About Me
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Formed in Pittsburgh, PA during the fall of 1984 by George Grant and Spahr Schmitt after hearing "Kill 'Em All". Several early line-ups mutated during that first year to ultimately reveal Necropolis Mk. 1 : George Grant, Guitar; Spahr Schmitt, Vocals; Cam MacDonell, Bass; Jesse Michaels, Drums. Necropolis were the first Pittsburgh band to call themselves "Thrash Metal", and played their first show at the infamous Electric Banana on November 10, 1985. The painted plywood visage of mascots "Ed" and "Fred" (from the city of the dead) made their only appearance, and George blazed a solo behind his head during a cover of "1000 Days in Sodom", but even flying drum-pedal mallets couldn't stop the hellstorm. Pittsburgh would never be the same... Early triumphs aside, 1986 saw that line-up fall apart with Jesse (the "Berkeley Tuft Drummer!") moving on to vocal duties, forming local thrashers Outlash with a young Jon Dawson (Guitar) and Chris Emerson (Drums). Meanwhile, George and Spahr revamped Necropolis with Greg Mairs on drums and the aforementioned Jon Dawson helping out on Guitar. During a recording session at a little 8-track facility in Duquesne, PA, it became clear that the 16-year-old Dawson was emerging as a talent on the six-stringer (also apparent was the distortion on a Scholz Rockman SUCKS for recording METAL). Having doubled on both guitar and bass for the tracking, George decided to move over to the bass permanently. That summer Jesse Michaels moved back to Berkeley, CA, leaving Outlash sans-vocals. With Dawson already in the fold, drummer Chris Emerson joined Necropolis in the fall of 1986, and the band recorded the demo tape "Welcome To The Masquerade" on a rented four-track machine. Released on 3-for-a-dollar "Rite-Aid" brand cassettes, it marked the beginning of Tom Reynolds unforgettable artwork appearing on band covers, flyers, and merchandise. Also that year, Grant and Schmitt founded a thrash metal fanzine called Warhammer to display their grammatical-ineptitude and hunt-n-peck prowess on Spahr's parents' italic typewriter. Despite its' shortcomings, the mag managed to shed light on the growing Pittsburgh scene which now featured the stellar Dream Death and DoomWatch along with punk veterans Half Life. With alot of hard work from Rob Tabachka at the legendary Eide's record store, Warhammer helped to pull together the scattered elements of the Pittsburgh thrash landscape. A benefit show for the 'zine was held at a roller rink called City Limits on December 20, 1986. The line-up featured Half Life, Necropolis, Dream Death, DoomWatch, Angus Grimm and the debut of Castle Blood. It was a resounding success with several hundred in attendance, and cemented the role of Warhammer in the Pittsburgh thrash metal scene (trust me, before the internet, a little xeroxed fanzine did wonders). Castle Blood impressed at the gig, and brought to light the guitar talents of Eric Reese. Looking to strengthen their sound, Necropolis added Reese to the mix for their next demo, "Futurekill", recorded in February 1987 on Joe Rembisz' four-track. The new five-piece gigged successfully for the next few months. Then suddenly, George decided to move on to other projects, and played his last show with the band opening for Hallow's Eve on April 25, 1987. Being the principal song writer of the group, George's departure left the band with two gaping holes. The hunt for a new bass player proved to be the more daunting of the new challenges. After playing a couple of shows with the assistance of the ever-helpful Jeff Cherep (DoomWatch) on bass, the four remaining members retreated into a "writing-seclusion" (a.k.a. it was summer and we needed to party)! As thrash metal continued to embrace more complex rhythms and changes as well as a punk-inspired emphasis on originality and musical self-indulgence, Necropolis wrote a new set of material pushing the late-teens' abilities to new levels. Then without warning, the final piece of the puzzle dropped into place. Bassist Brian Stanwyck joined Schmitt, Dawson, Emerson and Reese in fall of 1987, and the "Chang" dynasty of the band began in earnest. Re-emerging on October 25, 1987 at a show anchored by a DoomWatch video shoot, the band unleashed it's new material, spearheaded by the favorites "Drunk and Arrogant", "M.I.A." and "Shall Earth Endure". More shows followed, then in February of 1988 the band descended on the 24-track JTM Studios in Knox, PA to document the new sound and annoy the piss out of Joe Rembisz. "The Insanity Has Only Begun" was released in May, and sold almost 500 copies as well as garnering the band international press and acclaim. That fall Necropolis was named Pittsburgh's Best Heavy Metal Band by the In Pittsburgh News Weekly (what, NO Triple X ?). Then came a record deal with Zanzibar Records and six months of recording at Alpha Star studios in McKeesport, PA. The sessions were handled by producer Nason Geig (R.I.P), who entertained the band by telling prison stories and dropping his pants. The result was to be the epic "Breaking The Tradition" album. But as young adulthood and responsibility set in on the members, Jon Dawson decided to pursue his musical education at the University of Miami. Schmitt followed with the announcement that Dawson was irreplaceable and on August 20, 1989, Necropolis played their last show. The performance covered most of the material the band had ever written, and managed to almost clear the room about two-thirds of the way through the set. Zanzibar decided not to release "Breaking The Tradition", and the world was spared the eclectic and self-indulgent hodge-podge of under-produced musical-masturbation. It was fun as hell, though!
