BLUDGEONT: The Nearly Forgotten ’90s Death Metal Band That Deserves Some Love

Are you a giant death metal nerd? Then you need to hear this very obscure demo from a great death metal band that never really got the recognition that they deserve… and then check out my full series on exactly this topic right here.

Bludgeont are practically a ghost in the history of ’90s death metal — and that’s a real shame. Based on the little information that still exists online, the band were active from roughly 1992 to 1996 and released one self-titled demo shortly before calling it quits. That demo alone should have been enough to secure them a modest cult following, yet somehow their name has almost completely vanished from the conversation.

Musically, the Bludgeont demo sits comfortably between Deicide‘s blasphemous aggression and the early, groove-heavy brutality of Six Feet Under. It’s raw, violent, and direct — pure mid-’90s American death metal with no unnecessary frills. Even more baffling is how this demo has never been properly reissued or rediscovered by the modern death metal revival crowd, especially in an era where obscure demos are routinely unearthed via reissues and algorithm-driven recommendations.

According to Metal Archives, Bludgeont‘s discography consists of just that single demo. But digging deeper reveals a bit more. While searching for additional information, I came across a YouTube upload featuring three unreleased tracks, allegedly recorded before the 1996 demo. That video traced back to a SoundCloud page run by guitarist and vocalist Chris Young, which — remarkably — still exists, even though it hasn’t been updated in over a decade.

That SoundCloud page appears to host everything Bludgeont ever recorded, along with a short but illuminating description written by Young himself: “My name is Chris. Back in 1992, my friend Ken and I put together a band called Bludgeont. We wanted to start a death metal band and the influences for us were Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide, etc.”

Young goes on to explain that Bludgeont were active for four years, playing numerous shows and sharing stages with notable acts during a formative era of extreme metal: “We started up in 1992 and the band finally broke up at the end of 1996.

“We played many shows with big death metal bands including opening for System of a Down and Napalm Death back before System was big. We primarily played in Corona, California, but also frequented Los Angeles, playing The Whisky, The Waters Club in San Pedro, and many other places. These were the best days of my life for sure.”

And that’s where the trail more or less ends. Bludgeont didn’t spin off into higher-profile projects, didn’t leave behind a long paper trail of interviews or releases, and didn’t have the benefit of a scene that documented everything online. As a result, their legacy quietly faded — even though the music itself absolutely holds up.

Nearly 30 years later, that demo still sounds vicious, convincing, and unmistakably of its time in the best way possible. If anyone connected to Bludgeont happens to stumble across this — or knows someone who was involved — know this: your demo still rips.

And for the rest of us? Someone really needs to reissue this thing. Right now, Bludgeont‘s music exists only through YouTube rips of an old tape, and that feels like a disservice to a band that clearly lived and breathed death metal during one of the genre’s most fertile periods.

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