Chaotic Plague

CHAOTIC PLAGUE began as 3 friends wanting to form a heavy metal band in late 1984, influenced by bands like IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and MERCYFUL FATE; going by the name ARC ANGEL. The members were very young and just learning to play instruments and didn't really become a serious band until 1986. They also very briefly used 3 other band names in their early days (POSSESSOR, MORIBUND & NAZI). The name NAZI was suggested by someone not even in the band for shock value and they didn't really like it; and they only used it until they thought of another name. They only used the name MORIBUND for a week when they found out another band had the name; and they used the name POSSESSOR for a few months at most.

Original members were: Jay Sinko - drums & vocals, Mel Garrick - guitar, & Pat Fedorka - bass. ARC ANGEL practiced a lot, but never played any shows. They did write lots of songs, just passing out rehearsals to a few friends. Jay also began playing guitar & contributing many rhythyms to the band. They were increasingly becoming heavier, influenced by thrash metal bands like KREATOR and ONSLAUGHT. They also had a strong hardcore punk influence and mainly sociopolitical lyrics, inspired by bands like DEAD KENNEDYS and CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER.

In 1988, they changed their name again to STAGEDEATH, and were influenced by bands like NAPALM DEATH. Shortly after the name change they added another guitarist, Chris Weber, who also did vocals on some songs. Also they finally began playing live shows. Then Pat suddenly left the band. They practiced for several months without a bass player, eventually filling the spot when Mike Pellegrini joined the band. This is when they changed their name to CHAOTIC PLAGUE.

This is the lineup that would release their first demo in April 1989 "Blood Slime". It was only a rehearsal demo, but was an above average recording, & soundboard recordings from several shows were soon included as bonus tracks. They began to play a lot of shows & trading & selling the demo. Some of the more prominent bands they played with were POST MORTEM (U.S.), IMMOLATION & DECEASED.

Chris Weber left the band (& later co-founded ROTTREVORE), leaving them as a 3-piece, with Jay assuming all the vocals. They continued to play shows & went into the studio for the first time in Feb. 1990 releasing "The Irrational Animal". It brought out the heaviness in the band more than the rehearsal demo, helped by Dan Klasnick of DOOMWATCH who assisted in the recording & mixing. The band sold a few copies, then decided to go back & remix the demo in April 1990. The 2nd mix of "The Irrational Animal" was actually very similar to the 1st, just a little more balanced.

CHAOTIC PLAGUE then started writing more songs in a different direction, still keeping the drop-tuned guitars, but using more "normal" vocals & some other sounds outside of death metal. Because of this change & the new songs they never promoted the 2nd mix of "The Irrational Animal", only selling & giving away a few copies. They also decided to change their name to CHAOTIC TRANQUILITY. They re-entered the studio (again with the help of Dan Klasnick) & recorded their final official release simply titled "Chaotic Tranquility - demo #1" in September of 1990. They weren't entirely pleased with the vocals, but Mike left the band soon after the recording, & they never did go back to retry them.

Jay & Mel played some on & off for the next few years, but never got past recording a couple of songs on a 4-track. Jay eventually joined ROTTREVORE as a guitarist for a few months. Jay and Mel also did one joke rap metal song in a side project (H.W.A.) with Mike Doty. Jay also played drums on a demo/7" for death metal band NUN SLAUGHTER.

Several attempts to get CHAOTIC PLAGUE (or a similar incarnation) off the ground unfortunately haven't panned out. But Jay is still playing guitar & writing music & has decided to continue CHAOTIC PLAGUE as a 1-piece. He has remixed the 1st demo & is releasing all the demos with even more bonus tracks (averaging about 77 minutes each) on cd-r's or a self-financed release. All the demos have also been mastered.

Additionally he hopes to release new songs and "lost" songs from the CHAOTIC PLAGUE / ARC ANGEL / STAGEDEATH days. He also plans to master and release CHAOTIC PLAGUE's best live recording (again with bonus tracks). Most of the newer material will be metal, but there may be a few acoustic songs. Until there's a website you can contact him at chaoticplague@aol.com for info. Cd's should be released as follows:

1. "Blood Slime" demo (2005 re-mix) - includes all original bonus tracks & several more
2. "The Irrational Animal" 2nd mix - includes all original bonus tracks (some remixed) and several new ones
3. Chaotic Tranquility - demo #1 / The Irrational Animal 1st mix - will also include bonus tracks

Future releases (hopefully all will be ready sometime in 2005)

• New songs plus "lost" songs from the CHAOTIC PLAGUE / CHAOTIC TRANQUILITY days
• additional songs from the ARC ANGEL / STAGEDEATH days
• Chaotic Plague live 5-28-89 (the band's best live recording - will be mastered and have bonus tracks)