Obituary (band)

Obituary
Obituary live in Toronto, 2009
Background information
Also known as	Executioner Xecutioner
Origin	Tampa, Florida, United States
Genres	Death metal
Years active	1984–1997 2003–present
Labels	Relapse Candlelight Roadrunner
Associated acts	Six Feet Under Death Deicide Massacre Denial Fiend Tardy Brothers
Website	www.obituary.cc
Members	John Tardy Trevor Peres Donald Tardy Terry Butler Kenny Andrews
Past members	Former members

Obituary is an American death metal band formed in October 1984 in Tampa, Florida, under the name Executioner, then changed the name's spelling to Xecutioner before eventually changing their name to Obituary in 1988. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist John Tardy, lead guitarist Kenny Andrews, rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres, bassist Terry Butler, and drummer Donald Tardy. Obituary has gone through several lineup changes, with Peres and the Tardy brothers being the only constant members. The band was a fundamental act in the development of death metal music, and is one of the most successful death metal bands of all time.

Obituary are one of the pioneering bands of the death metal genre. Founded as Executioner in Seffner, Florida in 1984, they soon dropped the "E" from their name after discovering another band of the same name, becoming Xecutioner. The band's first lineup was composed of John Tardy (vocals), Jerry Tidwell (lead guitar), Trevor Peres (guitar), Jerome Grable (bass) & Donald Tardy (drums). The band released demos in 1985, 1986, and 1987, (the 1985 demo as Executioner and the 1986 and 1987 demos as Xecutioner). They made their vinyl debut in 1987 with two tracks ("Find the Arise" and "Like the Dead") on the Raging Death compilation. Not long after the release of the compilation, bassist Grable was replaced by Daniel Tucker. The following year, shortly before the release of the band's first album Slowly We Rot, they changed their name to Obituary.

After 1997's Back from the Dead album, the band had grown tired of touring, which led to the group disbanding. During this time period, Donald Tardy played in Andrew W.K.'s touring band (during W.K.'s appearance on Saturday Night Live Tardy wore an Obituary shirt). Allen West focused on his two projects, Lowbrow and Six Feet Under. Trevor Peres formed Catastrophic in 2001, which released one album, The Cleansing, in that same year. Obituary reformed in 2003 and Catastrophic continued to exist alongside the reformed Obituary. A reunion album, Frozen in Time, was released in 2005. The band's first live DVD, Frozen Alive, was released in January 2007.