Black Death (American band)

Black Death are an American band who have been noted as the "first all-African-American heavy metal band".[1] The group were also mentioned in Ian Christe's book, Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal,[2] and mentioned in Rock 'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection by Deanna R. Adams as "one of the only, if not the only, all-black metal bands in the country" in 1987.[3][4]

Black Death
OriginCleveland, Ohio, United States
GenresHeavy metal, power metal
Years active1977–1984; 2009–present
Members
  • Greg Hicks
  • Ken Phillips
  • Dennis Fuldauer
  • Sandy Kruger
  • Mark Shea
Past members
  • Reginal Gamble ("Siki Spacek")
  • Darrel Harris
  • Phil Bullard
  • Ed Goodin
  • Clayborn Pinkins

History

Lineup, name, and status

Black Death was formed in 1977 by guitarist Greg Hicks, drummer Phil Bullard, and bassist Clayborn Pinkins as an unnamed group.[5][6] They persisted for a year without a vocalist until Siki Spacek joined;[5] Spacek would also fulfill roles as a guitarist for the band alongside Hicks.[5] The band would not have an official name until nearly two years after its creation;[5] Hicks and Pinkins eventually decided on "Black Death."[5] Shortly thereafter, Pinkins was shot and killed.[6][5] The resulting lineup changes consisted of two new bassists, the latter of which, Darell Harris, would be added as Pinkins' permanent replacement sometime before 1984.[5][6]

At the end of the band's first major hiatus, which lasted from 1988 to 2009,[5] the lineup took another significant turn when the band was officially re-formed as "Mandrake."[5][6] There was an unofficial change in 2007 by Bullard in an effort to change Black Death's name, but this wasn't fulfilled until after his death in 2008[6][5] from colon cancer.[6] The band was then split into two separate groups, one of which was rechristened as Siki Spacek and the Resurrection (later known as Black Death Resurrected, which was Bullard's original idea for the band's new name); the second group toured until disbanding in 2010.[6]

Currently, the band's activities and scheduling, along with other announcements, are actively being listed on their Facebook page.[7]

Recording efforts and distribution

As of the current day, Black Death has one full-length album under its belt,[5][6] although there have been past rumors about a second full length,[5][8] which were almost fulfilled in a release of a "1998 [LP]-length demo."[6] Several unnamed demos were recorded in their formative years, after the death of Pinkins in 1979.[6] A 2017 compilation of older recording was also released,[6] and is currently Black Death's only recording available on Spotify.[9]

Additionally, Black Death's first LP has been re-released in physical format by records and distribution company Hell's Headbangers.[10] This republishing sparked a mild revival in interest with the band, with magazines such as Decibel[11] and Kerrang![12] acknowledging the band's existence once more.

Discography
  • Cleveland Metal (1983 compilation)[13]
    • 1. Taken By Force
    • 2. Until We Rock
  • Black Death (1984)[1]
    • 1. Night of the Living Death
    • 2. The Hunger
    • 3. When Tears Run Red (From Love Lost Yesterday)
    • 4. Fear No Evil
    • 5. The Scream of the Iron Messiah
    • 6. Streetwalker
    • 7. Black Death

Members

Current
  • Sandy Kruger – vocals
  • Mark Shea – guitar
  • Greg Hicks – bass
  • Dennis Fuldauer – drums

Past
  • Siki Spacek – vocals, guitar
  • Phil Bullard – drums (died)
  • Clayborn Pinkins – bass (died)
  • Darrell Harris – bass
  • Ed Goodman – bass (died)
  • Greg Hicks - guitar

References
  • Greg Hicks – founding member and current Black Death copyright holder – http://www.blackdeathband.com
  • Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins. ISBN 0380811278

Notes
  1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "allmusic (((Black Death > Biography)))". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  2. Christe (2003), p. 206, "In Cleveland, Ohio, a revered all-black power metal band crushed posers under the tongue-in-cheek name Black Death"
  3. Adams, Deanna R. (27 June 2018). "Rock 'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection". Kent State University Press. Retrieved 27 June 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. Adams, Deanna, p 447
  5. "Black Death: The First All-Black Heavy Metal Band". Black Then. 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  6. "Black Death - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". Metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  7. "Black Death Resurrected". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  8. Rock, Sleazegrinder2015-02-23T17:05:00 530Z Classic. "Flash Metal Suicide: Black Death". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  9. "Music for everyone". Spotify.com. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  10. "Black Death, by BLACK DEATH". BLACK DEATH. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  11. "Primitive Origins: Black Death's "Black Death"". Decibel Magazine. 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  12. "The 10 Greatest Metal Songs by African-American Artists". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  13. Aesop (16 September 2008). "Cosmic Hearse: The New Wave Of Cleveland Heavy Metal". Retrieved 27 June 2018.
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