Blackstar

England’s short-lived Blackstar rose in the ashes of grindcore pioneers Carcass, whose Jeff Walker (vocals/bass), Carlo Regadas (electric guitar) and Ken Owen (drums) wanted to continue exploring the techie death steel previewed on that band’s last album, the un-Carcass-like Swansong. After drafting tempo guitarist Tag Griffiths (ex-Cathedral), Blackstar released their Barbed Cable Spirit debut in 1997, but periods for another album had been derailed when Owen was identified as having a human brain tumor, that he subsequently retrieved. Blackstar, alternatively, were apparently much less lucky, having not really been heard about since.