Exclusive: Know Death and Embalmer Records Take a Trip Back to ’92 with “Fallen From Grace”

When you think about early death metal, it’s pretty easy to imagine the names that pop up — Possessed, Morbid Angel, Autopsy, Obituary — the list goes on. Yet it’s important to remember that there were bands everywhere looking to carve their path with loud, fast, and brutal music, but ended up disappearing into obscurity.

Thanks to the efforts of fledgling label Embalmer Records, Kentucky death metal band (yes, death metal existed outside of Florida and upstate New York) Know Death is getting a second lease on life. On May 31, their only demo will be re-released, along with the unreleased recording of one of their live shows from 1992 — and we’ve got the exclusive privilege of premiering one of those live tracks, “Fallen From Grace”, today.

Originally comprised of bassist and vocalist Joe Prewitt, guitarist Barry Burgan, and the late Doug Withrow on drums more than 30 years ago, the band featured that type of raw, aggressive sound that existed back in the 90s. It’s hard listening to the track and not imagining a pit just immediately opening up.

Unfortunately, the band never made it past their first demo, with all three members eventually stepping away from music, at least for a bit. Withrow sadly passed away in 2014 and Burgan apparently doesn’t play all that much these days, but Prewitt is currently in death metal band Eisen Geist.

Speaking of the new lease on life his old band’s getting in 2024, Burgan said he was excited to know that that special time in his life won’t be lost to the ether.

“I would like to say that we are very excited that our music will be out to a larger and more accessible audience. It’s satisfying to know that it can hopefully achieve what we strived for back then, and can still be enjoyed by others in today’s world.”

Buried Alive will be released on May 31 via Embalmer Records, but you can pre-order your copy today. Oh and cassette fans? Those will be coming soon.

(Full disclosure: Embalmer Records is owned by Greg Kennelty. Not only is he a colleague, he is a personal friend. That being said, the push to preserve long lost tunes is one that absolutely deserves being highlighted.)