Suffocation

Formed in 1989 in Centereach on Long Island, New York, Suffocation established themselves early on the American death metal scene with a dense sound built on guttural vocals, very fast riffs, pronounced tempo changes and heavier passages that also fed into the brutal death metal aesthetic. After the demo Reincremated in 1990 and the EP Human Waste in 1991, Suffocation released Effigy of the Forgotten that same year, then followed with Breeding the Spawn in 1993 and Pierced from Within in 1995. The band split after the EP Despise the Sun in 1998, before reuniting in 2003 around guitarist Terrance Hobbs and vocalist Frank Mullen. That second period produced Souls to Deny (2004), Suffocation (2006), Blood Oath (2009), Pinnacle of Bedlam (2013), ...Of the Dark Light (2017) and Hymns from the Apocrypha (2023). Having toured extensively across North America and Europe, Suffocation have also shared bills with acts such as Napalm Death, Morbid Angel and Cattle Decapitation. Today the group’s core rests largely with Terrance Hobbs and Derek Boyer, with Ricky Myers on vocals.