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Nuclear Death

band

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ976916
Source-derived summary

Nuclear Death was an American death metal band formed in 1986 in Phoenix, Arizona. They were an early example of an extreme metal band with a female vocalist, Lori Bravo.

Their style, which drummer Joel Whitfield described as "deathrashardcorextreme music", was compared to bands like Repulsion and Scum-era Napalm Death.

History

Lori Bravo (bass guitar), Phil Hampson (guitar), and Joel Whitfield (drums) formed Nuclear Death on March 23, 1986, while they were in high school. Nuclear Death cited Venom, Motörhead, The Plasmatics, Witchfinder General, and Discharge as their influences. Their first demo, Wake Me When I'm Dead, was released later that same year, receiving positive reviews from American and overseas zines. At the time, few death metal artists had female singers. Their second demo, Welcome to the Minds of the Morbid, followed in 1987, on the back of which Nuclear Death signed a contract with Richard Campos from Wild Rags, a record label, fanzine and record dealer in California.

In 1991, the band released the controversial album Carrion for Worm, containing songs considered distasteful, such as "The Human Seed", "Lurker in the Closet: A 'Fairy' Tale", and "Greenflies". Carrion for Worm featured vocals by Chris Reifert, from death metal band Autopsy, on two songs, "Cathedral of Sleep" and "Vampirism".

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Nuclear Death” is band. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Nuclear, Death and band, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1986, 1987, 1991—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1986. For this dossier, Nuclear, Death and band is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “band” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q976916. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1987 and 1991.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Nuclear Death”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Nuclear Death primary sources, Nuclear Death archive and Nuclear research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nuclear Death”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Nuclear Death” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.