The “Mortician” History

The early days…

Mortician was founded by Will Rahmer (bass/vocals) and Matt Sicher (drums) under the name of Casket. They wrote their first song called Mortician and decided to change the band’s name to that. A rehearsal tape was recorded in December 1989 for promotional purposes. In February 1990 the same songs were recorded for our first demo which John McEntee of Incantation played guitar for. John remained a member of Mortician throughout most of 1990 which coinsided with Will’s singing in Incantation. This demo went on to be pressed up by Seraphic Decay Records (dick!) and was Brutally Mutilated.

Temporary becomes permanent…

In January 1991 Roger J. Beaujard joined Mortician as a permanent guitarist. After getting great responses at several shows all around the North East US, Relapse Records contacted Mortician to record a 7″ EP. This later went on to become the Mortal Massacre 7″ and CD EP. Mortician continued to play various shows and festivals and were getting prepared to record thier first full-length CD. At this point in the band’s history, they made a critical decision. We had to let Matt Sicher go as drummer due to his excessive harsh drug use and lack of commitment.

Enter Drum Machine…

In early ’92, because of the lack of a drummer, Will and Roger began to experiment with drum machines. Mortician recorded several private tapes for their own benefit just to get an idea of what sound they were going to go for. Mortician had about 15 rehearsal tracks recorded for a full-length project which was sent to Relapse. 3 of those tracks were taken from that recording and put on Corporate Death Compilation CD which was released in 1993.

Failed attempts…

After the compilation came out, Mortician spent most of their available time trying out drummers, which never really worked out. Mortician only played a few local shows in the area with various stand-in drummers. These were the dark years when all hope was lost and the end seemed near. Individually Will & Roger experienced many personal ordeals such as jail, fights, work, financial problems and life’s general bullshit. So needless to say not much was accomplished until summer of 1994. By this time most people thought Mortician had broken up, but the band was just on hold. Shortly after this break period ended, Relapse contacted Mortician to record a song for the “Death is Just the Beginning III” compilation. The song “Blown to Pieces” was recorded in August of 1994 with the aid of a drum machine. At this point Mortician decided to continue using the drum machine as far as recording was concerned.

A classic born in one night…

Relapse then approached Mortician about another 7″ to let fans know they were back in action. In September of 1994, Mortician recorded 5 songs which resulted in the “House by the Cemetery” 7″. “House” was released in early 1995 and received a great response. This led to Relapse asking Mortician to record bonus tracks for a CD EP release. Before the recording of the bonus tracks Mortician were asked to record the title track for the home video “Traces of Death III”. This track is completely exclusive to the video and its soundtrack, it is available nowhere else. In July 1995 the bonus tracks were completed which included covers of “Scum” by Napalm Death and “Procreation of the Wicked” by Celtic Frost. The rest of 1995 was spent playing various NYC shows with stand-in guitarists and Roger playing drums.

The first full length…

In January 1996, the “House by the Cemetery” CD was released. This marked the beginning of a new era for Mortician as far as coming across as a serious project. During this time Mortician recorded many rehearsal tapes for private evaluation in preparation for their full-length CD. At this time Mortician signed their contract with Relapse for this recording. Around April 1996 Will & Roger began preparation of songs to be recorded for the CD. Desmond Tolhurst, a bass player from one of Roger’s other projects, Malignancy , offered to assist in the production and contribute equipment to the recording of this CD. They readily accepted his offer, and were looking forward to recording the project digitally. The only thing missing from “House” was the frequency response found in digital recordings. Mortician recorded and mixed the CD in July 1996 and were very please to say the least with the outcome. This CD features 16 songs dating as far back as 1990 to 1996 that were never released before and 8 songs rerecorded, 3 from the 1st demo, 1 from Mortal Massacre EP and 4 Compilation tracks.

The first tour…

Mortician went on its first tour with Incantation and Anal Cunt from October 1996 to mid November from Texas up through the mid west and finished up in eastern Pennsylvania. Nine shows were played all together and the response was excellent. At this time Roger was unable to leave the state due to a legal matter and did not make the tour. At this time Relapse released “Hacked up for Barbecue” for mail order. At the end of the year we started recording rehearsal tapes of brand new songs for our next release which will be completed by October 1997. You can expect even more of the Mortician brutality on this future release of 20+ songs!

Mortician records for New Line Cinema…

At the very beginning of 1997 Mortician recorded a track titled “Skin Peeler” for the New Line Cinema release “Gummo” which should be out in the summer of 1997. The movie is a continuation of the themes set in the film “Kids”.

Hacking up the stores…

January 28th, 1997 saw the release of “Hacked up for Barbecue” worldwide in stores. So far response has been great and Mortician looks forward to a brutal 1997!

The rest is history…

That’s how Mortician was born and became one of the most brutal bands in the underground gore-grind metal scene! As always STAY FUCKING BRUTAL!!!!

Current news can be found on the front page.