By Jack Raiser
Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, we first have Church of Misery. Founded by bassist, songwriter, and only sole constant member of the band, Tatsu Mikami, in 1995, the band did not start with a serial killer theme until the release of their 1998 EP "Taste the Pain". The group recorded their debut album, "Vol. 1", but was later abandoned after it was decided that their material would only focus on serial killers and mass murderers. This album was later released in 2007. Their first album release was in 2001 and it was called "Master of Brutality", a reference to Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality" album. In fact, both, the album's 2011 vinyl re-release and it's 2012 CD re-release, pay homage to the cover of such Black Sabbath album. The bands style can be described as stoner doom, though they themselves have stated in the case of their first record that they despise the label "stoner":
"We hate trend. We hate corporate attitude. We hate the word "Stoner". Death to false Stoners. Let there be Doom!!"
Black Sabbath, and 60's, 70's hard and psychedelic rock being the band's biggest influences, their songs' lyrics deal with the life and crimes of real-life murderers from their own perspective. The song titles are followed by the name of the murderer the song is about between parentheses. Most of their albums contain a cover of a song by popular band of a similar musical style such as Blue Öyster Cult, Saint Vitus, Iron Butterfly, among others. In an interview with Jimmy Cabs, Mikami explains he chose the topic of serial killers because it was on board with the band's name. He calls it an "inspiration game". "Church means symbol of Christianity and Christianity means basis of the western world, like America and Europe, and that's miserable. So Church of Misery means (...) miserable western world".
Discography:
"Master of Brutality" (2001)
"The Second Coming" (2004)
"Early Works Compilation" (2004)
"Vol. 1" (2007)
"Houses of the Unholy" (2009)
"Thy Kingdom Scum" (2013)
"And Then There Were None..." (2016)
Church of Misery's official website:
http://www.churchofmisery.net/band.html
Killing it (bad pun intended) from Chicago, Illinois, we have Macabre. Founded in 1985 by singer and guitarist Corporate Death (Lance Lencioni), drummer Dennis the Menace (Dennis Ritchie) and bassit and back-up singer Nefarious (Charles Lescewicz). Their sound is a mix of deathgrind (death metal and grindcore) and thrash metal. Along with that, sometimes they add nursery rhymes and folk melodies to their songs in order to give the music a twisted sound while including their dark sense of humor. The band has dubbed their style as "murder metal". Similar to Church of Misery, sometimes their song titles are also followed by the name of the murderer the song is about between parentheses. Macabre's most popular albums have been "Sinister Slaughter", released in 1993, and "Dahmer", released in 2000. The former parodies The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover, replacing all the celebrities and personalities for serial killers and mass murderers. And "Dahmer" is a biographical concept album about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. From his childhood to when his brain became an object of study after his death. Corporate Death himself attended Dahmer's trial, and even corresponded with and visited John Wayne Gacy along with Dennis the Menace.
Discography:
"Gloom" (1989)
"Sinister Slaughter" (1993)
"Dahmer" (2000)
"Murder Metal" (2003)
"Grim Scary Tales" (2011)
"Carnival of Killers" (2020)
Macabre's official website:
http://www.murdermetal.com/
Finally, from Quebec, Canada, we have yet another trio, Dahmer. Founded in 1995, and composed by singer and bassist Séb Dionne, drummer Yvan Dionne and guitarist Fred Bélanger, their sound is pure grindcore. Singing in both english and french, Dahmer has a certain number of songs not related to murderers unlike Macabre and Church of Misery. Dahmer songs on serial killers have no name other than simply the name of the murderer the song is about.
Discography:
"Dahmerized" (1998)
"The Studio Sessions Discography" (2003)
"Our Worst Recordings" (2007)
The band does not have an official website.
Editor's note: this piece ran in Serial Killer Magazine and is reproduced as written. It is about three bands rather than about any case, and no factual claim about a killing is made in it that this archive needs to check. The band Dahmer takes its name from Jeffrey Dahmer, who is recorded here at seventeen deaths.