Former MORBID ANGEL Drummer/Vocalist MIKE BROWNING Dead At 62

Former MORBID ANGEL and NOCTURNUS drummer/vocalist Mike Browning has died at the age of 62.

Browning's passing was confirmed earlier today (Monday, July 13) by Profound Lore Records, which released the two albums from Mike's most recent band, NOCTURNUS AD.

"RIP death metal legend/sci-fi death metal godfather Mike Browning of NOCTURNUS/NOCTURNUS AD. Journey beyond the gateway to the outer void!" the label wrote.

MORBID ANGEL also paid tribute to Browning, writing on Instagram: "R.I.P Mike, thanks for helping making all this happen. Our condolences to his family & especially his daughter."

Browning played on what was originally intended to be MORBID ANGEL's debut album, "Abominations Of Desolation". Recorded way back in 1986, the LP eventually saw the light of day in 1991.

In a 2019 interview with Bardo Methodology, Browning stated about "Abominations Of Desolation", which was initially recorded for David Vincent's Goreque Records: "I signed a record contract with Goreque and then recorded a full album in a real studio... There are also a few things out there written by Trey [Azagthoth, MORBID ANGEL guitarist] himself where he clearly states that the album 'Abominations Of Desolation' was coming out. After it had been recorded, we played three shows and Sterling Scarborough replaced John Ortega on bass. Not a word was said about technical shortcomings; everything was all set to go. It wasn't until I caught Trey with my girlfriend and beat the hell out of him — which led to the band splitting in half — that he decided not to release it. Prior to this, 'Abominations…' had been recorded and was going to be presented as MORBID ANGEL's first LP. These comments about it not being technically good enough only came once I was out."

Regarding the 1991 version of "Abominations Of Desolation" which was made available via Earache, Mike said: "I didn't think it would ever happen, since the album had already been bootlegged to death. I knew that if someone wanted to hear it, they could find the recording pretty easily on just about any tapetrader list. I never thought it would be put out by Trey and David through Earache, especially when I was on the same label with NOCTURNUS. I remember seeing my friend Jim at the gas station and he had 'Abominations…' blaring through the car stereo. I asked him, 'What version is that? It sounds really clear', and he said it was the Earache release which had just come out. I was on the label but knew nothing about it. I immediately contacted them: they'd bought the tapes from David Vincent and then released a limited edition in order to stop the bootlegging. Dig from Earache told me it was David's decision to not credit anyone by name or picture in the booklet. By leaving out who played on the album or who wrote what, it was treated like a bootleg of a bootleg by both them and Earache. Could you imagine doing a real 'Abominations…' remix from the original reels?"

In 1987, Browning left MORBID ANGEL and formed NOCTURNUS. The initial NOCTURNUS lineup featured Browning alongside guitarists Vincent Crowley and Gino Marino, and bassist Richard Bateman. This original 1987 iteration of the band recorded a raw, occult-themed self-titled demo before shifting into a progressive, sci-fi-oriented direction with keyboards in the late 1980s.

Browning was the drummer and vocalist for NOCTURNUS on the 1990s album "The Key" and solely played drums on "Thresholds" before being fired from the band in 1993. Other projects he participated in during the 1980s and 1990s included Florida death metal bands INCUBUS and ACHERON. In 2008, he released a solo album under the MIKE BROWNING'S INNER WORKINGS banner, "Trancemissions", via Pharmafabrik Recordings.

Browning's most recent band NOCTURNUS AD released its debut album, "Paradox", in 2019, followed by "Unicursal" in 2024, both via Profound Lore Records.

Browning has a daughter who was born in 2007.