Blood Feast is an American extreme metal band that formed in 1985 in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States, under the name of Bloodlust.[1] The band broke up in 1991 but reunited for a concert in 1999 and got back together again in 2007. To date, Blood Feast has released three studio albums, four compilation albums, two EPs and one demo cassette.
History
Initial career (1985–1991)
The band was formed in 1985 by drummer Kevin Kuzma, bassist Louis Starita, vocalist Gary Markovitch, and guitarist Adam Tranquilli under the name Bloodlust. In February 1986, the band recorded their first demo, The Suicidal Missions. In the same month, Michael Basden joined as second guitarist. Shortly after, the band changed its name to Blood Feast. In June 1986, the band signed to a contract. The recordings for the first album were financed by the band itself.[2] In February 1987, the band released their debut album Kill for Pleasure,[3] and followed the release with some live performances, finishing each concert with a cover version of "Into Crypts of Rays" by Celtic Frost. In December 1987, the band recorded an EP (Face Fate). In June 1988 the band recorded a ten-song demo. Guitarist Adam Tranquili was no longer active by this time. Although initially titled The Last Remains, it was released as an album in 1989 under the name Chopping Block Blues. The band broke up in 1991.
Reunions (1999–2013)
In 1999, the band reformed for a single appearance at the March Metal Meltdown in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
In 2002, Kevin Kuzma founded his own label, Militia Records, and released the compilation, Remnants: The Last Remains. On this were demo and live recordings, as well as certain unreleased songs. In 2007, the band rejoined. This line-up featured founding members Kevin Kuzma and Adam Tranquili, along with guitarist John Blicharz, bassist Karl Odenwalder, and singer Tony Stanziano; all of whom were from Kevin Kuzma's death metal band, Annunaki.
Current bass player Tom Lorenzo (who replaced Odenwalder) and vocalist Chris Natalini (who replaced Stanziano) were added in 2010, just a few months ahead of the band's performance at the Headbangers Open Air Festival in Germany. Blood Feast returned for a 2nd appearance at H.O.A. in 2013. This incarnation of the band remained intact until March 2014, at which point Kuzma and Blicharz were replaced by Joe Moore (formerly of DTA and Nemesis) and CJ Scioscia (of Insaniac and Skullshifter), respectively.
The Future State of Wicked and Infinite Evolution (2014–present)
A pre-production demo of the first new Blood Feast song in nearly 25 years, entitled "Off With Their Heads", was made available for streaming via YouTube in August 2014. The new line-up then had its debut performance at Empire in West Springfield, VA on 13 September 2014, and has been active ever since. Two performances at the True Thrash Fest in Osaka, Japan occurred on 21–22 February 2015.
On September 25, 2015, Blood Feast announced that they had signed with Hells Headbangers Records,[4] and by the next year, they had been recording their first studio album since 1989 at LCBW Recording in Watchung, New Jersey. The album, titled, The Future State of Wicked, was released on 14 April 2017.[5][6][7]
In June 2022, Blood Feast revealed Infinite Evolution as the title of their upcoming fourth album.[8]
Discography
Studio albums
Kill for Pleasure (1987)
Chopping Block Blues (1989)
The Future State of Wicked (2017)
Infinite Evolution (TBA)
Compilation albums
Thrash Metal Attack (1986)
Speed Metal Hell, Vol. 3 (1987)
Remnants: The Last Remains (2002)
Last Offering Before The Chopping Block (2013)
Splits
Kill for Pleasure / Annihilation (1989)
EPs
Face Fate (1987)
Chopped, Sliced and Diced (2018)
Demos
The Suicidal Missions (1986)
References
“…lightning flashers, thunder booms, feel the rattle in every room…”
To flip through dusty ‘86 issues of EC Rocker (East Coast Rocker, a popular source for upcoming shows in the tri-state area that evolved into the more mainstream Aquarian) and not stumble over advertisements for Blood Lust’s notorious Suicidal Mission demo is a hard case to defend. The band can never be penalized for not pushing their sole demo to the public, and though b&w and at a mere eighth of a page, that inverted cross is huge, juiced of sinister intent, a zero-in factor that didn’t go unnoticed by shaggy-headed teenagers searching for that next great thrash monster. Don’t let people tell you Blood Feast’s harsh, craggy sound didn’t find its way around NJ’s congested, polluted streets. Then there’s the large poster I’m told hung in the window of local record store Rock N’ Roll Heaven, owned by young Johnny and Marsha “Megaforce” Zazula and well-roamed by gnarly, pimply-faced ruffians of the denim ‘n leather lot. Yeah, lots of nostalgia stems from this one.
Early on, Blood Feast had its share of paralegal problems. First the well known name change, the other American band Blood Lust guilty as sin for squandering the cool moniker, then the album’s original title Pleasure to Kill fell to the sophomore kreation of Kreator, an album that’s done the justice to the name Blood Feast had pined for. Without straying far from their original ideas, the five-piece would become one of the better known and received acts to wear the New Renaissance castle on its debut lp’s jacket.
There’s no great mystical dynamic behind BF’s ruthless, fuzz-ridden cacophony, but kudos must be given to the band’s line-of-sight vision, a twofold non-device separating them from thrash’s 1987 changing of the guard that remarks on 1) their obvious disinterest in the technical allure that was cleaning up the style with suds Tide-like and squeaky, and 2) of the bands remaining loyal to the original anarchic fusion, the boys from Bayonne were one of the more hellacious and strong-willed to grab the tattered flag and keep running.
Two of the songs here and on their demo appear on auspicious New Renaissance compilations Thrash Metal Attack** and Speed Metal Hell Vol. 3***, showcasing in full glory the lousy bass-bloated Earthquake Studios (not far from me in Scotch Plains) production. Thankfully the debut crawled away from that earthen crack and waddled over to Waterfront Studios for a ramshackle, ultra-noisy, and viciously enthusiastic mix that bestows these nine tracks with their grinding, wool-swallowed overbite they’re avowed for. With nothing to lose, the majority of tunes rely on a harshly passionate fervor that can’t be feigned or counterfeited, fairly avid in the lurch n’ jerk perception that if structuring and pace aren't allowed to meander or stick around, it’s one less contaminate for the recipe, keeping the likes of “Menacing Thunder”**, “Cannibal”, “Suicidal Mission”***, and “Venomous Death” from losing consciousness and spreading the disease to the listener. A formidable example of this common sense is the title cut, stalking into motion cruel-eyed and simmering until an attack velocity increase ensures a memorable kill. Vocalist Gary Markovitch shrieks with airborne lung carnage that venomously plows through the production’s thick aural bramble and the band’s intense foliage, more poisonous and merciless than five John Connellys and maybe two Paul Baloffs, breathing acrid fumes into “Darkside”, then redoubling it for ripping lp closer “R.I.P”.
My only pet peeve about Blood Feast is actually no fault of their own, but concern incessant comparisons to Slayer by fans that that are either very unimaginative, unlearned, lazy, or have the ears of an ostrich with its head in the sand. Sure, any mid-late ‘80s thrash/speed bands that claim they’re not shaving a little Slayer off into their own crock pot is kidding themselves, but some of the linkage I’ve heard/read about is as overglued and charitable as stories of Kill For Pleasure being a rare piece, limited blue wax or regular.
Despite a sound blackmailed by two decades and little innovation outside of the construction of metal insensitive and unforgiving, Blood Feast’s songs are reasonably memorable, stiff-handed yet deceptively artful in their severity, owing much to their ability to engineer compellingly structured tunes in a style that by ‘87 bore its share of snoozers and strategizers.