Nocturnus

One of the first, if not the first death metal band to use keyboards.



They radically changed the extreme metal scene 10 years ago by adding keyboards to their music.



Nocturnus have been creating horror-inspiring death metal since their 1988 release of The Science of Horror, a four-song demo, which let to international acclaim and a contract with Earache Records. Membership solidified into Sean Mc Nenney and Mike Davis on guitars, Louis Panzer on keyboards, Jeff Estes on bass and Mike Browning on drums and vocals. The name came from a Slayer song as Nocturnal Spectre's but Mike Browning had looked up in the dictionary the name and found Nocturnus, thus the name Nocturnus was born.



Their first album, The Key, was a concept album, telling a story of a futuristic cyborg forced to flee to 0BC and culminating with the destruction of Christianity in favor of a modern empire. This release in late 1989 caused an immediate stir in the death metal community as the first band of this type to incorporate keyboards full time into every song. The blinding guitar work, sci-fi keyboards and concepts set the band apart from the masses. The public responded very well, and the album sold over 50.000 copies worldwide!



After these two tours, Nocturnus settled in and recorded their next release, Thresholds. The addition of Dan Izzo as lead vocalist brought a better stage presence to the band. This album was even more heavily laced with sci-fi and adventure type landscapes. During this time Nocturnus picked up their 4th bass player, Emo Mowery, who came on board in time for the European Thresholds tour, which took place in 1991 with Confessor.



Hereafter, the group and Mike Browning parted ways. The band continued on after bringing in James Marcinek on drums and recorded the 7" record with Possess the Priest and Mummified. Shortly after this, the band split up.



Fast-forward to 5 years later. the original members Louis Panzer, Sean McNenney and Mike Davis decide to resurrect the Nocturnus phenomenon. Emo returns and takes the vocals and the third drummer, Rick Bizzaro, completes the line up.