OBLITERATION
***(Note: In addition to our MySpace profile, don't forget to check out Richard Puckett's Official website at http://www.veilofdisdain.com!)***
OBLITERATION was a Christian death metal band from Oklahoma City, OK who dominated the underground christian metal scene in Oklahoma and the southwest throughout the late 1990's. The band was comprised of a handful of musicians who came from previous death metal bands, respectively, in the OKC area. The original band members are as follows:
Richard (aka "Rikki") Puckett: Vocals
Kevin Tubby: Guitarist
Bryan Nikkel: Guitarist
Greg Berger: Bass
David Campbell: Drums
Richard Puckett and David Campbell were bandmates in a previous band originally named Treacherous Death which was founded by Richard Puckett and Brandon See. Treacherous Death also was known as Golgotha in the latter part of its existence.
Kevin Tubby and Bryan Nikkel were also bandmates in a previous band called Evisceration. Evisceration was a secular death metal band who was a crowd favorite at the local clubs and concert venues of the day.
Greg Berger was a mutual friend of Richard and David. Greg's brother Matt was one of the guitarists from Treacherous Death/Golgotha which is how they met and knew Greg. They were also acquainted with each other through War Club Ministries (which Richard was deeply involved with) pastored by Vern Marks, who also was the head of the nightly christian metal format as the main DJ at KOKF 91FM - 90.9FM.
The disbanding of Golgotha and Evisceration was near to the same time, which made for great opportunities between some of the members of both bands. Kevin Tubby and Bryan Nikkel had rededicated their lives to God and renewed their faith and practice in Christianity. As a result, Dave, Kevin, and Bryan started playing together. The only thing that lacked was a vocalist and a bassist. Dave contacted Richard to inform him of the vacancy behind the microphone of this new band which was in the process of being born. Richard was introduced to Kevin and Bryan through Dave and got acquainted with them. After sitting in to check out a couple of practice sessions, Richard decided this new musical entity would be a perfect fit for him and accepted the offer to join the band. The last piece of the puzzle easily fell into place when Greg Berger entered the band, thus completing what would soon be known by many as OBLITERATION!
In the Spring of 1997, OBLITERATION recorded an extremely rare four song demo at Premier Studio, owned by Kirk Campbell - the drummer of Eternal Decision. It was originally mentioned by Kevin Tubby to name the demo "Torn In Two" but was later decided that "Dying Age" would be a more appropriate name for the demo, given the content of the music. Soon after the release of the Dying Age material, OBLITERATION performed and shared the stage with the likes of Napalm Death, Living Sacrifice, Melchezidek, Eternal Decision, Frank's Enemy, Skinlab, and Exodus, among many other bands. They also played three Texas Rockfest's with the likes of Tourniquet and Extol along with several other national acts. OBLITERATION soon picked up a cult following worldwide as they began to receive fan mail from Europe. To this day, it is still unknown how their demo started "getting out there" especially taking into consideration the extremely limited number of units of the demo which were pressed. It is worth noting that this started happening BEFORE they had been picked up for worldwide distribution as well as BEFORE Cross Rhythms Music created and released the "Chords of the Grave" compilation. The band's existence under the "OBLITERATION" moniker came to an end with the departure of Richard Puckett from the band nearing the end of 1997.
The guys retooled and renamed the band "Death List." Kevin Tubby was assigned to take over the vocal duties in addition to being the lead guitarist. Greg Berger also was soon to leave the band as well. They brought in a new bassist which made the lineup changes consist of the following:
Kevin Tubby: Main Vocals and Guitar
Bryan Nikkel: Vocals and Guitar
Derek Scarborough: Bass
David Campbell: Drums
As "Death List," the band would eventually release their first and only full length album entitled, "Severed." Severed was picked up for worldwide distribution through Cross Rhythms Music (which is now Blastbeats Music). "Severed" was received well amongst fans nationally and worldwide but failed to garner the same praise and accolades by fans when compared to the OBLITERATION material. The band also took criticism in reviews from several magazines, including HM Magazine, as well as online music sites due to the controversial cover art of the "Severed" album. The artwork depicts a girl who has been decapitated, with the head lying in proper position above the neck with the rest of the body in a transparent body bag. It was somehow rumored that the artwork on the front of the cd insert was a true and real picture of a real decapitated girl. However, there is no truth to those rumors. It is indeed a true and real picture, but it is NOT a "REAL" dead girl who has been decapitated. It is uncertain how this rumor got started, but there is no truth to those accusations (Editor's note: I should know since I was the original vocalist of the band).
Cross Rhythms/Blastbeats Music also put together and released a compilation entitled, "Chords of the Grave," which included the entire OBLITERATION demo. It also included several other significant and notable underground christian death metal bands such as Oblation and Disencumbrance. The "Chords of the Grave" compilation was a smashing success within the christian death metal scene worldwide and was well-respected within the underground secular death metal scene also. To this day, "Chords of the Grave" is widely viewed as perhaps the greatest christian death metal compilation in history.
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Richard Puckett rejoined the band in the summer of 1998. They kept the name "Death List." Death List's last show came on November 28, 1998 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. DEATH LIST HEADLINED THE SHOW with national act and Solid State recording artist, Embodyment, as the opening act. Solid State Records is a division of Tooth & Nail Records. Due to several internal and family issues, Death List officially met its unfortunate demise in January of 1999. Below are just a few of the bands that OBLITERATION/Death List has performed with:
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