Nunslaughter @ Ace of Cups

Nunslaughter was formed in Pittsburgh in 1987 by Don of the Dead (bass) with Jer the Butcher (guitar), Gregoroth (vocals) and Behemoth Bill (drums). NunSlaughter began spewing forth the sonic vomit known as Death Metal. Taking lessons from the learning experience of their earlier bands DEATH SENTENCE and BIRD OF PREY, they shunned the confines of a studio in favor of the oppressive darkness of a basement tomb to record their first demo in 1987. Christened Ritual of Darkness, its raw sound established Nunslaughter as purveyors of true Death Metal. The band's line-up experienced its first of many mutations in 1989, with Jer and Bill being replaced by Rick Rancid (guitar) and John Sicko (drums). Nunslaughter's second demo, The Rotting Christ, emerged shortly thereafter. The next band-member morphogenesis occurred in 1991, when Gregoroth and Sicko slithered away. Von the Impaler latched on as a drummer and Don of the Dead (still on bass) became NunSlaughter's vocalist as well. This repugnant assemblage produced the band's third demo, Impale the Soul of Christ on the Inverted Cross of Death. Two years crawled by before the next Nunslaughter creation was revealed. In 1993, upon learning that the now legendary Ritual of Darkness demo was being bootlegged as a 7" record in Brazil, Don of the Dead began conspiring to celebrate NunSlaughter's international conquest. The band conjured up yet another drummer, Mark Perversion. Hell bent on keeping the intrinsic, unrefined sound that had become their trademark, N.S. recorded their infamous The Guts of Christ demo completely live in their living room. In 1995, NunSlaughter reinstated the unholy alliance of three of the original members: Don of the Dead, Gregoroth and Jer the Butcher. This sinister triad summoned the relentless drumming powers of Jim Sadist and created the Face of Evil demo for the underground death metal masses. In January of '97, after Gregoroth and the Butcher went their separate ways, Don and Jim, along with fresh meat Chris 213 (bass) and Blood (guitar), began a new decade of death with the band's first studio recording, a split 7" record with BLOODSICK. After countless setbacks and continuous writing, NunSlaughter unleashed four more 7" records, with the first being a limited edition glow-in-the-dark split 7" record with DEKAPITATOR. Soon after, a meeting of the most sinister kind came about with CRUCIFER to release a split 7" of 666 copies. Unable to restrain their twisted prolific minds, NunSlaughter then produced an entire 7" record entitled Blood Devil and the legend continued to grow from their split 7" with cult female death metal band DERKETA. With the signing to Revenge Productions, NunSlaughter released their full-length album, Hells Unholy Fire. A tour was arranged to promote the LP, and NunSlaughter began their European tour in September 2000. While touring, Nunslaughter released another 7" record entitled Trifurcate. Continuing with the tradition of vinyl and metal, NunSlaughter prominently display their prowess in song-writing ability and creativity by releasing many 7"s with specialty packaging. The time was ripe and the desire was there, so NunSlaughter decided to release another full-length studio LP in 2003. Entitled Goat, this insidious recording was released by Revenge Productions in Europe and Metal War Productions in the USA. Another tour was booked and NunSlaughter prepared to invade Australia with their Metal Assault tour. Booking six dates in Australia with some of the best underground Aussie bands, NunSlaughter held their own and proved their metal fist could reach around the world. Upon their return, NunSlaughter spent the next 2 years writing and recording over 16 new 7" records and split 7"s. Working almost exclusively with Hells Headbangers, the band was able to produce some of the underground's most sought-after vinyl releases. The planets aligned correctly in 2005, and another tour was prepared and booked, this time in Japan. The Goat LP/CD had been sold out for a long time, so plans were made to re-press it with a new layout and bonus track, as a digipak CD/LP and picture-disc LP, all on Hells Headbangers. The tour of Japan was immensely successful. With new-found vigor, the band is planning their second DVD, this time with footage and audio of Japan. 2006 has seen the release of a multitude of records including a split 7" with NOCTURNAL, Fathers of Fright 7", Fuck the God in Heaven (on shaped CD and shaped picture-disc LP), Face of Evil 7", Rotting Christ 3" CD, Goat deluxe jewel-case CD, DemoSlaughter 7" box set, An Evening At War LP/PLP, and the Damned In Japan 7" box set. Plans are being hatched to take the band back to California for a few shows as well as Florida, New York, Ohio and Illinois. This year NunSlaughter will also team up with several notable acts like DECEASED, DESTRUCTOR, MUTILATED MESSIAH, and BRODY'S MILITIA for some split records. A rehearsal LP is also planned for the Japanese label Heavy Metal Super Stars and possibly a new studio album on Hells Headbangers. A 2007 tour of Scandinavia is already planned and there is no end in sight. Nunslaughter is over 25 years old.