For a band who only released three records - 1985's Seven Churches, 1986's Beyond The Gates and this stellar EP - Possessed made a huge impact on the death/thrash/crossover scene in the 1980's. They have been referred to as the first death metal band by many, but I really feel like they did their own thing - combinding thrash with darker themes, using the raw skate punk/crossover sound as their platform, mixing it with great speedy riffs.
Possessed are much more melodic than their contemporaries, faster than Metallica and have a vocal edge that is super raw and gutteral, more akin to skate punk than metal.
As a kid, I was a huge fan of Possessed's Seven Churches and its super-rough production and fast-paced thrash. I actually had this record on cassette along with Beyond The Gates and didn't really gell with it. Coming back to it later in life, I find that this is easily my favorite of their releases.
Unfortunately, the band broke up shortly after the release of this EP and three years later singer Jeff Becerra was shot and paralized from the waist down. They did reform in the early 1990's briefly and then disbanded again. Luckily for us, they are again reformed with Jeff who performs in a wheelchair, which does nothing to diminish the power of them live.
I got a chance to see Possessed last summer they just floored me. My fiancee Linda bought me the Seven Churches hoodie and bought herself a girly Possessed T with the logo in rhinestones. No shit. Awesome.
I highly recommend any fans of death metal and early thrash to check this out. It's a bit cleaner in terms of production than Seven Churches, but damn powerful.
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