POSSESSED, MALEVOLENT CREATION, ACHERON Confirmed For GATHERING OF THE BESTIAL LEGION III

POSSESSED, MALEVOLENT CREATION and ACHERON are among the confirmed bands for the Gathering of the Bestial Legion III festival, set to take place August 19, 2007 at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California. More than 30 death/black metal acts will perform on three stages. Bands confirmed so far are as follows:

POSSESSED
MALEVOLENT CREATION
THE CHASM
ACHERON
DEMONIC CHRIST
RESSURECTION

For more information, visit www.bestialgathering.cjb.net.

POSSESSED's lineup at the Gathering of the Bestial Legion III and at this year's Wacken Open Air festival is expected to consist of sole original member Jeff Becerra (vocals) backed by members of California's SADISTIC INTENT.

SADISTIC INTENT guitarist Rick Cortez recently told Germany's Voices from the Darkside, "Jeff Becerra chose us to do POSSESSED with him! We've been rehearsing songs from 'Seven Churches', 'Beyond The Gates' and 'The Eyes Of Horror'! The people from the Wacken fest got in contact and invited us to appear at this year's event! We've already accepted their offer so it's pretty much official, POSSESSED is going to do one exclusive show for Wacken! This will be the only show for POSSESSED in Europe, at least for now. As far as SADISTIC INTENT, we are trying to organize a show in Germany (preferably nearby the Wacken) the day after the fest which is a Sunday. I already spoke with Wannes of PENTACLE and they would like to do the gig with us. I am waiting for the booking agent to get back to me regarding this SADISTIC INTENT show. If it does happen, it will be the only SADISTIC INTENT show in Europe for now as well."

Some time after POSSESSED's last release in 1989, Jeff Becerra was left paralyzed from the waist down in a shooting incident. In a 2002 interview with Battle Helm, Becerra was asked about the many different reports that had circulated about what happened to him — ranging from punishment from God to a carjacking. "That's all bullshit," he replied. "Firstly I don't believe in God. What happened is that a couple of crackheads robbed me when I was coming home from work and they shot me with a 9mm in the chest and a 21 in the hand. In some ways it was kinda stupid because I could've given them the money but it was the way they asked me and I told 'em to get fucked. They were caught that night and at their trial one of them said that the only reason they didn't finish me off was because they ran outta bullets. They went to prison but one of them somehow got released later and he managed to kill five more people..."

A limited-edition POSSESSED seven-inch single on multi-colored vinyl was released last year on Boneless Records in association with B.A.D.M./N.Y.D.M. Entitled "Ashes from Hell", the first 100 copies of the single came with a collector's pick.

Formed in the early '80s, POSSESSED released "Seven Churches" via Combat Records in 1985. They would follow with "Beyond the Gates" and the five-song EP "The Eyes of Horror" before disbanding several years later. A "best-of" collection, "Victims of Death", was released in 1993.