Interview with King Fowley of Deceased

Deceased, the legendary band from Northern Virginia, USA. began its musical journey in the metal scene in 1985. The band that set out to surpass the thrash of Slayer managed over the years to create their undeniably own death/thrash metal sound and identity.

King Fowley, the founder, frontman, and long-time drummer of the band, epitomizes the metal warrior. He has had enough experiences to fill more than one lifetime - perhaps as many as he managed to cheat death. His authenticity, honesty, and multi-faceted personality shine through in his music and personal life, making any conversation with him a valuable life lesson.

The interview he gave us at Metalourgio was much more than enlightening both for the upcoming Deceased album “Children of the morgue” which will be released on August 30, 2024 and for their plans for the future.

We are honored to have you at Metalourgio and have the chance to chat with one of the pioneers of American Death Metal.

Cheers. Many thanks for the support.

Looking back to 1985, what inspired you to create the band, and how did you come up with the name Deceased?

Τhe love of music since I was a little kid. The Beatles, Kiss, to Sabbath, Maiden and so on. I had been in bands even before Deceased. Not as a good musician and nothing much to them but it was all just a young kid of 12 at my earliest bands on trying to get out and play songs I loved and writing music I loved. Getting to the point of having friends who also wanted to play and make a more professional band took time but we did it. Our youthful energy and love for the extreme drove us to play faster and weirder and heavier. I came up with the name DECEASED in early 85. We had names like Madd Butcher, Evil Axe, and Mace before it. But none were ever going to be permanent.

The tragic loss of your bassist, Rob Sterzel, definitely had a profound impact on you. Have there been any other moments that compelled you to redefine yourselves as a band or make difficult decisions?

We’ve had a few deaths in the band over the years. That is heart breaking and tragic. I’ve been sick at times; I had a stroke in 2004. But you push on. You have to. The world waits for no one. Live your life and give it your all. Ιn respect to living and those who’ve passed before you.

If you were to start the band over, would you make any changes?

Nothing. It’s all learning experiences. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

As one of the rare frontmen who chose to sit behind the drums, how difficult was it to play the drums while singing?

Well, I haven’t done it in over 2 decades. The first 20 years I did. And it was fun and kind of different from most bands. I just learned to keep the beats in one part of my mind and in the other the vocal lines. I really am proud at how good I got at it during the time I did it. But I really do love being out front for live shows. I still get my drum time by writing the drum stuff for the records.

Most of your albums share a common theme. However, Fearless Undead Machines is heavily inspired by the Living Dead trilogy. What makes these movies so unique,that inspired you to create this concept album?

Part of growing up was getting into horror movies. ‘Night of the living dead’ (really for me the first genuine zombie film) was one of the first I saw on the late show spooky theatre channel as a kid. It got to me, and I just really enjoyed the death after life monsters about it. So, metal music and horror seemed fitting and so I made a storyline that told my angle of the humans against zombies tale.

Supernatural Addiction is one of your top albums. Tell us about the album, where you got the inspiration for the lyrics, and who came up with the concept for the Elly's Dementia video.

It’s my all-time favorite by us. We were getting better as players and song writers. The songs felt stronger and more together. Better production. ‘ellys dementia’ was a song we wrote as we all loved ‘the blair witch project’ movie. It brought that childhood boogeyman out in us and we wrote on it and other morbid ideas from film, literature, and the ilk. The video kind of made itself. We just wanted to set up in dark places like the woods at night and underground tunnels and play our tune. We were fortunate that the blair witch actual house from the film wasn’t far from us and we got footage in the house to add to it all. that was the first video we ever shot and a lady did it for free. She taught film at Maryland College University.

The combination of music, lyrics, and cover art is what defines Death Metal. How did you choose each of your covers, and what do they represent for you?

I just kind of get an idea and present it to the artist and they give it what I want with some of their own flair and personality. Most of our cover art we’ve done I really enjoy while a few kind of went off coursed a little due to artistic differences between me and an artist. But that will happen when all are kind of in their own mind. To pick an all time favorite I’d probably say ‘surreal overdose’ for me.

It's clear that you have a particular fondness for covers, and the way you handle them shows respect for your origins. Are there any tracks you'd like to be included on an upcoming cover album?

We love doing them. It’s a tribute to the bands. and musicians who have inspired us somewhere on our musical journey. Oh there are tons I’d love to do from new wave and punk songs and off the cuff stuff to so many more metal ones. We will be going back to venom for another cover next year. As well as our first ever black Sabbath cover, one of all-time favorite bands.

Who would you consider to be the "Big Four" of Death Metal if there ever was one?

Hard to say. Is it a popularity thing/ is it my faves? And what exactly is death metal? The grrr, tuned down stuff of the last 30 years? Or do you include the doom laden earlier bands like say cirith untgol who were very death driven in their works yet not ‘grrr’ type of band. For me it’s impossible.

Who would you like to share the stage with and who would you never be able to co-exist with?

Iron maiden, a nice tour with our friends Voivod. Those would be great. Bands I don’t care to play with… Morbid Angel, Razor, are 2. Had bad run ins with diva rock star trips from those 2 band in the past. We hate rock star shit and all of that. This is the underground, stop acting like you’re the Rolling Stones!

What would you like to share about your upcoming album? Please tell me about your future plans.

I’m very proud of ‘Children of the Morgue’. The band really put tons of time and effort and heart into it. Love the mix, the songs and the time we had making it. It’ll be out august 30th on cd and cassette on hells headbangers records. and then the 2 lp gatefold vinyl around Halloween. We’ll do shows for the end of the year and all of 2025 in honor of the record and our 40th anniversary of being DECEASED band. A 2 cd set history of the band will surface next year called ‘march of the cadavers’. It’ll feature tracks from all eras, a couple cover songs, some redo new recordings of a few demo day tunes, and a couple new song exclusives to the set. Other than that being ourselves, loving music, and doing what we do.

In 2017, the autobiography "Stay Ugly: The Life and Near Deaths of King Fowley" was published. What would you say was the most compelling reason to share these stories?

A guy approached me on tour and said ‘you should do a book!’. ‘you’ve lived a wild life’. I laughingly replied ‘maybe one day’. He got in touch and we worked together for the next 4-5 years doing it. It was fun to do and emotional. Life is life and it’s a journey. I did enjoy reliving and talking of lots of things in my life while being sad at other parts of it. And it did really well. people enjoyed the honesty in it. I may reprint it soon. People ask all the time for a copy but it’s long been sold out.i also will do another one at some point.

Is social media influencing the metal scene? And what role do you think Artificial Intelligence will play in the evolution of metal?

It is. It speeds things up. It also dumbs things down at time. But it’s the world. It’s where we are in 2024 on this planet. A.I. is what it is. The futuristic world is coming, less human more ‘robotic’. Let’s see if Voivod is right with their ‘killing technology’ worlds from 1987.

Having experienced metal from its birth until today, do you think the metalhead lifestyle has changed? Does that spark that powered metal still exist?

The world has changed and with it peoples look on things.Which includes those in the metal world. whether its fashion, the way people think on things, or just the way they approach playing or hearing the music part of it. Visuals have been more forefront since the MTV days, and it seems image over substance is rampant in the world in about any category. But metal is alive. The heartbeat is strong. I say at the end of our shows ‘Metal is alive and well’. Just keep it how it’s meant to be. GENUINE!

Thank you for your time. Anything you would like to add?

Many thanks for this interview. Again thanks for the support. Cheers to all reading. Stay wild! UP THE TOMBSTONES!

King Fowley

The interview was conducted by Metalourgio