Forbidden (band)

Forbidden is a thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Formed in 1985 as Forbidden Evil, the group was founded by Russ Anderson and Craig Locicero, who are both permanent members. Since their formation, Forbidden have broken up and reformed twice with numerous line-up changes. The current line-up of the band comprises Anderson (vocals), Locicero (guitar), Matt Comacho (bass), Steve Smyth (guitar) and Mark Hernandez (drums). Along with Death Angel, Defiance, Testament and Exodus (the latter of the two have featured original Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph), they are one of the most successful Bay Area thrash metal bands and earned a growing fan-base in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with their debut album Forbidden Evil (1988) described by critics as a classic thrash metal album. Their early style was technical thrash metal, but the band later experimented with alternative and groove metal elements on their fourth album Green (1997).

Early years and rise to near fame

Forbidden Evil was formed by drummer Jim Pittman and guitarist Robb Flynn (later of Vio-lence and Machine Head). They recorded several demo tapes and appeared on the, now-out-of-print, live album Live At Ruthies Inn - The Eastern Front with its original lineup featuring Craig Locicero (guitar), Russ Anderson (vocals) and John Tegio (bass). Jim Pittman, John Tegio, and Robb Flynn left the band and were replaced by Paul Bostaph (drums), Matt Camacho (bass) and Glen Avelais (guitar). The band's name was shortened to Forbidden in order to prevent the band from being stereotyped as a black metal band. Forbidden Evil, the band's debut album, was released in 1988. The album included three songs written by former guitarist Robb Flynn: "Chalice Of Blood", "Forbidden Evil", and "As Good As Dead". The debut album line-up lasted until 1989 when Glen Alvelais left the band, later to join Testament. He was replaced by Tim Calvert. Their second studio album, Twisted Into Form, was released in 1990.

Post-Bostaph period and hiatus

Internal problems in the band caused a line-up change once again and drummer Paul Bostaph (later to take over from Dave Lombardo in Slayer) was replaced by Steve Jacobs. This Forbidden line-up released two more albums, Distortion and Green, however, without strong label support, the band disintegrated.

Reunion(s)

In 2001, Forbidden reformed as a one-off for Chuck Billy's Thrash of the Titans benefit concert, under their original name Forbidden Evil. Locicero was unable to join the group due to his recording with Manmade God but later expressed his content for Billy's sake.

In 2007 Forbidden reformed again for some reunion shows in 2008 both in the US and in Europe.^[1] The reunion did not feature either the Forbidden Evil line-up or the one with Jacobs. Gene Hoglan (of Dark Angel, Death and Strapping Young Lad fame) played drums for the band's first few reunion shows, due to Bostaph's prior commitments with Testament, who had been in the studio finishing a new album. After Hoglan, Mark Hernandez (ex-Vio-lence, Heathen, Defiance) filled in on the drums for the band's European tour, which included an appearance on the main stage at Belgium's Graspop festival. Japanese dates are also lined up for later in the year.

In 2008 Forbidden began talks with Nuclear Blast Records about recording a fifth studio album for the label. In a post on the band's Myspace page the band confirmed that they were recording a new album, Omega Wave^[2] released in 2010.^[3] In August 2011, drummer Mark Hernandez left Forbidden, citing personal reasons. Gene Hoglan replaced him for a few shows, including Alcatraz Festival.^[4] In November later that year, the band announced their new drummer selected from a YouTube auditioning process, New Mexico's Sasha Horn.^[5]

Forbidden is currently writing new material for their next album.^[6]

The band canceled their scheduled performance at Wacken Open Air in 2012.

Line-ups

Selected discography

References

External links

• Forbidden's MySpace
• Interview with Forbidden in Cleveland, OH 11/16/2010 with Maximum Threshold Radio
• Forbidden's Official MySpace