RIGOR MORTIS

BRUCE CORBITT

I have spoken with Bruce Corbitt, the vocalist of the legendary underground thrash metal band Rigor Mortis. A band that released the classic self titled album Rigor Mortis in 1988. After that Bruce was unfortunately fired from the band. The band continued on and released the EP Freaks n 1989 and in 1991 they released Rigor Mortis Vs. The World. I have interviewed Bruce Corbitt who was the bands original vocalist perhaps most known for his work on that legendary self-titled debut album.

First of all I have to say that Rigor Mortis debut album totally kicks ass!

I appreciate hearing that! Although we still don't think that album turned out as good as it could have been. It is still the album that all four of us get the most praise for and I am proud just to be on it.

Rigor Mortis is back together but why aren't you behind the mic?

Honestly, because I have no control of anything to do with Rigor Mortis. It was their decision not to include me in the reunion. It does suck for me because I know that some of the fans would prefer Rigor Mortis with me in the band again and there is nothing I can do about it. I would have done it for the fans no matter what my feelings were for the other members of that band.

The reunion sounds like it was put off for a while since Mike went to do the tour with Ministry. I heard Casey is jamming in Speedealer now with Harden. And their new singer is keeping busy in his band Pornlab.

Why did you leave Rigor Mortis?

I was actually fired from Rigor Mortis. There were some bad personal feelings the other 3 members had for me and they also thought I sucked as a singer. So they just weren't happy with me as their singer and couldn't continue on like that.

Why did they change the red background color on the re-release of Rigor Mortis the album?

I don't know that answer to tell you the truth. Casey would probably be able to answer that one. I noticed it myself, but wasn't sure it that was just a result from the printing process or if Casey just wanted to darken the red background color himself. There was also a bootleg version that we didn't have anything to do with going around a few years back. They had changed the red background to a black background.

What are you doing these days?

I am currently working on a new band. It includes Wayne "Chemical" Abney on Bass from the band Hammerwitch, Arron Gossett on guitar from Ritual Misery and Dennis Dorsett on guitar who was formerly in NeverDead. We don't have a name for the band yet and are still trying out drummers.

How did you feel about signing on to a big label as Capitol Records?

In the end it didn't matter that we signed with a major label like Capitol. Because Rigor Mortis would end up making every mistake in the book and pretty much killed itself and buried the band's chances to survive and succeed.

Rigor Mortis - Rigor Mortis (1988)

What are you up to these days?

How did you feel about signing on to a big label as Capitol Records?

Well, since the first albums I ever had when I was about 5 years old were Beatles albums and I got to know that Capitol logo at such a young age. I just about shit in my pants when we signed to the same label that The Beatles were on. In the end it didn't matter that we signed with a major label like Capitol. Because Rigor Mortis would end up making every mistake in the book and pretty much killed itself and buried the band's chances to survive and succeed.

I've heard rumors that you wrote a book?, tell me more about it.

Yes, I have had my book idea even since my Rigor Mortis days. I finally started writing it back in 1998 and have written about 400 pages so far. It is like a life story, but a good portion of it is my Rigor Mortis years. I have kind of put it on hold for a while as I am putting all of my time into this new band. I still have a few chapters left in me that I want to add to it down the road.

What do you think of the albums that Rigor Mortis released without you?

Some of those songs on those albums were songs that were around while I was with the band. So, I was familiar with a lot of it already. The vocals were always secondary to the other members of the band, the music was always what was most important to them. So, I don't think those albums would have been any better if I would have still been singing for them. I just have come to learn that most people just get used to the original members of a band, or TV series or a Movie etc. So, sometimes a new member is not always accepted by everyone. That might be why those albums don't get as much respect as the debut album.

What bands where Rigor Mortis influenced by?

Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Motorhead were some bands that influenced all of us. But, my early influences include The Beatles and a lot of the 70s Rock/Heavy Metal bands... Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Nazareth, Thin Lizzy, Led Zep, The Scorpions, UFO, Rush, Alice Cooper ETC. Mike Scaccia was influence by such guitar legends as Jimi Hendrix, Michael Schenker and Randy Rhoads to name a few. Some of the guys also had some punk influences like the Sex Pistols.

Why do you think that the thrash scene died in the nineties?

The 90s is when music really went corporate. MTV began to play a bigger role in what labels wanted from their bands. The rise of bands playing easy shit like Nirvana and Green Day, and the rise of Alternative bands and also the Seattle sounding bands helped kill the thrash scene. Also, it seemed like a flood of musicians started forming bands without really learning how to really play their instruments. It wasn't as much of an investment like in the older days to become a guitarist etc. And with less technical music becoming so popular in the 90s... we had a lot of bands formed with very little experience.

I remember when guitarist would feel like they had to have at least 5 or more years of experience and be really skilled before they even thought of joining a band. But, it became like any guitarist could learn a few chords and form a band. Which is why I think many bands became anti-lead solos ETC. Simply because they got too lazy to wanna learn how to master their guitar playing. That is why there are very few guitarist from the 90s that will be remembered as a guitar legend unlike previous decades.

Got any funny metal-story to tell?

Some stories I think are funny as hell now, but I didn't at the time they originally happened. Like the time that me and Harden went to jail after our first signing party/concert. Capitol went all out for our album release party. We were going to give a free concert, free buffet, free meal, free everything, and give away free albums, shirts. It was definitely our night.

After it was over and things started winding down, our friends and roadies were loading up the equipment in the back. Somehow some fights broke out between some longhairs and some skinheads out in front of the club. Someone inside the club called the police and by the time the police arrived, the fights had stopped and everyone that was involved had scattered.

I guess the police had been waiting for more shit to go down at one of these shows, because they came in full force this time like they were ready for it. I was standing on the corner, when 10-15 cop cars pulled up. We were shocked and the first group of people they saw was all of us in the backstage area loading. None of us had anything to do with any of the fights that they were called for in the first place, but they came fucking with us for no reason. Casey told them to settle down, because we were not any of the people that were in the fights.

But they just kept fucking with everybody and I started seeing them arresting friends of mine. Then they started fucking with Harden, and the next thing you know, he called them assholes for fucking with the wrong people. Four officers went right after him, grabbed him and started beating him with their clubs. Then I saw them putting handcuffs on Harden. I started watching police brutality and shit, and people getting harassed for no reason. So when they started beating on Harden, we all started screaming at the police to stop. His girlfriend Debbie, ran over there and ended up getting arrested too. Now everyone was really screaming shit at the police and we were all helplessly trying to stop the police bullshit power trip, which seemed to only make the police more aggressive to anyone.

I kind of walked out toward the steps from the backstage area and said, “Fuck you, motherfuckers, they didn't do anything!” One of them turned around, looked at me, then he came over, grabbed me by my hair, and pulled me down the steps. He threw me on the police car hood, spread my arms out and started beating me with a billy club on my arm while a couple of them held me down. The chick I had picked up that night started screaming and she held on to me as they grabbed me, so they ended up arresting her too. Then he took me in a choke hold around my neck, lifted me off the ground, carried me to the fucking car, and threw me in. So in a matter of seconds, on the greatest night of my life so far, I ended up gong to jail along with about 10 other friends.

Any last word to our readers?

I am glad to see this renewed interest in metal these last few years. I was kind of lost for about 10 years there when metal died off and I didn't like the direction that music went in the 90s. But, now I know things are changing again for the better and I really believe metal has proven once again that it is here to stay!

By: Ruthless

R.I.P. Bruce Corbitt 1962-2019

(11-05-2003)