Nocturnus

Nocturnus, a cult American death metal outfit rooted in Tampa, Florida, surfaced in the late 1980s and swiftly earned notice for its forward-thinking lyrics steeped in science fiction along with a brutal approach that folded in keyboard-led progressive metal touches. After three influential extreme metal albums, the unit shut down in 1999 yet resurfaced in 2015 under the name Nocturnus AD.

Mike Browning, previously the singer and drummer for Morbid Angel, launched the group in 1987 alongside guitarists Mike Davis and Gino Marino, bassist Jeff Estes, and keyboardist Louis Panzer. Once the demo Science of Horror appeared, Marino departed and guitarist Sean McNenney stepped in ahead of the 1991 Earache debut The Key. Dan Izzo took over vocals for 1992’s Thresholds, during which bassist Chris Anderson filled in for Estes; Emo Mowery then assumed the bass role for the self-titled 1993 Moribund album, Nocturnus’ first release without Browning, whose drumming duties passed to James Marcinek. The band soon split, only to regroup in 1999 with Davis, McNenney, Panzer, Mowery, and drummer Rick Bazzaro to produce the Season of Mist comeback Ethereal Tomb. Another dissolution followed in 2002, though the archival sets The Nocturnus Demos and Farewell to Planet Earth surfaced in 2004.

In 2015 Browning, who had started After Death after exiting Nocturnus, resumed live performances as Nocturnus AD with his After Death colleagues completing the lineup. Paradox, the ensemble’s fourth studio album and first issued under the revised name, arrived in 2019.