Asylum

Hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland, Asylum operated as a little-known heavy metal power trio whose lineup included vocalist and guitarist Dale Flood, bassist Earl Schreyer, and drummer Ronnie Kalimon. The three musicians first connected through a mutual admiration for Black Sabbath’s definitive recordings, the crushing distortion and defiant attitude of Motörhead, and understated traces of 1970s art-rock experimentation. Although the group remained active during the latter half of the 1980s, its only tangible results were a handful of demos and a modest local audience. Greater underground recognition arrived in the following decade once the band adopted the name Unorthodox and issued two respected doom albums. Asylum’s earlier work stayed largely overlooked until Shadow Kingdom Records issued the 1985 demo collection The Earth Is the Insane Asylum of the Universe in 2009.