will rule forever!Jeff,show the young where the true death metal hammer falls!See u in Wacken.

  17. Nailz said,
    on July 18th, 2007 at 8:30 pm

    Cool! shit

  18. Chris Aubert said,
    on July 21st, 2007 at 2:46 am

    This one rules!! And will forever do so!!

    Chris Aubert
    Ripping Headaches ‘zine (rip)

  19. Marc. said,
    on July 21st, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    Hello again Metal Kult! First I loved to check out your great CELTIC FROST interview and now you even have some great files of POSSESSED! Thanx for it! This is pure metal history and great contribution to the metal scene in general to show up these pieces and give an imagination how it all started. Those where the chaotoc sounds of the past that created such a great scene as it is today. Cool! And hey, POSSESSED are back for a short play at the Wacken festival this year (2007)! http://www.wacken.com Wacken Open Air Festival in the north of Germany really has POSSESSED on the list!

  20. A.O.D. said,
    on August 2nd, 2007 at 8:50 am

    Hell awaits !!!
    Here is a true Deathmetal maniac from germany !!!
    Thank you very much for the POSSESSED demo in very good quality !!! I´ve never heard that shit with this brilliant sound !!!
    One thing: on the first track (”Death Metal”) is a small sound error on the last verse (for a few seconds the high frequencies and the hiss are reduced, but it comes in again on the refrain…). I am a perfectionist so I ask you if you have a “normal” version for download of the track (without the partly denoised verse). Would be killer to complete my POSSESSED rarities collection !!!

  21. MurderSoul said,
    on August 19th, 2007 at 9:22 am

    Awesome! We need more stuff like this.

  22. JEFF BECERRA said,
    on September 7th, 2007 at 9:06 pm

    HEY BROTHERS/SISTERS!!
    THANKS FOR THE COOL-ASS WORDS~!~ STAY BRUTAL!!

    ~JEFF BECERRA~

  23. jai said,
    on September 17th, 2007 at 9:32 pm

    Thanks for the demo.Possessed was the true death metal.I love 80’s death metal.

  24. jOE said,
    on October 2nd, 2007 at 11:36 pm

    Jeff………can you post the possessed 1984 demo cover for download?

    That would be great !!!

  25. Art said,
    on October 14th, 2007 at 6:50 am

    Jeff - thanks for being in Wacken ! I was not there, but I watched some parts of your concert on YouTube. Well done. It is good to listen again to Possessed - songs in live performance. And what you guys did on “Seven Churches” is even nowadays astonishing. It ts still my favourit metal album ever.

    I wish you and your family all the best and good luck !

    Greetings from the Netherlands !

  26. rogerio"possessed"chaves said,
    on December 11th, 2007 at 10:49 am

    fudido´this is fuck !!!
    the real metal !!!!

  27. randy said,
    on December 27th, 2007 at 11:14 am

    thanks for this rare metal classic…

    metal rulz!!!!!

  28. Robot said,
    on December 30th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

    Thanks for posting these tracks. I have not heard these for about 15 years!! As I keep digging further and further on this site, I am amazed of the content. I am still amazed and happy that younger generations are interested in the important bands of this era. Great work

  29. The origins of death metal? - Page 2 - Ultimate Metal Forum said,
    on January 28th, 2008 at 3:22 am

    [...] much credit as a death metal progenitor. By the way, you can stream Possessed’s Death Metal demo Here. The quality is pretty good and everything. __________________ LivingForMetal<—– Metal [...]

  30. Search & Destroy | Possessed en México said,
    on February 13th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

    [...] Gracias al blog Metalkult, el primer demo de 1984 de Possessed, puede bajarse gratuitamente en esta ubicación. [...]

  31. Juanp said,
    on February 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am

    you guys know that Jeff is reformed Possessed with the members of Sadistic Intent!

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