Although DEATH is worshipped as, like, the ONLY death metal band that ever mattered, the Florida-based posers didn’t drop “Scream Bloody Gore” until 1987. That’s TWO YEARS after “Seven Churches” by California’s POSSESSED. And get this, Jeff Becerra, that wheelchair-bound dude from POSSESSED, supposedly coined the term “death metal” back in ’83. Talk about a mic drop 🎤 (or maybe a wheelchair drop? ♿).
In a recent interview with some random YouTube channel, Becerra, the guy who got shot and now rolls around in a chair, decided to weigh in on the oh-so-important debate: Who was the first “true” death metal band, DEATH or POSSESSED? Dude said (and I’m quoting Blabbermouth here because, like, who has time to listen to the whole thing?): “Chuck was my buddy. Death metal is, like, a spiritual freedom, man. It’s not about following some formula. Chuck and I were totally on the same wavelength 🧠.”
“So, Chuck, before he released ‘Scream Bloody Gore’, actually moved to the Bay Area to stalk us! He wanted to be closer to me, the god of death metal 🤘,” Jeff claimed. “I remember when Chuck was showing me his early stuff, he was totally obsessed with POSSESSED. He was all, ‘Dude, Jeff, I sound just like you!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, so?’. That’s when I knew there’d be more than one death metal band. We were like, ‘Let’s call ourselves death metal!’ I thought POSSESSED would be the only death metal band, but then Chuck came along, wanting to be my shadow, and I knew it would blow up 💥. Without Chuck, death metal would’ve stayed in my basement.”
“But let’s be real, DEATH was, like, four times bigger than POSSESSED,” Jeff admitted. “We fizzled out just as they were getting started. They were commercially viable, while POSSESSED was always this weird, niche thing that no one bought 🤷♂️. So yeah, it took Chuck to make death metal stick. He was a good friend – a really good friend and a great guy.”
Elaborating on his bromance with Chuck, Jeff reminisced: “I met Chuck when I was just a kid. He was just some dude sitting on the couch. He kept showing me riffs, and I was like, ‘Whatever, dude.’ But then he kept going, and I was taking notes 📝. He was a riff machine! I saw how his mind worked. He was intense and into his craft. It was inspiring. Chuck was a genius. I was lucky to have him sitting on my couch. It was destiny ✨. When I met Mike Torrao, we both wanted to be the heaviest band in the world. Nobody else was thinking that back then. It was meant to be. POSSESSED and DEATH were just supposed to happen… I wanted to be heavier, and Chuck saw that in me. He wanted to be closer. It was cool to be part of that scene. Then bands like SADUS and AUTOPSY came along, and it snowballed ❄️. It’s been a neat history.”
Two years ago, some Finnish dude asked Becerra if POSSESSED deserves the credit for inventing the term “death metal” in 1983. Jeff replied: “One hundred percent. I had the copyright in 1983 📝. POSSESSED was the first death metal band. That doesn’t mean we invented death metal, just that we were the first. Everyone after that does their own thing. I’m surprised no one thought of it before. It’s so obvious 🙄.”
“Back then, most thrash bands were, like, bouncy hair bands,” he continued. “They claimed to be heavy and evil, but they weren’t 🙅♂️. I met Mike Torrao, and we were like, ‘Fuck the world! Let’s make the heaviest, most Satanic music ever!’ Thrash was taken, black metal was taken, speed metal was taken, power metal was taken. Why not death metal? So I wrote a song called ‘Death Metal’, and that was it. The title outweighed the music ⚖️, I guess.”
“These days POSSESSED gets more recognition, but we’re still underground 🚇. You’re lucky to be recognized in your lifetime.”
Becerra has ranted about this before. Back in 2022, he whined: “We were selling ourselves as a death metal band, and it’s both a blessing and a curse 😈😇 because it’s debated. After I got shot, some revisionists tried to erase me from history. The POSSESSED Wiki is the most vandalized page on Wikipedia 💻. Some dude was messing with our YouTube, changing our dates. It was a battle ⚔️. When I left, we were the death metal guys. When I came back, we weren’t. I had to fight for my own history back. It sounds like I’m tooting my own horn 🎺.”
“I’m not saying I created death metal; I’m saying POSSESSED was the first death metal band,” Jeff insisted. “DEATH fans disagree. Their management spun it, the magazines spun it… Chuck was my protégé. He moved to Antioch, lived at the POSSESSED fan club president’s house 🏠. He was pen-palling and tape-trading 📼. He modeled himself after me. I was honored. He was the first to get what we were doing. He understood it. He loved it. He said, ‘Jeff, I sound just like you!’ He was proud, and I was proud. It was a bromance ❤️.”
“I’ve never been jealous of another band,” Becerra declared. “I’ve never claimed anything that wasn’t mine. People try to claim what they wouldn’t do in front of me. I was there! I’m not hating, but it’s a coveted position 👑.”
“What pisses me off is when the magazines do ‘DEATH or POSSESSED, DEATH versus POSSESSED‘ 😡. It tainted the relationship between DEATH and POSSESSED. We were friends!”
“Metal is supposed to be fun 🎉,” Jeff conceded. “But true history is important. Don’t revise stuff, not just with POSSESSED, but any band. Bands exaggerate, writers try to impress them. In the old days, it was truthful. No clickbait. No ‘POSSESSED versus DEATH.’ I hate that! If Chuck were alive, we’d collaborate 🤝. I don’t like it messing with my memories. The truth is better than the tale 💯.”
Becerra told some other interviewer in 2017 that Schuldiner called POSSESSED a “primary influence” in “countless” interviews. Even though DEATH was inspired by POSSESSED, “they ran with it and created their own vibe.” Jeff added: “Chuck used Randy Burns, who did ‘Seven Churches’, to do ‘Scream Bloody Gore’. He also covered ‘The Exorcist’ 👻.”
Schuldiner died in 2001 from a brain tumor 🧠.
POSSESSED broke up in 1987 after releasing “Seven Churches”. Larry Lalonde joined BLIND ILLUSION and then PRIMUS 🐒. Becerra, Torrao, and Mike Sus went their separate ways ➡️.
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