Phantasm was an American

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

band from Los Angeles, active between 1986 and 1988. The supergroup included several notable members, including early

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

bassist

Ron McGovney Ronald J. McGovney (born November 2, 1963) is an American semi-retired musician, best known as the original bass guitarist in the thrash metal band Metallica from October 1981 to December 1982. Having previously played with guitarist James Hetf ...

Hirax Hirax (often stylized as HIRAX) is an American thrash metal band from Cypress, California. Starting in 1984 under the leadership of vocalist Katon W. De Pena (the band's only original member left in the current line-up), the band played in Los ...

singer Katon W. De Pena, and prolific drummer

Gene Hoglan Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...

. The band did not record an album during its period of activity, but issued live and demo material on the 2001 CD ''Wreckage''.

History

In 1986, De Pena convinced McGovney to return to music after the four-year hiatus that followed McGovney's departure from Metallica. They formed Phantasm with young guitarist Rodney Nicholson and Hirax members Carlos Guacio playing guitar and Johny Tabares playing drums. Nathan Williams replaced Guacio later that year. Hoglan, then of Dark Angel, played drums on the 1987 ''Wreckage'' demo cassette, the group's only studio recording. Teenage drummer Jim Korthe joined the group thereafter. The band played fast thrash metal with

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

influence. The strength of their individual reputations helped to bring them minor success, and they toured with

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, ...

and played alongside other noted metal peers like

Possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

and Dark Angel, as well as punk bands

Uniform Choice Uniform Choice (formerly known as Moral Sin) was an American hardcore punk band from Orange County, California. History Uniform Choice was started by guitarist Myke Bates, bassist Hanson Meyer and drummer Eric Hanna during the spring of 19 ...

Dag Nasty Dag Nasty is an American hardcore punk band from Washington D.C., formed in 1985 by guitarist Brian Baker of Minor Threat, drummer Colin Sears and bassist Roger Marbury, both of Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, and vocalist Shawn Brown (later of ...

and the

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1978. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous thea ...

. The band dissolved in 1988 due to internal tensions, prior to recording a proper album.

Post-breakup

De Pena temporarily ceased his musical career shortly after Phantasm's demise, but later reformed Hirax. Hoglan remained very active, playing with such groups as

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad (SYL) was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, '' Heavy as a Really Heavy ...

, Forbidden,

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...

, and

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial met ...

. McGovney again ended his activity in music and later relocated to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Nicholson began the solo metal projec
Skullpile
whose debut album is in production. Korthe went on to lead the

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

groups Dimestore Hoods and 3rd Strike, but died in January 2010 of causes stemming from respiratory problems. The thrash label Deep Six Records released the ''Wreckage'' album in 2001, packaging a remastered version of the group's demo with a live set from 1987. In 2007, the group established a

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page, complete with new, instrumental recordings of vintage Phantasm songs performed by Nicholson. McGovney also contributed to the page, and the band expressed interest in reforming with a retooled lineup, but a reunion ultimately did not materialize.

Members

* Katon W. De Pena – vocals (1986–1988) *Rodney Nicholson – guitar (1986–1988) *

– bass (1986–1988) *Carlos Guacio – guitar (1986) *Nathan Williams – guitar (1986–1988) *Johny Tabares – drums (1986–1987) *

– session drums (1987) *Jim Korthe – drums (1987–1988; died 2010) ;Timeline ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:06/01/1986 till:03/01/1988 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass_guitar id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Album value:black legend:Demo_recording Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1987 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1987 LineData = layer:back color:Album at:02/01/1987 BarData = bar:Katon text:"Katon W. De Pena" bar:Rodney text:"Rodney Nicholson" bar:Carlos text:"Carlos Guacio" bar:Nathan text:"Nathan Williams" bar:Ron text:"Ron McGovney" bar:Johny text:"Johny Tabares" bar:Gene text:"Gene Hoglan" bar:Jim text:"Jim Korthe" PlotData= width:11 bar:Katon from:06/01/1986 till:end color:Vocals bar:Rodney from:06/01/1986 till:end color:Guitar bar:Carlos from:06/01/1986 till:10/15/1986 color:Guitar bar:Nathan from:10/15/1986 till:end color:Guitar bar:Ron from:06/01/1986 till:end color:Bass bar:Johny from:06/01/1986 till:01/06/1987 color:Drums bar:Gene from:01/06/1987 till:03/01/1987 color:Drums bar:Jim from:03/01/1987 till:end color:Drums

Discography

*''Wreckage'' (demo cassette, 1987) *''Wreckage'' (2001)

References

External links

Phantasm
at

Encyclopedia Metallum An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...

Phantasm
at

{{Authority control Thrash metal musical groups from California Metallica Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Musical groups from Los Angeles 1986 establishments in California