Michael George Browning is an American heavy metal drummer and vocalist.

Life and career

Browning started to play drums at 13 years old. His main influences are

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Angel Witch Angel Witch are a British heavy metal band which formed in London in 1976, recognised as one of the pioneering groups of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM). Originally established as Lucifer by guitarist and vocalist Kevin Heybour ...

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with LaVeyan Satanism (often with ironic ...

, and

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

. Browning was the former drummer/vocalist for

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

pioneers

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...

. He played in the band from 1984 to 1986 and made one official recording with them, '' Abominations of Desolation''; it was not released until 1991, years after Browning left the band. Browning had a very turbulent relationship with Morbid Angel guitarist

Trey Azagthoth Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...

; Browning's exit from the band was apparently triggered by Azagthoth being involved in an affair with Browning's then-girlfriend, leading to an altercation between the two. Following his departure from Morbid Angel, Browning remained active as the drummer/vocalist for bands in the Florida death metal scene, including Nocturnus, a technical/ progressive-oriented death metal band featuring a keyboard player and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

-themed lyrics. Browning was the drummer and vocalist for the band on their album '' The Key'' (1990) and solely played drums on ''

Thresholds Thresholds is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1959 serving persons with mental illnesses and substance abuse problems in Illinois. Thresholds is the largest community-based mental healthcare provider in Illinois, providing service ...

'' before being fired from the band in 1993. Other projects he participated in during the 1980s and 1990s included Florida death metal bands Incubus and

Acheron The Acheron ( or ; ''Acheron'' or Ἀχερούσιος ''Acherousios''; ''Acherontas'') is a river in the Epirus (region), Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and has a drainage area of . The river's source is located near the vil ...

. Browning's current band is called After Death, with lyrics concerned with

the occult ''The Occult: A History'' is a 1971 nonfiction occult book by English writer, Colin Wilson. Topics covered include Aleister Crowley, George Gurdjieff, Helena Blavatsky, Kabbalah, primitive magic, Franz Mesmer, Grigori Rasputin, Daniel Dunglas H ...

and

black magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

. He was also involved in Devine Essence and Wolf and Hawk, with metal singer Lisa Lombardo. He is currently residing in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

and has a collection of

medieval weapons This is a list of weapons that were used during the medieval period. Handheld weapons * Battle axe * Bec de corbin * Bludgeon * Club * Flail * Flanged mace * Horseman's pick * Mace * Morning star * Quarterstaff * Shestopyor, Pernach * ...

and

Ancient Egyptian Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

artifacts in his home. He is also interested in

muscle car A muscle car is an American-made two-door sports coupe with a powerful engine, marketed for its performance. In 1949, General Motors introduced its 88 with the company's OHV Rocket V8 engine, which was previously available only in its lux ...

s and 3D graphic design. In 2008, he released a solo album called "Mike Browning's Inner Workings – Trancemissions" at Pharmafabrik Recordings. He also has a band called Nocturnus AD and their debut album Paradox was released on May 24, 2019, on Profound Lore Records. He has a daughter that was born in 2007.

References

External links

Interview with Browning about all of his projects

Official website of After Death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browning, Mike Living people American heavy metal drummers Morbid Angel members 1964 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians American heavy metal singers Musicians from Tampa, Florida Drummers from Florida