Are you a giant death metal nerd? Then you need to hear this very obscure demo from a great death metal band that never really got the recognition that they deserve… and then check out my full series on exactly this topic right here.
Long before Matt Thompson became known to metal fans as the drummer for King Diamond, he was part of a brief but fascinating Texas death metal project called Truncator — a band that existed for barely a year, released a single demo, and then vanished.
Active from 1993 to 1994, Truncator released one self-titled demo before calling it quits. Despite its short lifespan, the demo stands out as an unexpectedly forward-thinking release that blends old-school death metal with hints of what would later evolve into technical death metal — years before that style became fully defined.
At first glance, Truncator‘s demo sounds firmly rooted in early ’90s death metal. But closer listening reveals flashes of something more advanced. The opening track, “Acephalous,” is the clearest example — particularly in its lead guitar melodies, which weave in and out of the riffs with a complexity and phrasing that feels unusually progressive for 1993.
These melodic leads don’t dominate the songs, but they add a layer of sophistication that suggests the band was already thinking beyond standard genre conventions. In hindsight, Truncator sound like a group brushing up against ideas that wouldn’t become commonplace in death metal until a decade later.
Thanks to 00cities.org, Truncator‘s long-dead Geocities website has been preserved, offering rare insight into the band’s brief history. One of the most intriguing discoveries is the site’s music section, which lists five additional songs that are completely unavailable today.
There’s no indication whether these tracks were ever officially recorded, released, or even properly demoed. They don’t appear on Metal Archives, they’re not floating around on YouTube, and the website itself provides no further explanation. As far as anyone can tell, five Truncator songs may simply be lost to time.
The band’s origin story, as told on their website, is pure underground metal lore. Truncator formed after internal conflict in a previous band called Fit of Anger, sparked by a suspicious and jealous vocalist.
According to the band’s bio: “Fit of Anger‘s vocalist got a little paranoid one day and kicked JV and DT out of the band, claiming ‘I’m tired of being stabbed in the back.’ He was referring to the fact that DT, JV, and MT would play and write other songs when the other two members were at work… a little something called Truncator.”
That fallout led directly to the formation of Truncator where the band set out to create what they described as “a new breed of brutal death metal.”
Unlike many other obscure ’90s death metal demos, Truncator‘s self-titled demo is not completely lost. While it isn’t available on streaming platforms, the band has made it freely downloadable on Bandcamp, which already puts it a step ahead of countless forgotten projects from the era.
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