MORBID ANGEL'S STEVE TUCKER LAUNCHES DEATH METAL 'SUPERGROUP' MALEFIC THRONE

Hells Headbangers has announced the signing of MALEFIC THRONE. The first fruit of this union will be the band's debut EP, "Malefic Throne", which is due in the coming year on CD, 12-inch vinyl and cassette tape formats. The effort will include the track "Deciding The Hierarchy", which can be streamed below.

A veritable death metal "supergroup," MALEFIC THRONE is a three-headed beast joining together death metal royalty: guitarist Gene Palubicki (PERDITION TEMPLE, ANGELCORPSE, BLASPHEMIC CRUELTY), vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker (MORBID ANGEL, WARFATHER) and drummer John Longstreth (ORIGIN, HATE ETERNAL, ex-ANGELCORPSE). Suitably, the sound on their self-titled debut EP maliciously mainlines much of those foundational death metal sounds for which all three members have been renowned the past three decades. Fiery and furious but finessed with a surprising amount of grace, MALEFIC THRONE spits forth a lean 'n' mean whirlwind that's diabolically blackened and gleaming like the sharpest blade. In just 19 minutes, the trio get in, get out, and destroy.

Palubicki explains the genesis of the band: "MALEFIC THRONE was conceived over conversations and shared ideas among the three of us since around summer of 2020, deep in the early pandemic upheaval, while everyone was — and has been — in limbo for live shows/tours/etc. We hit on the idea of just going for it, writing some furious death metal material with the three of us, and seeing what would happen. Given who the bandmembers are, it is surely clear the nature of what this is all about. We originally considered just doing an independently released demo, but we approached Hells Headbangers to see if they were interested in handling the debut EP release. They agreed, and onward it goes."

Release date, cover and track listing will be revealed shortly.

Back in 2019, Tucker said that MORBID ANGEL was preparing to begin the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2017's "Kingdoms Disdained" album.

In April 2018, Silver Lining Music released a special two-disc digipack edition of "Kingdoms Disdained", featuring seven instrumental demo tracks previously only available as part of the deluxe box set.

"Kingdoms Disdained" was released in December 2017 via Silver Lining Music in the U.S. and JVC in Japan. The disc, which reunites founding guitarist Trey Azagthoth with Tucker, was recorded at Mana Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida and produced by MORBID ANGEL with Erik Rutan (CANNIBAL CORPSE, HATE ETERNAL, SIX FEET UNDER, BELPHEGOR).

Joining Azagthoth and Tucker during the recording sessions for "Kingdoms Disdained" was drummer Scotty Fuller (ANNIHILATED; formerly of ABYSMAL DAWN)

MORBID ANGEL in January 2017 announced the addition of Dan Vadim Von (guitarist/frontman of the American death metal band VADIMVON) to the band's lineup on second guitar. He joined the group as the replacement for Norwegian guitarist Destructhor (a.k.a. Thor Anders Myhren), who left the band six years ago.