Possessed

Okay, before everyone gets all bent out of shape, yes, I know POSSESSED are considered the founders of death metal.  And yes, their early sound is more of death/thrash than anything really black metal.  But they still belong in the history of black metal because of their influence, and the fluid nature of the early 1980s extreme metal scene.

Possessed hailed from San Francisco, and formed in 1983.  In 1984, they released the now-legendary demo Death Metal.  This is the first acknowledged use of the word.  In this regard, Possessed are credited as the inventors of death metal.  Their sound is very much an old-school death/thrash sound.

After a bootleg rehearsal (the famous "Fallen Angel Rehearsal") in 1984--which was not released until 2003--and a second demo in 1985, Possessed released the seminal album Seven Churches.  This album has all the hallmarks of the day's death/thrash metal that can be heard in bands like Sepultura, Sodom, and Slayer.  Like Mercyful Fate, Possessed's occult and Satanic-themed lyrics place them squarely in the black metal tradition.

After 1985's Seven Churches, Possessed released 1986's Beyond the Gates and 1987's The Eyes of Horror.  These albums more or less continued in the same vein as their earlier stuff, but by this time, the genres of death and black metal had begun to more strongly differentiate themselves from each other.  Either way, Possessed is still hailed as an important band in the history of both death and black metal.

A stronger death/thrash sound is evident...

A Possessed interview--notice the comments on "thrash metal" v. "black metal"

Select Discography:

Death Metal (demo) (1984)

Fallen Angel (rehearsal) (1984)

Demo '85 (demo) (1985)
Seven Churches (full-length) (1985)
Beyond the Gates (full-length) (1986)
The Eyes of Horror EP (1987)

Tomorrow: CELTIC FROST