Epidemic (band)

Epidemic
File:Epidemic Original.jpg
Background information
Years active	1987-1994
Members	Carl Fulli Mark Bodine Erik Moggridge Bobby Cochran

Epidemic was a San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band of late 1980s and early 1990s.

Not to be confused with the band Epidemic from Israel formed by Yoni Segal with the latest demo release Earth Penitentiary (2006) there is also Epidemic from Brazil or Greece which played a similar style of music, or the mainstream act Epidemic who released an album on Elektra records in 2002 and have since disbanded, or the punk band from Boston called The Epidemic.

History

The band was formed in early 1987 by Mark Bodine (bass), Guy Higbey (guitar), Erik Moggridge (guitar) and a friend (Ted Kamp) on drums to play the senior night talent show at their high school in Palo Alto, CA. After playing a set of two songs (a cover of Metallica's Creeping Death and an original song penned by Moggridge called No Mans Land) and enjoying the experience the guys decided to continue and pursue the band full time taking the Epidemic name from the Slayer song of the same name.

Recruiting drummer Geoff Bruce and vocalist Carl Fulli to complete the lineup the band entered a battle of the bands contest held at the Mountain View Theater in September of 1987. Having only recruited Carl Fulli a couple of weeks prior, and he having no previous experience, the band had no real expectations of winning the contest. After the first night of competition the band had reached the finals and subsequently won the competition the next night winning an opening slot for Death Angel the following month.

The band was on their way now and recorded their first demo in December of 1987 called "Immortal Minority". Achieving minor success in the Bay Area and playing almost every thrash show at the Mountain View Theater (with the likes of Slayer, Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, DRI, etc) the band started to branch out further, playing shows at the Stone in San Francisco and the Omni Oakland.

File:EPIDEMIC 1992.jpg

EPIDEMIC circa 1992 - (L to R) Mark Bodine, Carl Fulli, Bobby Cochran, Guy Higbey, Erik Moggridge

In the fall of 1988 the band came to the conclusion that they needed an improvement in the drum area and asked Geoff Bruce to leave the band. They recruited Bobby Cochran longtime friend and former Punisher drummer to take over duties behind the kit. With this line-up Epidemic went into Telluride Studios in Palo Alto to record their now classic demo "Demo '89". The band initially gave out 300 free demos after a Vio-lence show at the Omni and the buzz among the metal heads of the Bay was growing tremendously. The band sent out the demo to any and all magazines, radio stations, and labels and created a name for themselves globally. The band estimates they sold roughly 5,000-7,000 demos on their own over the course of the next two years. During this time the bands popularity grew and they were able to headline venues on their own. Epidemics first headline show at the Stone was at 90% capacity. During this time they also reached agreement with Marco Barbieri (current label head of Century Media Records) to become their manager. Also, a deal was reached with Metalcore Records in Europe for the release of "Demo '89" on CD and vinyl. This would be the first official CD released by the band under the title "The Truth of What Will Be...". It was released in Europe only.

In January of 1991, the band recorded their "Extremities '91" demo, which lead to their signing a record contract with Metal Blade Records. The band recorded their debut album at HOS studios in Palo Alto and in the summer of 1992 "Decameron" was released. The band went on a two week East Coast tour with Malevolent Creation and Suffocation in December of 1992 and eight weeks later headed out on a nationwide tour with Cannibal Corpse and Unleashed in early 1993. The band gained a lot exposure as well as experience as this was what they thought was the beginning of their touring years.

After coming home from the tours the band focused on writing new material but asked guitarist Higbey to leave the band. This was a difficult decision for the band but they moved forward as a four piece and continued to write and prepare for their next album. Entering Razor's Edge studios in San Francisco in the fall of 1993 the band recorded what they feel was their best recording in the album "Exit Paradise". Unfortunately the band decided to break up a couple months after the release of this album (October 1994) due to differences in the band and the labels lack of support.

Last Line-up

• Carl Fulli - vocals
• Mark Bodine - Bass
• Erik Moggridge - Guitar
• Bobby Cochran - Drums

Former members

• Guy Higbey - Guitar (1987-1993)
• Geoff Bruce - Drums (1987-1988)

Discography

Demos

Immortal Minority - 1988

Demo '89 - 1989

Extremities '91 - 1991

Evil Against Evil - 2005

Earth Penitentiary - 2006

Albums

• The Truth of What Will Be (1990) Metalcore Records
  The Truth of What Will Be (1990) Metalcore Records
• 
  Decameron (1992) Metal Blade Records
• Lament (1994) 7-inch Metal Blade Records
  Lament (1994) 7-inch Metal Blade Records
• Exit Paradise (1994) Metal Blade Records
  Exit Paradise (1994) Metal Blade Records
• Evil Against Evil (2005) Unsigned
  Evil Against Evil (2005) Unsigned
• Earth Penitentiary (2006) Unsigned
  Earth Penitentiary (2006) Unsigned