DEPRESSOR

Obscure San Francisco crust/industrial death metal cult DEPRESSOR was formed in 1992 by guitarist/vocalist and sole songwriter Chris Oxford, rising from the ashes of the 80's Bay Area scene and initially sparked by an interest in the bleak and monolithic sounds of early Earache Records industrial metal like Godlfesh, Pitch Shifter, etc, but later expanding to include grindcore and death metal influences, as well as the crust punk sound established by the almighty Amebix. In its early days the project was entirely a non-live studio endeavor of Oxford who played all instruments and famously used a drum machine to craft the early Depressor material which was conceived to offer a decidedly more metallic tribute to the crushing and mechanical sounds of the post-crust/industrial metal framework laid down by Godflesh on their self-titled and Streetcleaner albums. During this time the band took advantage of a pro recording facility in San Francisco and this is where the seminal Filth and Grace demos were recorded showcasing the more “polished” and cold industrial metal hybridization which Depressor would initially become known for, but which already also displayed the early seeds of what would become the band’s later signature raw crust punk/death metal output.

Toward the end of the 90’s Depressor’s musical horizons had expanded and its own sound had fully developed to encompass the totality of its influences, as well as ending the one-man-band status by bringing in three longtime friends, two of them formerly of 80's SF thrash act Extinction and future members of SF death metal cult Acephalix. During this era Depressor abandoned drum machines entirely, ditched recording studios in favor of home-recording on a four track, and slowly morphed into playing a more urgent, dirty, stripped down, and raw form of primitive and downtuned death metal/crust punk with their influences coming from Celtic Frost, Amebix, GISM, Discharge, Voivod and others being more prominent than ever and replacing the early industrial influences almost entirely. This can be referred to as Depressor's "crust era" when most of the band’s splits and EPs showcasing a much more raw and unpolished recording quality were recorded and released, including the now classic 打倒一切权威主义 (Down With All Authoritarianism) debut 7" EP and Promo 1999 demo tape, as well as the equally classic 7” splits with Agathocles and Japan’s Unholy Grave.

With the advent of the new millennium the band finally began to play its first live shows and for the next few years Depressor savaged eardrums from the stage, headlining their own shows as well as opening for bands ranging from underground acts like Artimus Pyle and Noxact to well-established ones such as Exodus and Death Angel. In late 2004 another bout of songwriting and recording took place, with their final official release of original material being a 2005 self-published double 7” - the iconic Book of the Dead EP - which featured custom packaging and artwork entirely crafted and hand-assembled one by one by the band itself and which is now a collector’s item among fans due to its astonishing DIY artwork and craftsmanship. The following year a split with legendary Japanese raw d-beat punk pioneers Disclose was planned and recorded but never saw the light due to the sudden death of Disclose leader Kawakami. The recording was shelved and soon after, with the economy in a downturn and unable to find a home on a label Depressor finally collapsed under it's own weight... Silence and oblivion claimed the band as Depressor went entirely dormant and nearly a decade silently passed with no shows or releases from the group.

During these years of total dormancy labels like Fuck Yoga Records from Macedonia would step in and help keep the Depressor name alive through a handful of reissues and compilation releases aimed at revitalizing the Depressor cult and giving people the chance to hear for the first time lost or until then completely unavailable and unheard of recordings which had been buried by time and the band’s own obscure existence. Fuck Yoga re-released their long lost and out of print early industrial metal demo tapes onto 12” vinyl (the Filth/Grace compilation LP containing remastered versions of the first two demos) and then in 2017 published a never before heard and long lost full-length album recorded back in 1995, remastered, and never before released. After many long years of silence Depressor surprisingly emerged from hibernation in 2015 and played their first show in twelve years at Berkeley’s iconic 924 Gilman St. venue along with hardcore punk legends Poison Idea, but the comeback was short lived and soon enough the band re-plunged into complete inactivity. But it was around this time that the band and Sentient Ruin connected through mutual friends to discuss unearthing and bringing back under the spotlight some of their best, as well as some yet to be heard, material from the late 90's and early 00's which was still buried in the sands of time- namely their still unreleased and long lost material intended for the Disclose split. As a result in 2018 Depressor and Sentient Ruin stipulated an unholy alliance coming together with the upcoming massive Hell Storms Over Earth 12” comp LP which aside from the never before heard Disclose split tracks will also include remastered versions of all Depressor’s songs from their long out of print late 90's/early 00's “crust era” splits and EPs: the 打倒一切权威主义 (Down With All Authoritarianism) 7" EP, the Promo 1999 demo tape, and the 7” splits with Agathocles and Unholy Grave - the ultimate chapter in the Depressor reissues saga aimed at celebrating one of the Bay Area’s most obscure and best kept extreme music secrets.