#bruce corbitt

[goddamnedamericanjedi]

[vinylspinning]

Rigor Mortis: Rigor Mortis (1988)

With their savage sound and barbarian image, Rigor Mortis were the very definition of independent thrash.

Yet they were somehow signed to major label Capitol, home to Megadeth, Exodus, W.A.S.P. and Iron Maiden -- at least for as long as it took for their eponymous LP to hit the streets, in 1988.

Then, Rigor Mortis were promptly dropped and returned to the heavy metal underground from whence they came; the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, to be exact, where guitarist Mike Scaccia, bassist Casey Orr and drummer Harden Harrison had first come together back in 1983.

Three years later, they welcomed vocalist and horror movie buff Bruce Corbitt: a Texan-born Paul Baloff, whose tuneless (but never toneless) bark was a perfect weapon for delivering lyrics about “Bodily Dismemberment,” “Wizard of Gore” and -- one of my favorites -- “Re-Animator.” (*)

But it was Scaccia who fueled Rigor Mortis’ engine with his razor riffs and blazing leads, presented here, naked, without overdubbed rhythm guitars (and bassist Orr fighting to be heard) to support his manic shredding across the likes of “Demons,” “Condemned to Hell,” etc.

I really can’t think of any other thrash band with the temerity to pull this off!

And I’d be remiss not to mention the blistering pace maintained almost throughout (final cut “Slow Death” finally gasps for breath), bolstering the entire band’s energy during mad moshers like “Shroud of Gloom” and album highlight “Die in Pain.”

All of which underscores the sheer unlikelihood that Rigor Mortis were ever allowed to set foot inside the hallowed Hollywood hallways of the Capitol Records Tower, despite the evidence provided by this absolutely classic example of raw, uncompromising thrash metal.

p.s. -- This blog is dedicated to the memories of Mike Scaccia, 1965-2012, and Bruce Corbitt, 1962-2019.

* If you’ve never seen it, Re-Animator is one of the all-time classic 1980s horror movies, watch the trailer here.

More Violent Thrash: Abattoir’s Vicious Attack, Artillery’s Terror Squad, At War’s Ordered to Kill, Blind Illusion’s The Sane Asylum, Carnivore’s Carnivore, Chakal’s Abominable Anno Domini, Defiance’s Void Terra Firma, Destruction’s Infernal Overkill, Destructor’s Maximum Destruction, Dorsal Atlântica’s Antes do Fim, Exodus’ Bonded by Blood, Exumer’s Possessed by Fire, Forbidden’s Twisted into Form, Hirax’s Raging Violence, Holy Terror’s Terror and Submission, Korzus’ Pay for Your Lies, Kreator’s Pleasure to Kill, Master’s Master, Medieval’s Medieval Kills!, Morbid Saint’s Spectrum of Death, Mutilator’s Immortal Force, Nasty Savage’s Nasty Savage, Num Skull’s Ritually Abused, Onslaught’s The Force, Razor’s Executioner’s Song, Sabbat’s History of a Time to Come, Sacrifice's Forward to Termination, Sadus' Swallowed in Black, Torture’s Storm Alert, Violent Force’s Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow, Whiplash’s Power and Pain. 

[horror-orman]

#RigorMortis #Warbeast

My first tattoo when I was 18. Bruce followed the Morgue on Twitter. RIP...truly a sad day.

🔥🤘💀🤘🔥

#BruceCorbitt

[thrashmetalgamer]

Album Art for “Enter the Arena” by Warbeast, releasing August 4, 2017 on Housecore Records

[metalkilltheking]

Rigor Mortis

[goddamnedamericanjedi]

Phil and Bruce

[dolly-macabre]

𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑 (𝖋𝖊𝖆𝖙. 𝕸𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝕾𝖈𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖎𝖆, 𝕭𝖗𝖚𝖈𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖗𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖙, 𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖊𝖞 𝕺𝖗𝖗, & 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖓) - 𝕽𝖎𝖌𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖘

[dolly-macabre]

𝕯𝖎𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝕻𝖆𝖎𝖓 (𝖋𝖊𝖆𝖙. 𝕸𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝕾𝖈𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖎𝖆, 𝕭𝖗𝖚𝖈𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖗𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖙, 𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖊𝖞 𝕺𝖗𝖗, 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖓) - 𝕽𝖎𝖌𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖘