Obituary Family Tree
Metal Family Tree
This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.
We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.
Obituary are among the most classic of death metal bands and have been one of the most consistent both in lineup and in sound. Before there was Obituary, the band was releasing demos as Xecutioner which turned into Obituary as they released their first album. Since the beginning Obituary has consisted of brothers John Tardy on vocals and Donald Tardy on drums, with Tevor Peres on rhythm guitar. Their first album had Allen West on lead guitar and he returned again for their third album and remained through to their seventh. The four of them were consistent writers in the band with John being the lyricist. Other than their first album with Daniel Tucker on bass, no other bass players share in writing credits. Although James Murphy and Ralf Santolla had stints on lead guitar, neither had written with the band. After the departure of West, writing was exclusive to Trevor and Donald with John doing lyrics until release of Obituary in 2017 in which Ken Andrews is credited with shared writing.
Besides John’s main influences, he also says he likes country and blues as well as southern rock.
John said early on bands like Death and Massacre helped push them to be better.
Donald said his first musical inspirations came from Stevie Ray Vaughn, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws as well as Pat Travers, Ted Nugent, Elton John, Charlie Daniels, and Blackfoot. He said he was seven when he started playing to that sort of stuff. He says he loves Alice in Chans and Sound Garden
Trevor in a 2006 interview says he mainly listens to southern rock like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, but still goes back to his old metal albums occasionally. He said that the southern rock doesn’t really influence is playing though, more an inspiration to play. In a later interview he added Outlaws, Allman Brothers, and Hank III to that list. He is also a big fan of anything Dio.
Allen West played lead guitar on a total of six albums and shares in writing on those albums. I am un sure of his influences.
I’m unsure of the influences of bassist Daniel Tucker who played bass and shares in writing credit on the first album.
Ken Andrews has been on two albums with shared writing credit on the latter of the two (he will be on the upcoming release of Dying of Everything). He says he’s a thrash and rock dude, his influences range from Ace Frehley and Angus Young to Dimebag.
No other members of Obituary are credited with writing.
Bands influenced by Obituary!
As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!
Sources:
https://www.invisibleoranges.com/interview-q-a-with-obituarys-john-tardy/
https://allabouttherock.co.uk/interview-with-obituary-frontman-john-tardy/
https://crypticrock.com/interview-john-tardy-obituary/
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/obituary-talk-three-decade-quest-for-the-perfect-meat-and-potatoes-groove-108807/
https://www.yamaha.com/artists/donaldtardy.html#:~:text=Donald%20credits%20his%20style%20from,much%20more%20impressive%20than%20speed.
https://spotlightreport.net/featured/on-the-spot-obituarys-donald-tardy-exclusive-interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QsI6jgBrkE
https://www.metal-rules.com/2006/06/29/obituary-guitarist-trevor-peres/
https://capitalchaostv.com/2017/03/01/trevor-peres-of-obituary-interviewed/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjdNgjn4azQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqKa5LLoXCs
https://www.moshville.co.uk/interview/2015/11/interview-trevor-peres-of-obituary/
https://blabbermouth.net/news/obituary-guitarist-talks-barbecue-sauce-upcoming-presidential-election
https://www.espguitars.com/articles/2007124-artist-spotlight-ken-andrews-terry-butler-obituary