Seven Churches (album)

Seven Churches
A black background with the word "Possessed" middle-centered near the top in a highly stylized large Gothic black font with the letters visible because they are outlined by a burning mono-tone red fire. A large white inverted cross appear behind the letter "o" and a long, red devil's tail starts from the bottom of the letter "P", goes behind the cross, and curves downward and then back towards the cross, with the tip like an arrow appearing to point towards the inverted cross. Near the bottom of the cover are the words "Seven" and "Churches", each middle-centered, in a red font different from the first.
Studio album by
Possessed
ReleasedNovember 4, 1985 (1985-11-04)[1]
RecordedMarch 30 – April 5, 1985
StudioPrairie Sun Studios (Cotati, California)[2]
Genre
Length39:21
LabelCombat
ProducerRandy Burns
Possessed chronology
Death Metal
(1984) 		Seven Churches
(1985) 		Beyond the Gates
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com(favorable)[3]
AllMusic[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal5/10[5]
Spin(favorable)[6]

Seven Churches is the debut studio album by American death metal band Possessed. The album title refers to the Seven Churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation. "The Exorcist" begins with producer Randy Burns' version of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, performed as it was in the 1973 horror film of the same name. Seven Churches is widely regarded as the first death metal album to exist, and About.com named it one of the ten essential albums of the genre.[3] Jeff Becerra and Larry Lalonde were only 16 when the album was recorded.[7]

  1. ^ "New Releases" (PDF). FMQB. November 1, 1985. p. 37. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  2. ^ J. Andrew (January 18, 2023). "Graves Of The 80s: POSSESSED Seven Churches". Metal Injection. Retrieved August 17, 2023. Jeff Bacerra offered some amusing details about the recording of Seven Churches, conducted at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, California
  3. ^ a b Schalek, Dave. "Essential Death Metal Albums". About.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  4. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Possessed: Seven Churches". AllMusic. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  5. ^ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 267. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  6. ^ Rankin, Judge (July 1986). "Possessed: Seven Churches (Combat)". Spin. ISSN 0886-3032.
  7. ^ "Jeff Becerra - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved August 29, 2022.