Old death metal dudes never go away for good. They just do one (or all) of the following: reform; work on a reissue of their out-of-print material; write new songs or join a new Six Feet Under or Malevolent Creation lineup.
For Portland death metal OG’s Dead Conspiracy it’s three out of four. They’ll reissue all of the 1980s material (some of it lost) on vinyl along with a new song “Rites of The Ululatas.” Decibel is happy to stream the resulting album Abomination Underground below; preorder it here.
After the stream, study up on the history of this early West Coast death metal band with guitarist Chris Carey (previously of Poison Idea) and learn what’s next.
Can you give a brief history of the band for those who aren’t familiar with you?
The five of us got together in the summer of 1987. We all cut our teeth on bands like Sodom, Death, Hellhammer as well as Poison Idea, Final Warning, English Dogs. We were all playing in punk bands before we met, wrote and recorded the five songs you hear on the Dead Conspiracy 1987 demo. Portland, Oregon (and Death Metal?) was never the same!
When did you decide to reissue this material?
We recorded three new tunes in 2013 and were insanely proud of them. They were released on a limited edition CD EP but we just weren’t feelin’ it in terms of format. We knew we wanted to hear these songs on vinyl and quickly realized that this would be the best time to release the 1987 demo in the way we have always wanted it to be heard. We had written “Rites of the Ululatus.” Since we were already heading back into the studio to record a track for an upcoming Brazilian tribute album for the South American underground legends Headhunter Death Cult, we laid down the new track and started mastering both the new and old tracks for vinyl.
Was it even possible to get your 80s work before this album?
In 2006, Don of Nunslaughter brought Hells Headbangers Records the idea of releasing the Dead Conspiracy demo material for the first time on CD. They did an amazing job on the release but unfortunately the original recordings were lost at that time. In 2013, we found a master copy in a box at one of our parent’s houses, had it mastered for vinyl and there you go.
What was the metal scene like in Portland in the 80s?
There were great heavy metal bands in the early ’80’s: Wild Dogs, Xinr, Gargoyle. But as I mentioned before, Poison Idea, Final Warning, Lockjaw, you know… the hardcore punk bands…that was the real heavy shit around town. I was 14 in 1985 and that’s the year I started going to underground shows. Exodus, Exciter, Megadeth (on the same bill), Slayer with Possessed (before Seven Churches was on the shelves), Celtic Frost and Voivod all rolled through around that time. It fucking killed!! By 1987 there were no death metal bands in Portland except us.
Do you ever hear from contemporary bands that were influenced by your work?
We see cool comments in interviews from time to time. Bands like Nunslaughter, The Chasm, Headhunter DC, Gravehill and Impiety come to mind. We’ve had many kind nods over the years from people who have told us they dug our stuff. Chuck Schuldiner (RIP), Mike Patton and others told us they were into our demos. Recently Mitch (Napalm Death) had some kind words for us. Thanks Mitch!
Would you change anything on your recordings in retrospect?
No.
What plans if any does the band have for the future?
We are on a roll with writing and loving the creative process. We will be recording a full length LP by the end of 2014. Touring, festivals and full coverage of all these events by the mighty Decibel.
