HISTORY

Rigor Mortis formed in 1983 in Arlington, Texas and quickly became a driving force in the original wave of North Texas Metal. With the emphasis on speed and the subject matter steeped in horror and gore, Rigor stood out as extreme intimidators, on and off stage. Starting out as a 3 piece composed of Mike Scaccia on guitar, Harden Harrison on drums, and Casey Orr on bass, the band started out playing covers by Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Metallica, Slayer, but were soon writing their own material. It wasn’t until they added vocalist Bruce Corbitt in ’86 that Rigor Mortis really came together as a band. They would soon record a demo tape that would eventually find it’s way to Dallas promoter Jeff Liles’ boombox, and from there to the desks of several of the biggest major label A&R reps in the business, including Rachel Matthews at Capitol Records, who immediately fell in love with the band and decided to sign them.

 

They first hit the national scene in 1987 by becoming, arguably, the first underground Heavy Metal band to ever be signed by a major label. Though the relationship with Capitol Records didn’t last long (Rachel moved on to another job and the label simply didn’t know what to do with such an intense group), the band managed to make a stir and indelibly leave their mark. Their 1988 debut record, RIGOR MORTIS (Capitol), has since become legendary in the thrash/speed metal community, influencing not only bands like Toxic Holocaust and Goatwhore, but also motivating Ministry to leave the disco for the Metal arena. Ministry would then, of course, influence everything from NIN to Marilyn Manson and Slipknot. 

 

After parting ways with Capitol, and then with singer Bruce Corbitt (replaced by Doyle Bright), RIGOR would go on to release two more records. 1989’s FREAKS (Metal Blade) was the natural progression from the debut album, fast, brutal, and gore drenched, but by the release of 1991’s RIGOR MORTIS vs THE EARTH (Triple X), the band was alternating between metal and punk influences. During these years the band had ineffectual management, did very little touring, and guitarist Mike Scaccia had begun working more and more with Al Jourgensen and Ministry. When Mike was asked to join Ministry full time, it came as no surprise and there were no hard feelings.

 

RIGOR MORTIS would all go their separate ways and work with numerous other bands. Mike would record and/or tour with Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lard, 1000 Homo DJs, and Buck Satan and The 666 Shooters. Bassist Casey Orr joined GWAR where he remained off and on from ’94-’11, and also worked with XCOPS, The Burden Brothers, The Hellions, Ministry, and Warbeast, and others. Harden Harrison went on to play drums for Pervis, Speedealer, Mitra, and currently Hint of Death. Bruce would form Texas Metal Alliance, which would evolve into the mighty Warbeast. Doyle Bright currently plays with Hallow’s Eve.

 

The members of RIGOR remained friends throughout the years, but it wasn’t until 2005 that talk of reuniting started becoming serious. There were still other commitments, but they did manage to play quite a few shows, including Ozzfest 2008, and Germany’s Keep It True Festival in 2009. In Feb. 2012 all the pieces finally came together and RIGOR MORTIS entered 13th Planet Studios to record what was to be their comeback record - Slaves To The Grave. Older and wiser, and all in a good place with their personal lives, there was an excitement in the air not felt since 1987. Plans to tour were being discussed, and Mike was already talking about writing the next record. RIGOR MORTIS had finally come full circle.

 

Then, on December 22nd, 2012, it all came to a halt. The band was playing their home town club in Ft Worth, in celebration of Bruce’s 50th birthday, when midway through the set, Mike Scaccia suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed on stage. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead shortly after midnight. RIGOR MORTIS was over. Though it was never discussed, they all knew there would be no more RM without Mike Scaccia. 

 

But the album was recorded and almost finished. And as fate would have it, just days before he died, Mike went into the studio and put the finishing touches on all of his parts, effectively enabling the guys to complete the record, knowing that Mike was happy with it. But it’s been a hard record to finish, mostly because it’s simply hard to let it go. It’s become such a labor of love for all involved. When no labels were willing to release the record (after all there would be no touring to support it, or follow up record), they decided to release it themselves. With no money, they started a fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo. They called in favors from their friends to get the record mixed and mastered just right and get the cover art just the way they envisioned it. They decided to add a behind the scenes “making of” dvd to the initial pressing, and to release it on vinyl. 

 

So, on July 14th, 2014, twenty-Three years after their last record, and nineteen months after the tragic loss of guitarist Mike Scaccia, DFW TX Speed/Thrash Metal pioneers, RIGOR MORTIS, announce the long awaited release of their fourth and final studio album - SLAVES TO THE GRAVE (Rigor Mortis Records). Scheduled to hit the streets on Oct. 7th, 2014,  SLAVES will mark the bands first record with the classic original line up of Scaccia, Orr, Corbitt, and Harrison, since their 1988 eponymous debut album. 

 

 

 

DISCOGRAPHY

(Mike, Casey, Harden, Bruce)

Rigor Mortis - “Foaming at the Mouth” - Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years soundtrack - Capitol Records

Rigor Mortis - Rigor Mortis - Capitol Records

Rigor Mortis - Slaves To The Grave

 

(Mike, Casey, Hardin)

Rigor Mortis - “Grudge Fuck” - Dude You Rock compilation - Triple X Records

 

(Mike, Casey, Hardin, Doyle Bright)

Rigor Mortis - Freaks - Metal Blade 

Rigor Mortis - Rigor Mortis Vs. The Earth - Triple X 

 

(Mike, Casey)

Blohole - Leave It To Blohole - Triple X

Ministry - Relapse - 13th Planet Records

Ministry - Enjoy The Quiet - Live at Wacken 2012 - UDR

Ministry - Last Tangle In Paris - Live 2012 DefibfrilaTour -  UDR

 

(Mike)

Ministry - In case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up - Sire 

1000 Homo DJs - Supernaut - WaxTrax 

Revolting Cocks - Beers Steers and Queers - WaxTrax 

Ministry - Jesus Built My Hotrod - Sire 

Ministry - Psalm 69 - Sire

Revolting Cocks - Linger Ficken’ Good - Sire Records

Ministry - Filth Pig - Warner

Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction -Alternative Tentacles

Lard - 70s Rock Must Die - Alternative Tentacles

Ministry - Houses of the Mole’ - Sanctuary

Revolting Cocks - Cocked and Loaded - 13th Planet

Ministry - Rio Grande Blood - 13th Planet

Ministry - Cover Up - 13th Planet

Ministry - From Beer To Eternity

 

(Casey)

GWAR - RagNaRok - Metal Blade Records

GWAR - Carnival Of Chaos - Metal Blade Records

GWAR - Violence Has Arrived - Metal Blade Records

GWAR - Lust In Space - Metal Blade Records

GWAR - Bloody Pit of Horror - Metal Blade Records

XCOPS - You Have The Right To Remain Silent - Metal Blade Records

The Hellions - The Hellions - Hello Records

The Burden Brothers - Buried In Your Black Heart - Kirtland Records

Billyclub - Punk Rock Ambulance - Idol Records

 

(Harden)

Pervis -Pervis- 1994- Last Beat Records

Pervis- Neck or Nothing-1996-Idol Records

Pervis-Cleansed by Fire"-1998-Idol Records

Speedealer-Here Comes Death"-1999-Palm Records

Speedealer- "Second Sight -2002-Palm Records

Mitra- All Gods Kill -2006-Idol Records

Mitra- The Unbeliever -2010-Idol Records

 

(Hardin, Casey)

Speedealer - Bleed

Speedealer - Burned Alive (Live at CBGBs)

 

(Bruce)

Warbeast - Krush The Enemy - 2011 - Housecore Records

Warbeast - War Of The Gargantuas (split EP w/ Phil Anselmo) -2013 Housecore Records

Warbeast - Destroy - 2013 - Housecore Records