Dead Brain Cells, often abbreviated as DBC, are a Canadian

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band that was active from 1986 to 1991, and they have reunited occasionally since the early 2000s.

History

Called DBC for short, the band started in 1985 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

as a small project named Final Chapter by guitar players Eddie Shahini and Gerry Ouellette, who put an ad in a magazine looking for a drummer. In 1986, former Vomit and the Zits singer Dave Javex Ray-O-Vac (David Leone) and former Unruled and Vomit and the Zits drummer Jeff Saint-Louis, joined with Shahini and Ouellette and guitar player Phil Dakin, who switched to bass. The project grew into a serious band which took the name Dead Brain Cells among three suggestions by Leone, the others being "The Mental Pukes" and "The Retarded Assholes". Leone had made commitments to his job and could not sing with the band anymore; instead of replacing him, Dakin decided he would sing and play bass at the same time. DBC released two albums and toured in mostly Canada and the United States, playing with bands such as Slayer,

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Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little rad ...

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, Blind Illusion, Ludichrist,

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, Detente and Groovy Aardvark, as well as their Canadian thrash metal peers Voivod, Sacrifice,

Razor A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since before t ...

and Obliveon. The band's first album, ''Dead Brain Cells'', was released in 1987, followed two years later by a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

, ''Universe''. Musically and lyrically, those two albums are different from each other; ''Dead Brain Cells'' had a

crossover thrash Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Other genres on the same continuum, such as metalcore and grindcore, ma ...

edge, featuring songs about politics and society in general (laced with humor), while ''Universe'' was considerably more of a technical/progressive thrash metal record and its lyrical themes focus more on

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

as opposed to the lyrical content of its predecessor. Other than playing live relentlessly, and a music video for "The Genesis Explosion" (from ''Universe'') receiving considerable airplay on

MusiquePlus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mus ...

, DBC never got the success other thrash metal bands achieved. The band called it quits in 1991 while working on a third album that never surfaced, but they have since reunited occasionally, and have new music in the works. Their song, "The Genesis Explosion", was featured in a Canadian television commercial for

Microcell Telecommunications Fido is a Canadian mobile network operator owned by Rogers Communications. Since its acquisition by Rogers in 2004, it has operated as a Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using the Rogers Wireless network. Fido's logo is a yellow dogho ...

in 2005. The commercial depicts an older woman using her cell phone to win a radio call-in show. The band's guitarist, Gerry Ouellette, died on November 12, 1994. Original DBC drummer Jeff St. Louis died on December 22, 2019, which happened to be his 61st birthday. Shahini started a new band in 2009 called Kill of Rights, it includes music written from 1986 to 2013. They released their first album ''Sign of the Crimes'' on February 15, 2014.

Discography

* ''Dead Brain Cells'' (1987) *#"Deadlock" *#"Monument" *#"Lies" *#"Power and Corruption" *#"Tempest" *#"Public Suicide" *#"Negative Reinforcement" *#"Outburst" *#"M.I.A." *#"Terrorist Mind" *#"The Vice" *#"Trauma X" *#"Final Act" * ''Universe'' (1989) *#"The Genesis Explosion" *#"Heliosphere" *#"Primordium" *#"Exit the Giants" *#"Rise of Man" *#"Estuary" *#"Humanity's Child" *#"Phobos and Deimos" *#"Threshold" *#"Infinite Universe" * ''Unreleased'' (1995) *#"Third Coming" *#"Brick by Brick" *#"Siren's Song" *#"Waste Not, Want More" *#"Rude Awakening" *#"Root to All Evil"

References

External links

Official DBC websiteOfficial DBC Myspace pageDBC in Metal Archives
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1986 Canadian thrash metal musical groups Musical groups from Montreal 1986 establishments in Quebec Combat Records albums