It all began back in 1982 at St. Augustine Prep School in Richland, NJ. Chris Bombeke (lead guitar) & Bob Perna (rythym guitar) were both seniors at the high school and Dan Hansen (drums) was a freshman. They all joined the music club and found that they shared a lot of the same musical tastes - namely UFO, Iron Maiden, Metallica and many of the other NWOBHM bands. The school students knew that something cool was happening with the music club and the first and only concert performance was highly anticipated. The only song that can be recalled is "Southern Man" by CSN&Y and there may have been a Deep Purple tune in there, too.
4 years would pass before the guys saw each other again. Then in 1985, Dan ran into Chris in the parking lot of the local lounge in Vineland, NJ. They reminisced a bit and talked about metal. Chris & Bob in the mean time had always been the best of friends and Chris then asked Dan to stop over Bob's house to jam. Those early days consisted of Metallica, Dokken, Ratt, Keel, and other cover tunes. Then the name selection ceremony took place (almost weekly), starting with Maggot, then evolving into Maggot Vomit. The lineup consisted of Chris, Bob, Dan, Carlo Gentilleti (bass) and Tim Blackman (vocals).
In September of 1985, Dan left for Widener University. But occassionally on weekends he would come home to visit and see the guys. They had been working on some originals and recruited a freak of a bass player named Clarence Jenkins (a.k.a. CJ). When Dan heard the new songs he knew that something incredible would eventually happen. The songs at the time were more along the lines of Dokken & Ratt, hard but not yet heavy. "Judgement Day" and "Jokes on You" are just 2 of the classics from that era. Dan then "maneuvered" his way back to Vineland and continued studies locally while the band played on.
In 1986, things took a different turn when the band went to Philadelphia to see a band called Anvil Bitch. It was at this show that they first witnessed "slammin," stage diving and REALLY heavy stuff. From that point on, the first string of originals were thrown out the window and they went to work on faster and heavier material. "The Reducer" was the first by-product and was a fast yet melodic tune inspired by metal & sprinkled with beer. Though the full song did not make it to the Punishment Area album, the intro became the intro to "Darkside."
Many shows & parties were played with Philly friends Anvil Bitch and other stagemates consisted of Nuclear Assault, Hallows Eve, Flotsam & Jetsam, and The Crumbsuckers just to name a few. And let's not forget the Wendy O. show that didn't happen because her guitarist had a fit. Things were cruising along very well and then a management company came along and pumped everyone up with hopes and dreams of success. The band recorded the "Dehumanized '88" demo in late 1987 and the title track was put on Metal Massacre IX.
