Studio played key role in making Tampa the "death metal capital of the world"
Death metal, a subgenre of heavy metal, is known for fast tempos, growling vocals, and distorted and low-tuned guitars. Dark and aggressive themes can be heard in the lyrics, making it a striking contrast to the area credited with its origins -- Tampa.
Hillsborough County became a hotspot for death metal in the 1980s and 1990s due to the area birthing and attracting a multitude of death metal bands. Their preferred recording studio, Morrisound Recording, located in Temple Terrace, also contributed to the music scene's growth.
Morrisound opened its doors in 1981 and records a wide variety of music styles, including everything from country and punk to gospel and rap. However, the studio's success in producing high quality death metal albums gave it an international reputation.
Influential death metal bands from Hillsborough County-including Morbid Angel, Obituary, and Deicide-recorded at Morrisound and contributed to Tampa's reputation as the "death metal capital."
In 2014, Morrisound was sold to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a band known for Christmas-themed rock operas and a sound described as "symphonic metal." The studio, originally located in Temple Terrace, where the historical marker stands, is now based in Tampa.
Historical marker inscription
From the early 1980s, Morrisound Recording garnered a worldwide reputation for producing high quality recordings in many genres of music. In the 1980s and 1990s, Morrisound also became known as the birthplace of a genre of extreme metal known as Death Metal. Extreme metal artists came from all over the world to record, drawn by the power and clarity of the music they heard on the albums recorded there by producer/engineers Jim Morris, Tom Morris, and Scott Burns. Bands traveled from Germany, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The list of extreme metal artists that came through the doors is extensive. Out of the top 30 selling death metal albums of all time (as of 2022), 25 were recorded at Morrisound. These include albums by artists like Death, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Obituary, and Sepultura. It was on this site that these albums were recorded.
The other side of the historical marker features four black and white photographs of the Morrisound Recording studio, including shots of control rooms "A" and "B", and live room "A." One photo features Morrisound Recording staff from 1982.
Marker location
The marker is at 12111 N. 56th St., Temple Terrace, FL 33617, on the east side of 56th Street.
It was erected in 2025 by the Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council.