Derkéta (pronounced der-KATE-a) is a doom influenced death metal band from Pittsburgh, PA. The name Derkéta was taken from Stygian Mythology; she was the Goddess of Death of a blood drinking cult. The band was formed by Sharon Bascovsky (vocals & guitars) and Terri Heggen (drums) in late 1988, first rehearsal took place March of 1989. Current lineup consists of Sharon (vocals, guitars), Heather (bass) and Jim Sadist (drums).
The bands 1st offering was in the form of a 1989 2-song rehearsal that was recorded on a 4 track . Kim August from Ultimatum Zine assisted on the bass tracks for that recording. In February '90, the band released a 4-song demo entitled "The Unholy Ground". Shortly after, an offer from Seraphic Decay Records came into play, Derkéta re-recorded two demo songs and released the Premature Burial 7" in July of 1990. In 1991, the bass was assisted by Mary Bielich whom is now in Penance, but nothing permanent to complete a full line-up. After tension in the band formed, Terri joined up with Mary to form Mythic, which later disbanded. Sharon continued to write songs and has since been the sole driving force behind Derkéta's sound and main song writer.
Originally, Derkéta was well known in the underground as the first all female doom/death metal influenced band with low guttural vocals; but shying away from the novelty of that was hard felt to keep a line up. Sharon had to recruit a more reliable and solid member base. After a long break, Sharon united with drummer Jim Sadist of the unholy NunSlaughter to record three songs. In November of 1999, two of the songs were released for a Split 7" with the evil gods NunSlaughter on Deliria Noise Outfitters, Ordealis Records re-released this evil split on picture disc. Rhia from Somnus was asked to contribute haunting keyboards for the intro of the Begotten Son 7". Due to time restraints and distance, a last minute decision led Sharon to work with local drummer Jeff "The Troll" to record "Your Rotting Flesh" for the Mad Max Impaler of Trendies tribute, released December 2001 by Master of Bestial Mockery. The next recording was the first recording featuring Heather on bass, "Spirits in the Morgue". This song was released December 2002 on Iron Bonehead Productions and is featured on a 4-way split 7 with Gravewurm, Witchburner and Sado-Maniac. Necroharmonic Productions is now in the process of re-mastering all of Derketa's recordings to date to CD quality and will be released this October of 2003, called Goddess of Death.
To clear up some confusion, Derkéta and Mythic are not the same band and Sharon has never participated in any Mythic writings or recordings. Mythic was led by Dana of now Demonic Christ which had a completely different writing style . Derkéta still existed during the days of Mythic but had not released any recordings due to a permanent and solid line-up that never was established.
Currently Sharon is in the process of writing and rehearsing new material for Derkéta's first full length LP entitled In Death We Meet, which promises to unleash more ungodly music. The album is scheduled to be recorded winter of 2003 on reel to reel to bring back the older Derkéta sound. Due to the hectic band schedule of Jim Sadist and the distance between the members, Jared of Eviscium will be playing drums for the LP recording. Sharon is talking to a couple labels that look promising, but no decisions have yet been made as to which label will release this. In the next coming weeks, a rehearsal of a new song called "Last Rites" will be uploaded to the website.
Influences of the band draw highly from the likes of Sepultura (Morbid Visions), NunSlaughter, Death, Autopsy, Dream Death/Penance, Goatlord, Necrovore, Incantation, Immolation, Nihilist/Entombed, Bolt Thrower, Carnage, Massacre, old Rotting Christ, to name a few.
Because of the instability of local members, Derkéta is only a studio band and will continue to record with hopes of future live shows. If you would like to contact Derkéta, you can send an email to [email protected].
Sharon will also be playing bass for the ultra heavy band Eviscium with Mark from the cult band Rottrevore. Be sure to check out Eviscium's website for info.
Source : Site angelfire
