USURPER Namechecked By KERRY KING As One Of His Favorite 'Death Metal' Bands

January 26, 2008

Guitarist/founder Rick Scythe of Chicago's now-defunct band USURPER has issued the following update:

"Kerry King (SLAYER) was interviewed this year at NAMM and mentioned in the interview that one of his favorite 'death metal' bands is USURPER! This was a HUGE compliment for us, especially since SLAYER was THE band who got me into extreme metal way back in the '80s! One of the first extreme metal concerts I went to way back as a youngster was SLAYER with OVERKILL and ZOETROPE at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago in 1986 on their first 'Reign in Blood' tour."

Check out the Kerry King interview below (the USURPER mention appears around the 7:10 mark).

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the "Threshold of the Usurper" CD, USURPER has teamed up with Finnish label Primitive Reaction to reissue this classic effort.

"Threshold..." was originally released in 1997 on Necropolis Records and quickly became one of the band's most legendary releases. This was the album that put USURPER on the map with the metal media and was the first CD that was promoted by both U.S. and European tours.

"Threshold of the Usurper" was originally a mini-CD, but for the reissue the band has included three bonus tracks to make this version a full-length release.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Necrocult Pt 1 (The Metal War)
02. Slavehammer
03. Black Funeral (MERCYFUL FATE cover)
04. The Dead Of Winter
05. Threshold Of The Usurper
06. Anno Satanas (demo version)
07. Stormtroopin' (TED NUGENT cover; previously unreleased)
08. The 13th Son (previously unreleased)

The reissue will be available on February 15 as both CD and gatefold vinyl and will include extensive liner notes, an extensive interview with Rick Scythe and General Diabolical Slaughter, never-before-seen photos and new artwork by Juha Vuorma ("Skeletal Season" artist).

USURPER will sell a limited-edition CD and vinyl version through MySpace autographed by Rick Scythe and General Diabolical Slaughter.

Previous releases of "Threshold of the Usurper" by year, label and format:

1997: Necropolis Records (USA) CD
1998: Merciless Records (GER) picture disc vinyl
1999: Mystic Records (POLAND) split cassette with WAR ("Total War")
2001: Blackend/Plastic Head (UK) split CD with USURPER's "Skeletal Season" album
2007: Primitive Reaction (FINLAND) CD/gatefold vinyl

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