It came out of the Bay Area thrash scene but Possessed’s 1985 debut Seven Churches is now renowned for getting the death metal ball rolling. And quite right too: Jeff Becerra’s voice is demonic and cavernous; the riffing is brutal and relentless; and it closes with a song called… Death Metal! But it’s really more than that. As with other early efforts from the likes of Sodom, Kreator, Slayer and Celtic Frost there’s a primordial stew of dark extremity at work here that doesn’t fit neatly into any genre but has elements that can be extracted into loads of them. It’s not just the death metal guys that have worshipped at the altar of Seven Churches. And that’s why it still holds up today and always hits the spot, whatever kind of evil metal mood I might be in.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
I saw Possessed in London back in 1986. I forgot how much they sound like Venom.
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Oh wow that’s awesome. Definite Venom similarity, totally agree.
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I must say I heard this album because of “The Exorcist”. That synth intro from the movie is iconic.
Can’t say I was too much a fan of the vocals and the song felt a bit chaotic and unfocused.
I think they should have gone more in the direction of “Fallen Angel” that moved between doom/sludge and speed Metal.
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Fair enough, I always like a bit of ramshackle chaos in my thrash.
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