The Year….1990. The place….Mineola Long Island New York. Death Metal was rising up in the music scene in New York . Chris Basile, Guy Marchais , Daryl Wagner, Mike Andejko, and Rob Shimonski met to form the New York Death Metal band PYREXIA. Coming from similar backrounds and driven by a drug like passion for music , PYREXIA began to imprint its own Firebrand style of Death Metal at local shows and underground murmurs. In the years leading up to PYREXIA meeting and forming, guitar player Chris Basile had been working with and writing songs in several bands along with Terrence Hobbs, Mike Smith , and Doug Ceritto all of SUFFOCATION. With dozens of songs written together, and going under the name “MORTUARY”, the band, with studio time booked, broke up as they were to record their first demo. Many of the riffs and songs written for this band made their way onto the first several SUFFOCATION and PYREXIA albums , hence the constant comparisons some times unfair over the years. The Huge difference between PYREXIA and any other so called bands that sound like SUFFOCATION or NEW YORK is that guitarist Chris Basile had been playing in bands and writing songs with Terrence Mike and Doug for years before there ever was a PYREXIA or a SUFFOCATION.
At the same time during this period , Guy Marchais was putting together several Death Metal bands, one called SUFFOCATION. After MORTUARY broke up, Guy began working with Terrence and Mike and they started SUFFOCATION. Not long after that Doug began working with Mike and Terrence taking the place of Guy which led Guy to begin working with Daryl Wagner to form PYREXIA. A short time later Guy and Daryl hooked up with Chris , fresh from the MORTUARY break up and they went in to record the 1991 PYREXIA demo ” Liturgy of Impurity”.
After several line up changes and many guitar try-outs,(including Chris Pervelas who later went on to form NYDM Powerhouse INTERNAL BLEEDING), PYREXIA recorded their first full lenghth release “Sermon of Mockery” on overseas label Hard Vynil. With great acclaim , this album would define the band as a true contributor to American Death Metal.
1994. Singer Daryl Wagner parts ways with PYREXIA in pursuit of a career in computers/IT. This gave the band the opportunity to make a change and stand out in a genre that was becoming increasingly overcrowded with gutteral vocal styles so similar sounding it was getting hard to tell one vocalist from another. Enter Keith Devito. His vocal range, especially at that time , was way more powerful and aggressive then most singers out there.. In 1995, with Keith behind the mic, PYREXIA recorded the 3 song “Hatredangeranddisgust” in efforts to introduce their new sound to the underground. By this time , PYREXIA had grown measureably and was doing a great job promoting themselves in an era before email , myspace or the internet. Keith was then asked by SUFFOCATION to fill in for vocal assasin Frank Mullen for an overseas tour supporting DEICIDE. Keith rose to the occasion, fronting SUFFOCATION for the tour. Upon his return , PYREXIA s immediate move was to record and release the 1997 full length album ” System of the Animal” on Danish Label Serious Entertainment.
In 1999 , while PYREXIA was in contract negotiations for what was to be their third full length, singer Keith was approached once again for temporary vocal duties. OBITUARY needed a singer to fill the tremendous shoes of John Tardy in order to tour .Keith once again rose up and did the tour. During the tour ,Keith became good friends with OBITUARY guitar player, Trevor Peres. After his their return, Keith asked the rest of PYREXIA to join him and Trevor in a new project to be called CATASTROPHIC , that was to be funded by METAL BLADE RECORDS. Unable to pass up the opportunity, Chris and the rest of band basically put PYREXIA on hold and went on to release the album “The Cleansing” in 2001 on METAL BLADE RECORDS.
Logistics, money problems and personal as well as musical diffences , caused guitar player Chris Basile to defect from CATASTROPHIC and reform the band he had been playing in since he was a teenager.
PYREXIA was Re-Born.
Putting together a ferocious line-up , including drummer Justin DiPinto, most know for his work with MALEVOLANT CREATION on the album “Will to Kill”. The next to enlist would become one of the most integral parts of PYREXIA today. That person is audio masochist and vocal prodigy Erick Shute. Erick came into the picture never singing in a band before and was 9 years old when “Sermon of Mockery” was released. Today , he is a huge part of leading the band forward and faster like never before. Packed with talent, in 2004, PYREXIA recorded and released what was to be a prelude to their next full length release “Cruelty Beyond Submission”. Containing 3 new songs and an assortment of PYREXIA ‘s more favorite older tracks through independant record label CRASH RECORDS.
UNIQUE LEADER . A label known for releasing some of the sickest, meanest , quality underground DEATH METAL , saw an opportunity in PYREXIA as the band did in the label. Joining forces in 2006, PYREXIA recorded and released the new album “Age of the Wicked” under the UL flag in January 2007. Currently abominating crowds in support of this new release , PYREXIA continues to Dominate with no end in sight.
