Seven Churches (album)

According to David Konow's Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal, the album was recorded during the Spring Break of 1985 when Pinole Valley High School juniors Jeff Becerra and Larry LaLonde had ample time for studio production.{{cite book |last=Konow |first=David |year=2002 |title=Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal |publisher=Three Rivers Press |isbn=0-609-80732-3 |page=234}} Up until the release of the album, the band had practiced at manager Debbie Abono's house in Pinole, but had formed in the El Sobrante/San Pablo area, which was the location of Mike Torrao's and Mike Sus' garage band.

In November of the same year, the band flew to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the WWIII Weekend Festival in support of the Seven Churches release, playing alongside Celtic Frost, Destruction, Voivod and Nasty Savage; the concert was Possessed's first and largest arena appearance, with nearly 7,000 in attendance.{{cite book |last=Christe |first=Ian |date=February 17, 2004 |title=Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal |publisher=It Books |isbn=0-380-81127-8 |page=142}}

While Florida's Death had released more albums and is also cited as an enduring death metal progenitor, Seven Churches predates the latter band's debut album Scream Bloody Gore by two years. The book Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore credited bassist/vocalist Jeff Becerra as initially creating the term in 1983.{{cite book |last1=Peel |first1=John |authorlink1=John Peel |last2=Mudrian |first2=Albert |year=2004 |title=Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore |publisher=Feral House |isbn=1-932595-04-X}}

Seven Churches has been interchangeably described as "connecting the dots between thrash metal and death metal", being "monumental" in developing the death metal style,{{cite book |last=Purcell |first=Natalie J. |year=2003 |title=Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=0-7864-1585-1 |page=54}} and as being the "first death metal album",{{cite book |last=McIver |first=Joel |author-link=Joel McIver |year=2008 |title=The Bloody Reign of Slayer |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=1-84772-109-5}}{{cite book |last=Ekeroth |first=Daniel |year=2008 |title=Swedish Death Metal |publisher=Bazillion Points |isbn=978-0-9796163-1-0 |page=12}}{{cite book |last1=Peel |first1=John |authorlink1=John Peel |last2=Mudrian |first2=Albert |year=2004 |title=Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore |publisher=Feral House |isbn=1-932595-04-X |page=70}}{{cite book |last1=Dio |first1=Ronnie James |authorlink1=Ronnie James Dio |last2=Bukszpan |first2=Daniel |date=October 1, 2003 |title=The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal |publisher=Sterling Publishing |isbn=0-7607-4218-9 |page=88}}{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Steven |authorlink1=Steven Wilson |last2=Wagner |first2=Jeff |date=December 1, 2010 |title=Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal |publisher=Bazillion Points |isbn=0-9796163-3-6 |page=161}} the latter attributed to interviews with (or literature by) musicians including Kam Lee (ex-Mantas/Death, ex-Massacre), the late Ronnie James Dio (ex-Dio, ex-Black Sabbath) and Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield). Former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris said his introduction to metal was Possessed's Seven Churches album, a personal recommendation to him by then-guitarist Justin Broadrick.{{cite book |last=Mudrian |first=Albert |date=July 14, 2009 |title=Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=0-306-81806-X |page=59 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780306818066 |url-access=registration}}

Incantation guitarist John McEntee expressed the impact and influence Seven Churches had on him, saying "when I heard that, that really like did something to me where I was just like “Fuck.” I remember picking it up the first time and not even knowing what the fuck to think [...] I felt like I had to listen to it more to understand."{{Cite web |last=Pessaro |first=Fred |title=Incantation on Humble Beginnings and Nazi Sympathizing Allegations |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/incantation-humble-beginnings-and-nazi-sympathizing-allegations/ |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}

In its July 1986 review of Seven Churches, SPIN described the album as belonging to the "sub-mutated genre of death-metal" and being a "full-on Japanese-commuter-train-without-brakes of what this genre should sound like...bassist/vocalist Jeff Becerra regurgitates what have to be the most Stygian vocal utterances to date."

British extreme metal record label Earache Records stated that "....the likes of Trey Azagthoth and Morbid Angel based what they were doing in their formative years on the Possessed blueprint laid down on the legendary Seven Churches recording. Possessed arguably did more to further the cause of 'Death Metal' than any of the early acts on the scene back in the mid-late 80's."{{cite web |title=Interview with Jeff Becerra |publisher=Earache.com |url=http://www.earache.com/WickedWorld/interview/possessed/possessed.html |accessdate=December 13, 2013}}

"The Exorcist" is covered on Cannibal Corpse's 1993 EP Hammer Smashed Face, on Cavalera Conspiracy's 2008 album Inflikted, and on Death's 2011 reissue of their 1993 album Individual Thought Patterns (though Gene Hoglan plays the drums and guitar on it).

In August 2014, Revolver placed Seven Churches on its "14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own" list.{{cite web |date=August 29, 2014 |title=14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own |work=Revolver.com |url=http://www.revolvermag.com/news/14-thrash-albums-you-need-to-own.html |accessdate=August 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831025645/http://www.revolvermag.com/news/14-thrash-albums-you-need-to-own.html |archive-date=August 31, 2014}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_music = Mike Torrao, except where noted

| all_lyrics = Jeff Becerra, except where noted

| title1 = The Exorcist

| music1 = Torrao, Mike Oldfield

| lyrics1 = Torrao

| length1 = 4:51

| title2 = Pentagram

| length2 = 3:34

| title3 = Burning in Hell

| length3 = 3:10

| title4 = Evil Warriors

| length4 = 3:44

| title5 = Seven Churches

| music5 = Torrao, Larry LaLonde

| length5 = 3:14

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title6 = Satan's Curse

| lyrics6 = Torrao

| length6 = 4:15

| title7 = Holy Hell

| length7 = 4:11

| title8 = Twisted Minds

| length8 = 5:10

| title9 = Fallen Angel

| length9 = 3:58

| title10 = Death Metal

| length10 = 3:14

| total_length = 39:21

}}

;Possessed

• Jeff Becerra − bass, vocals
• Mike Torrao − guitars
• Larry LaLonde − guitars
• Mike Sus − drums

;Production

• Randy Burns − keyboards on tracks 1 and 9, producer, engineer
• Barry Kobrin − executive producer

{{Reflist}}

{{Possessed}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Possessed (band) albums

Category:1985 debut albums

Category:Combat Records albums

Category:Roadrunner Records albums