NOCTURNUS released their debut album, "The Key," on October 1st, 1990, through Earache Records, recorded that June at Morrisound in Florida with Tom Morris producing alongside the band. Drummer and vocalist Mike Browning, previously the original drummer of MORBID ANGEL, built a concept record in which a cyborg travels back to year zero to assassinate Christ, collapsing Christianity and founding a modern empire; the track "Destroying the Manger" caused the trouble you would expect. What made the album matter musically was Louis Panzer's keyboards, all but unheard of in death metal at the time, used for intros and atmosphere over an otherwise conventional guitar-and-drums attack. Kam Lee of MASSACRE added backing vocals and Dan Seagrave painted the cover. The complexity and experimentation have led many to call it the first progressive death metal album. Browning has said he never saw royalties from it after being pushed out of the band.
