It came out of the Bay Area thrash scene but Possessed’s 1985 debut Seven Churches is now renowned for getting the death metal ball rolling. And quite right too: Jeff Becerra’s voice is demonic and cavernous; the riffing is brutal and relentless; and it closes with a song called… Death Metal! But it’s really more than that. As with other early efforts from the likes of Sodom, Kreator, Slayer and Celtic Frost there’s a primordial stew of dark extremity at work here that doesn’t fit neatly into any genre but has elements that can be extracted into loads of them. It’s not just the death metal guys that have worshipped at the altar of Seven Churches. And that’s why it still holds up today and always hits the spot, whatever kind of evil metal mood I might be in.
