A little-known American Black/Death
metal band formed in 1993 by a manic-depressive vocalist David 'Eblis' Bickle and guitarist Tom 'Mammon' Gallagher (the latter was released from
prison after an
alcohol-related accident at this time). While auditioning in New York the two exchanged ideas but thought nothing of eachother until they met their godsend: brutal percussionist and practicing occultist
Gary 'Balrog'
Jackson, who instantly recognized their
talent and decided that if a band wasn't formed at that point, there would be no justice in the world. Not long after the trio took up tracveling and auditioning together did they begin to gather converts
like a
snowball. These included the talented bass
player Randal 'Belial' Everson, who just recently graduated from college, and Wolgang 'Azrael' Grubb, whose experimental notions in music theory and keyboarding expertise contributed much to the band's overall sound. The result was one of the most intense and innovative American black
metal bands ever formed.
However, Immaculate Deception had difficulty financing itself, and before long tragedy struck, for Bickle committed suicide in 1996, despite his exceptionally talented writing and vocals, he was never quite satisfied with himself or his accomplishments and thus his death robbed the genre of one of it's most talented vocalists.
The rest of the band began to lose morale at this point as well, and the band reached a funk that some say they have never recovered from. In 1999, while on tour, Randal had wandered off into the woods in
Maine and has not been seen since. Foul Play is not suspected, but the mystery remains unsolved and the matter is not closed to the
FBI. To make matters worse,
Gary, though dedicated to Immaculate Deception since it's initial forming, died of a drug overdose in 2000. While Tom and Wolfgang recruited a new singer and bassist, Gallagher attempted to gain more promotion for the band by burning down a church! He did not succeed, but was caught by
police and convicted in 2001. Having lost his will to play, 'Azrael' soon found a more promising career in a technical band called
Bad Intro (is this a joke? I hope so).
Despite this constant stream of tragedy and inconsistency, Immaculate Deception has proven it's resilience, and with an entirely new line-up is currently active after releasing their latest album "Dreadthorne" which remains true to the band's original sound. The current line-up is:
Satanniel (guitars/vocals)
Geryon (guitars)
Mastema (bass)
Rimmon (drums)
Nisroch (keyboards)