Obituary (band)

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Obituary is an American death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1984. Initially called Executioner, they were one of the fundamental acts in the development of the death metal genre,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and are one of the genre's most successful bands of all time.<ref name="blabbermouth_cc">Template:Cite news</ref> Obituary has released eleven studio albums and, with the exception of a five-year hiatus from 1998 to 2003, they continue to perform live.

Obituary's current lineup consists of vocalist John Tardy, drummer Donald Tardy, rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres, bassist Terry Butler, and lead guitarist Ken Andrews. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with the Tardy brothers and Peres being the only constant members.

History

Early career (1984–1990)

Founded as Executioner in Seffner, Florida in 1984, they soon dropped the "E" from their name after discovering another band of the same name, becoming Xecutioner. The band's first lineup was composed of John Tardy (lead vocals), Donald Tardy (drums), Trevor Peres (rhythm guitar), Jerome Grable (bass) and Jerry Tidwell (lead guitar). The band was inspired by Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Savatage, Nasty Savage, and bands in the then-burgeoning Florida death metal scene: Death and Morbid Angel.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The band released demos between 1985 and 1987 (the 1985 demo as Executioner and the 1986 and 1987 demos as Xecutioner). They made their vinyl debut in 1987 with two tracks ("Find the Arise" and "Like the Dead") on the Raging Death compilation.

Not long after the release of the compilation, bassist Grable was replaced by Daniel Tucker and guitarist Tidwell was replaced by Allen West.Template:Citation needed The following year, shortly before the release of the band's first album Slowly We Rot (1989), they changed their name to Obituary.Template:Citation needed Soon after the release of the album, however, Tucker and West quit the band and were respectively replaced by Frank Watkins Template:Citation needed and then-Death guitarist James Murphy. This new lineup recorded the band's second album Cause of Death, which was released on September 19, 1990,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and is often considered to be one of the most important death metal albums of all time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Rise to success (1991–1997)

In 1991, just prior to the writing and recording sessions of their third album, Murphy left Obituary to join Cancer and was replaced by a returning Allen West. The lineup of Peres, Watkins, West and the Tardy brothers recorded the band's next three albums, starting with The End Complete (1992). The End Complete was a moderate success for Obituary, having sold more than a hundred thousand copies,<ref name="blabbermouth_cc"/> and it was the band's first album to chart in the United States and Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="UK-chart">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="GER-chart">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NLD-chart">Template:Cite web</ref> This success also resulted in the release of Obituary's first-ever music video "The End Complete", which received significant airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball.<ref name="hbb">Template:Cite news</ref>

Obituary's fourth studio album, World Demise, was released in 1994.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although the album did not sell as well as The End Complete, it still managed to reach the top 100 in several territories, including the United States,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> United Kingdom,<ref name="UK-chart"/> Germany,<ref name="GER-chart"/> Switzerland<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Netherlands,<ref name="NLD-chart"/> and a music video for "Don't Care" was shot.<ref name="hbb"/>

After a two-and-a-half year break from touring and recording, Obituary released their fifth studio album Back from the Dead in 1997. While the band did not abandon the death metal sound it had become known for with its previous albums, Back from the Dead is noted for being Obituary's most diverse record, incorporating elements of groove metal, hardcore punk, and in particular, its closing track "Bullituary" is played in a rap/nu metal style.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="voicesfromthedarkside">Template:Cite web</ref> Regarding the album's musical direction, John Tardy recalls: "We took a more raw approach with that album. We used a new producer Jaime Locke on that record. We really like the NY Hardcore sound and those influences came out on that record. I love the album really in your face. Also my friends Skinner T and #1 Diablo did some rapping on it."<ref name="voicesfromthedarkside"/>

Breakup and comeback (1998–2014)

File:Obituary live in Toronto, 2009.jpg

Obituary in 2009

By 1998, Obituary had disbanded due to exhaustion from touring, lack of support from their label, and its band members getting jobs and raising families of their own.<ref name="voicesfromthedarkside"/><ref name="substack">Template:Cite web</ref> John Tardy said, "We stopped because there were a lot of politics in the band at the time. We were spending more than we were making, the label stopped supporting us and we were all getting older and for the first time in our lives realized this wasn't going to last forever. So we all had different opinions about our band."<ref name="voicesfromthedarkside"/> Guitarist Trevor Peres later claimed that one of the reasons Obituary broke up was because they "had been together since we were teenagers, and then all of a sudden it turned into a professional thing and we were touring and for like 10 years we didn't live like normal people, we were like animals, like monkeys in a cage."<ref name="substack"/>

Following Obituary's breakup, Donald Tardy played in Andrew W.K.'s touring band (during W.K.'s appearance on Saturday Night Live Tardy wore an Obituary shirt). Allen West focused on his two projects, Lowbrow and Six Feet Under. Trevor Peres formed Catastrophic in 2001, which released one album, The Cleansing, in that same year. Obituary reformed in 2003 and Catastrophic continued to exist alongside the reformed Obituary. A reunion album, Frozen in Time, was released in 2005. The band's first live DVD, Frozen Alive, was released in January 2007.

Obituary was signed with Candlelight Records for its next three releases, Xecutioner's Return (2007), Darkest Day (2009), and the EP Left to Die (2008). A concert DVD release was also announced for January 2010.<ref name="newDVD">Template:Cite news</ref> Since 2012, the band has been highly involved with the promotion of a new social networking site called Unation, as well as Donald Tardy beginning a Cat Sanctuary organization called Metal Meowlisha, an organization practicing "trap-neuter-vaccinate-return", and caring for 25 cat colonies (200 cats).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In April 2010, Obituary began work on new material for their ninth studio album Inked in Blood, which was not released until 2014.<ref name=nextalbum>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=newalbum>Template:Cite news</ref> It was the first Obituary album not to be recorded with longtime bassist Frank Watkins since their 1989 debut album Slowly We Rot.<ref name=newalbum/> On August 2, 2013, the band launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of raising $10,000.00; the money raised was promised to allow Obituary to record and release their ninth album independently. The goal was met on August 3. When interviewed by metal webzine All About the Rock, John Tardy said of the Kickstarter campaign, "This campaign has been awesome and just confirms again what we already know and that is that we have the greatest fans in the world. We are using Kickstarter to raise enough money to release an album on our own. This is not a bash against record companies, it is just what we want to do. Years ago this would not even be a thought, but today we feel everything is in place for us, for better or worse, give it a shot.".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Though the band raised enough money to self-released, they were still signed to Relapse Records and partnered with the label for distribution of Inked In Blood, their first Relapse release.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death of Frank Watkins, Obituary and Dying of Everything (2015–present)

On October 18, 2015, former and longtime Obituary bassist Frank Watkins died from cancer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On August 24, 2016, Obituary streamed a new song called "Loathe", a B-side to their then-upcoming single "Ten Thousand Ways to Die", which was released on October 21.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The band released its self-titled tenth studio album on March 17, 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A month prior to its release, the band released a song called "No", which appeared on Decibel magazine's flexi disc series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In November and December 2018, Obituary embarked on a European tour as part of Slayer's farewell tour, also featuring Lamb of God and Anthrax.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When asked in a June 2018 interview about the next Obituary album, drummer Donald Tardy said, "We're always thinking about new songs and writing riffs and this and that. But at this time of our lives and this time of the music industry… This new album has only been out for just over a year now, so we're in no hurry to try and push another album out of us as quick as we can; there's no sense."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In an August 2020 interview with Australia's Riff Crew, Donald Tardy revealed that, during the pandemic, Obituary had been working on a "monster" of a new album planned for release in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band had planned to tour in 2021, specifically Europe, in support of the record.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a March 2021 interview with France's United Rock Nations, vocalist John Tardy reiterated his brother's comments, saying that Obituary had been working on new material during the COVID-19 pandemic, and added that their new album would be released in 2022, with a tour to follow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 10, 2022, Obituary released "The Wrong Time" as the lead single from their then-upcoming eleventh studio album Dying of Everything, released on January 13, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of May 2025, a new album by the band is in the works.<ref name="boxset">Template:Cite web</ref>

An Obituary box set, titled Godly Beings is due for release on July 18, 2025 through Dissonance Productions. It will include the band's first four albums in their entirety with bonus tracks, and is "complimented with the addition of liner notes from writer David Gehlke, who has written Turned Inside Out, the official biography of Obituary" and "four reproduction postcards featuring classic images of the band."<ref name="boxset" />

Musical style

Obituary's music is based on heavy groove guitar and drum riffs along with John Tardy's growling vocals, creating one of the signature sounds of death metal. Obituary played material that was described as "slower, catchier" on the albums The End Complete and World Demise.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Jon Wiederhorn of Loudwire wrote that the band "were less musically adept than Morbid Angel or Death, so they downplayed whirlwind tempos for chugging, grimy half-time rhythms that sounded like they were oozing from a sewage treatment plant."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eduardo Rivadavia of Loudwire wrote, "Obituary managed to stand out among the early Floridian death metal bands by way of a very simple, but effective songwriting strategy. Namely, while most of their contemporaries were still indebted to thrash and raging away at blazing speeds, Obituary embraced the slower tempos typical of doom metal, and fused it all together behind some of the era's heaviest guitar tones."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Band members

Obituary at Party.San Metal Open Air 2023
John Tardy

John Tardy
Donald Tardy

Donald Tardy
Trevor Peres

Trevor Peres
Terry Butler

Terry Butler
Kenny Andrews

Kenny Andrews

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Current members

John Tardy – vocals (1988–1998, 2003–present)
Donald Tardy – drums (1988–1998, 2003–present)
Trevor Peres – rhythm guitar (1988–1998, 2003–present)
Terry Butler – bass (2010–present)
Kenny Andrews – lead guitar (2012–present)

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Former members

Allen West – lead guitar (1988–1989, 1991–1998, 2003–2006)
Daniel Tucker – bass (1988–1989)
James Murphy – lead guitar (1989–1991)
Frank Watkins – bass (1989–1998, 2003–2010; died 2015)
Ralph Santolla – lead guitar (2007–2011; died 2018)

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Former touring musicians

Steve Di Giorgio – bass (2010)
Lee Harrison – lead guitar (2012), drums (2018)

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Timeline <timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:60 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1988 till:{{#time:d/m/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1988 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1988

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 id:Lead     value:teal             legend:Lead_guitar
 id:Rhythm   value:brightgreen      legend:Rhythm_guitar
 id:Bass     value:blue             legend:Bass
 id:Drums    value:orange           legend:Drums
 id:Lines1   value:black            legend:Studio_album
 id:bars     value:gray(0.95)

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 at:14/06/1989 color:black layer:back
 at:19/09/1990 color:black layer:back
 at:21/04/1992 color:black layer:back
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 at:22/03/1997 color:black layer:back
 at:18/07/2005 color:black layer:back
 at:27/08/2007 color:black layer:back
 at:30/06/2009 color:black layer:back
 at:28/10/2014 color:black layer:back
 at:17/03/2017 color:black layer:back
 at:13/01/2023 color:black layer:back

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 bar:John        text:"John Tardy"
 bar:Allen       text:"Allen West"
 bar:James       text:"James Murphy"
 bar:Ralph       text:"Ralph Santolla †"
 bar:Ken         text:"Ken Andrews"
 bar:Trevor      text:"Trevor Peres"
 bar:Daniel      text:"Daniel Tucker"
 bar:Frank       text:"Frank Watkins †"
 bar:Terry       text:"Terry Butler"
 bar:Don         text:"Donald Tardy"

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 bar:John from:start        till:01/07/1998 color:Vocals
 bar:John from:01/07/2003   till:end color:Vocals
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 bar:Don from:01/07/2003    till:end color:Drums
 bar:Allen from:start       till:01/08/1989 color:Lead
 bar:Allen from:01/02/1991  till:01/07/1998 color:Lead
 bar:Allen from:01/07/1997  till:01/07/1998 color:Rhythm width:3
 bar:Allen from:01/07/2003  till:31/12/2006 color:Lead
 bar:Trevor from:start      till:01/07/1997 color:Rhythm
 bar:Trevor from:01/07/2003 till:end color:Rhythm
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 bar:Ralph from:01/01/2007  till:31/12/2011 color:Lead
 bar:Terry from:01/04/2010  till:end color:Bass
 bar:Ken   from:01/01/2012  till:end color:Lead

</timeline>