Impetigo

by Eduardo Rivadavia

Bloomington, IL's Impetigo is a generally unheralded pioneer of the early death/gore/grind metal movement, distinguished by their extreme sounds, intense musicianship, and disgusting subject matter. Formed in 1987 by Stevo Dobbins (bass, vocals) and Mark Sawickis (guitar), with Dan Malin (drums) joining a short time later, the group recorded a pair of demos (1987's live All We Need Is Cheez and 1989's Giallo) on their way to 1990's Ultimo Mondo Cannibale album. As legend has it, the latter originally featured artwork so graphic -- including depictions of cannibalism, castration, dismemberment, and full frontal nudity -- that its release was pushed back a few months until changes could be made. At last, Impetigo relented, approved a less offensive package, and the influential album slowly began festering into the marketplace, through the independent Wild Rags label, amazingly climbing to number 96 on college music trade CMJ's radio charts. Impetigo delivered another three EPs (Buio Omega, Faceless, and the split Antefatto) in 1991, before entering Pogo Studios, in Champaign, IL, to start working on their second album, eventually titled Horror of the Zombies. Once again, the record overflowed with musical and lyrical carnage, shocking and thrilling listeners in equal numbers with its horror-movie-fueled, deathly grind (along the same lines as Autopsy, Repulsion, and early Carcass) when it arrived in stores in June 1992. But, by the end of the following year, Impetigo had decided to call it quits, claiming increased disenchantment with the fractured state of a once close-knit underground scene. They played their final concert at the seventh annual Milwaukee Metalfest, and, since then, their musicians have kept busy with other musical projects, while occasional re-releases and compilations like 2000's Giallo/Antefatto set continue to foster Impetigo's cult legend among peers and fans of extreme heavy metal.