Steve Murphy joined Rotting Corpse on bass in early 1987, coming over from Eldritch Rite, the progressive thrash band he’d started in Dallas in 1985. He arrived into a group that had already burned through a run of bassists — Marty Griffen, Jim Cleaver, and Randy "Gribb" Cook, who’d since moved onto the drum kit — and he’s the one who stuck.
He’d first seen the band at Rascals in 1985, not long after his own started up. “They played a majority of covers except the 3 songs from the first demo,” he said later. “It was so awesome — you couldn’t help but mosh.” He’d switched from guitar to bass in Eldritch Rite for the least glamorous reason available: nobody else would do it.
Two Bands At Once
By 1988, Murphy had also started Process Revealed, a metal-hardcore-punk band of his own, and ran both projects at the same time for the next two years. Rotting Corpse’s schedule made it workable — the band had long stretches of downtime between gigs, so when a show came up, they’d have an emergency practice and go play it.
Leading The Reunion
Rotting Corpse’s last show was Valentine’s Day 1990 in San Antonio. Fourteen years later, it was Murphy who brought it back. In July 2004 — the same weekend as his own wedding — he and Trachsler got together with former bandmates Luke Brewer and Randy "Gribb" Cook for what was supposed to be one last hoorah and a trip down memory lane. It reignited something. With Murphy leading the project, all of the band’s original demos, including the two produced by Vinnie Paul, were remastered by Allen Crider and officially released on CD for the first time in 2005, through the band’s own label, F**k It Records.
Endorsed By The Scene
“Walt plays rhythm guitar like James Hetfield did back when he was badass. Screw the Nu, the Old School is back in session. Rotting Corpse has been resurrected.”
Gammacide’s Rick Perry, on the reunion Murphy set in motion — Rotting Corpse sharing stages again with fellow Texas thrashers Rigor Mortis and Gammacide.
