Mike Smith (born July 16, 1971 in

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York) is an American

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

, best known as the founding member and former drummer of the prominent New York-based

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band Suffocation. He performed on their 1990 demo ''Reincremated'', the 1991 EP, '' Human Waste'', their 1991 debut album '' Effigy of the Forgotten'', and their 1993 album ''

Breeding the Spawn ''Breeding the Spawn'' is the second full-length album by Suffocation. Though it still employs the characteristics and elements associated with Suffocation's song writing, the production on the album is much thinner than on other albums, due to ...

''. He then departed from the band and was subsequently replaced before the bands departure from the scene in 1998. Smith returned when Suffocation reformed in 2002 after a four-year hiatus and performed on their 2004 release, ''

Souls to Deny ''Souls to Deny'' is the fourth studio album by the death metal band Suffocation marking the end of a six-year hiatus. This is the first album featuring former guitarist Guy Marchais (ex-Pyrexia, ex-Internal Bleeding) and marks the return of ...

'', their 2006 self-titled album, and 2009's Blood Oath. Smith (as a member of Suffocation) was Inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2011. Smith left Suffocation for the second time in February 2012. Smith is a drum instructor and hired studio musician. He has lent his drumming to the song "Dawn of a Golden Age" on '' Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions'',

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

rapper Necro for his album '' Death Rap'' and experimental Louisiana based metal act ''Psychometry''. Smith has his own

horrorcore Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, or death rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip h ...

-influenced rap project called GRIMM REAL The first underground full length for the Grimm Real project was released in 1999 titled Demise of the Clones. In 2014, Smith recorded drums for the German extreme-metal band Misanthrope Monarch and their debut EP. Smith has since completed full length albums with bands Voracious Scourge U.S.A, Inverted Matter from Italy, as well as two studio songs with side project Synesis Absorption U.S.A.. Grimm Real is Smiths' current and active project. Mike_Smith_Suffocation

Endorsements

Mike Smith is currently endorsed by the following companies: * Meinl cymbals *

Axis Percussion Axis Percussion is a United States company specializing in the manufacture of precision drum pedals and drum hardware. The company aims for high qualities of craftsmanship and makes use of aircraft grade aluminum and steel. Some Axis pedals, cal ...

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. Biography Vic Firth was born June 2, ...

Evans Drumheads D'Addario is a family-owned and operated American multinational company that specializes in musical instrument accessories headquartered in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. D’Addario is the world’s largest musical instrument accesso ...

Ddrum ddrum is an American based Swedish company, currently a division of Armadillo Enterprises, Inc. that manufactures acoustic drum sets, electronic drum sets, and Electronic Triggers. Ddrum was originally a brand of Clavia, makers of the Nord ...

*dB Drum Shoes *Sick Drummer Magazine *DEDREP

References

External links

Suffocation's official websiteMisanthrope Monarch's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mike 1970 births African-American drummers African-American rock musicians American heavy metal drummers Death metal musicians Living people Musicians from New York (state) Musicians from the Bronx People from Long Island 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Suffocation (band) members 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians