Possessed founder and lead vocalist Jeff Becerra recently spoke with Capital Chaos TV. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

CC: Did you ever think about trying out for Metallica when Cliff (Burton) died?

Becerra: "I thought about it. I did. I really thought about it, but to be honest I was pretty wild and not in good shape and I knew it. I was partying hard and I could never get into it. As much as I love Metallica and have respect for everybody, I’ve always been kind of my own guy. It wouldn’t be the same. I’d rather be the guy. I’d rather have my own band."

CC: What possessed you to get back into songwriting?

Becerra: "I’d always been into it. It’s just that after I got shot it took me a while to recover. I always had the intention to get Possessed back together but then I got shot and that took 17 ½ years to get my head back screwed on right. And in the process, I had to do the things I needed to do to feel complete that included going to college for further education and having my kids. I worked for a while at the hospital. I just did the things I needed to do to feel complete, but I’d always have been driven by the fact that I wanted to play with Possessed again and to be honest 23 members later, it took me a long time to find a group of guys that I would want to call Possessed."

CC: How did you hook up with Nuclear Blast?

Becerra: "You have to know the back story. Since I was a little kid. I’ve been getting help from bands, from like Gary Holt, Tom Hunting and the Exodus guys. Help with getting our first shows with Blind Illusion at Alvarado Park with Outrage. We were playing gay parties before all that and Gary of Exodus just kind of took us under his wing and introduced us to the whole Ruthie’s Inn scene and this is before we had Debbie or anybody this was just when we were kids. I’d like to say that Gary managed my band since I was like 11 or 12. Anyway, throughout the time we all just kind of looked out for each other and whatever. But I sent out two demo tapes to two record companies and almost immediately Nuclear Blast got back to me and said we’ll meet you at your show in Berlin. I met up with Jaap Wagemaker, head of production; he’s a scion in the industry in Europe. He met us and saw the show and he was nice enough to talk. He talked to me and had a meeting with these hot chicks and beer, smoking and music blasting. It was really cool. He’d said he bought his first Possessed album when he was 16. He’s one of us. he’s so fucking cool and he’s so with it. It was the way he talked and how excited he was. He said they wouldn’t ask you to play anything but what you want to play. They don’t step on your creativity or ask you to do things you wouldn’t normally do. They would support you fully and I love that about them and of course this is Nuclear Blast. Whenever you read a magazine in ads you see it’s always Nuclear Blast. It’s prevalent in everything. It’s a dream come to me with them. He had said that for the last four years, people like Kirk Hammett of Metallica would ask 'what about Possessed?' and put in good words for us. I guess that when he heard the demo he just really really liked it and he said he got this email from Nuclear Blast Records USA general manager, Gerardo Martinez and it said the 8th church. And he like 'you told me the story' he was like the 8th church, like Possessed “Seven Churches or is it this other band, so then he played it and he sent it to Markus Staiger, the owner for Nuclear Blast and he said immediately that Markus was like 'fuckin sign them.' Then he got another email that Christmas came early and he approached me right after that with a really strong desire to sign Possessed, from there we worked it out and he hashed out a deal, over the next several months and we signed it just recently which is awesome. So far it’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to us."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Nuclear Blast recently announced the worldwide signing and return of Possessed. Few bands have done more to push the boundaries of extreme metal than the legendary Possessed. Even fewer can create a unique style, which continues to set them apart from all others by being the very first in a genre they laid the foundation for.

Possessed are by definition, the creators of death metal. Ever since they stormed onto the San Francisco metal scene in the early 1980's, Possessed has been redefining and breaking the rules for metal. Nuclear Blast is very excited to be a part of that continued legacy.

Jeff Becerra: "Possessed are pleased and honored to announce our joining the Nuclear Blast family. Currently, we are hard at work writing new material for our upcoming first full-length release on Nuclear Blast. I want to give special thanks to everybody at Nuclear Blast, and to all of our supporters. This has been a long time coming and this is a very exciting time for us."

Watch a short teaser video announcing the signing that includes a short snippet of a demo of a new song below. Fans can expect Possessed's first a full-length release in 31 years, sometime in 2018.

Possessed took San Francisco’s metal scene by storm, playing with fellow Bay Area thrashers and friends Exodus, and other bands - many now long gone. In 1982-1983, they recorded a four song demo. One of the demo tracks, “Swing Of The Axe” ended up on the Metal Massacre 6 compilation and later on The Best of Metal Massacre. Released in October 1985 on Combat Records, Seven Churches set a new standard for extreme music. Combining lightening fast riffs, Becerra’s raspy trademark growl and speedy bass playing, Pummeling drums and Randy Burns’ production, Seven Churches created a whole new genre of music- death metal. Seven Churches went on to be one of Combat Records’ best-selling albums. Not bad for a quartet of high school kids!

Beyond The Gates. Released on Halloween in 1986, this album was especially well-received in Europe where they toured at the end of the year. The album that changed the landscape of heavy metal, Beyond The Gates was the highest selling Combat album that year.

After that tour, Possessed recorded and released Eyes of Horror, a five song EP produced by Joe Satriani. Musically and lyrically advanced, the album touched on dark themes such as sin, drugs and violence and, of course, the devil. Not long after the release of the EP, LaLonde (early guitars) joined up with Les Claypool and Primus. Soon after, Mike Sus (early drums) left to continue his studies at SFSU and Torrao (early guitars) decided he no longer wanted to play in a band. Becerra continued to play and joined some side projects, but mostly took time to pursue his goals in life including his attending SFSU. In 1992, while coming home from work, tragically, Jeff was shot twice by two different gunmen who were attempting to rob him. It would be seventeen-and-a-half years before Jeff was again able to resurrect Possessed after receiving literally thousands of fan letters, emails and fan support.

In 2006, Becerra joined with Sadistic Intent to record “The Exorcist” for a Possessed tribute album. Becerra and Sadistic Intent decided to do a few live shows to satisfy fans who had been clamoring for shows for decades. With such a positive response, Becerra and Sadistic Intent continued to play a number of successful shows, including Wacken 2007, Maryland Deathfest 2009, and 2010’s Blackest of the Black Tour. This lineup breathed life into Sadistic Intent and Becerra, and the two parties split amicably to play their own styles of metal, with drummer Emilio Marquez staying with Becerra and Possessed.

After making several live appearances, including Graspop 2012 & The Fallen Angel 2012 European Tour, Cursed Over Europe 2014 Tour and the Evil Over Europe Tour 2016, Possessed is primed and finally ready for a new era. The Possessed legacy has been highly influential in the realm of extreme metal, changing the genre forever. Ready to take it further, Possessed is planning several tour dates and writing new material that will change the face of death metal once more.

Possessed is:

Jeff Becerra - Vocals
Daniel Gonzalez - Guitars
Emilio Marquez - Drums
Robert Cardenas - Bass
Claudeous Creamer - Guitars