The County Medical Examiners
The County Medical Examiners is an American goregrind band who, in their own words, exist for the sole purpose of recreating the sound of early Carcass albums. The band is also known to do no live shows at all. All of the current members have graduated with an MD in medical school or are currently taking medical school classes, hence the name of the band.
The County Medical Examiners | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scotts Valley, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Goregrind, deathgrind |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Relapse, Razorback |
| Associated acts | Exhumed |
| Members | Morton Fairbanks Jack Putnam Guy Radcliffe |
| Past members | Michelle Hayes Matt Widener |
History
The County Medical Examiners were formed in 2001. The band's original line up consisted of Dr. Morton Fairbanks on guitar/vocals, Dr. Jack Putnam on drums/vocals, and Michelle Hayes on bass/vocals. Michelle Hayes was, according to Dr. Fairbanks in an old interview on thecountymedicalexaminers.com, first exposed to the band when, as part of her probation due to a DUI charge, she toured the morgue where Dr. Fairbanks worked. Soon after they got together and recorded the EP Fetid Putrescent Whiffs, which saw limited release. The band recorded their debut full-length for Razorback Records, Forensic Fugues and Medicolegal Medleys. Not long after the album's release Michelle left the band to devote her time to medical school, and she was replaced by friend and colleague Dr. Guy Radcliffe, who is reportedly around 60 years of age. The current line-up went on to record a split LP, an EP, and a second full-length album, Olidous Operettas.
Much controversy surrounds the identity of the band members, as they use pseudonyms to avoid the wrath of hospital administration and fan attention. One rumor suggests that TCME contains at least one member of Exhumed, mostly because the domain name for the band's website was registered by a former member of Exhumed, and not under the name of the "band members," but it's now commonly accepted that TCME, being uninterested in their online promotion, have many people behind the scenes—including various other Carcass clone bands, as well as Relapse Records staff—donating their time to web design and promotion, as well as guest musical appearances.
TCME released their Relapse Records debut, Olidous Operettas, in January 2007. The CD, which took more than a year and a half to write and record since all three band members live in different states, features eight tracks. Dr. Fairbanks described the effort as "somewhere between Symphonies of Sickness and Necroticism-era Carcass" and "not something you would want to put on before church." What makes the disc even more distinctive is that "it will be a scented-face CD, which essentially means it will be scratch and sniff-able," he said. "Our CD will smell like rotten meat."
Current lineup
- Dr. Jack Putnam, MD - drums, vocals (2001-present)
- Dr. Morton Fairbanks, MD - vocals, guitar, bass (2001-present)
- Dr. Guy Radcliffe, MD, PhD - bass, vocals (2002-present)
Past members
- Michelle Hayes - bass, vocals (2001-2002)
Discography
- Fetid Putrescent Whiffs (Demo, 2001)
- Forensic Fugues and Medicolegal Medleys (LP, Razorback, 2001)
- General Surgery/The County Medical Examiners Split (split, Razorback, 2003)
- Reeking Rhapsodies for Chorale, Percussion, and Strings (EP, Noise-Squatch Records, 2004)
- Olidous Operettas (LP, Relapse, 2007)
