About
Steve Rowe (Mortification)
Stephen Andrew Rowe (born January 19, 1965, in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian musician, vocalist, and bass guitarist best known as the founder and frontman of the highly influential Christian extreme metal band Mortification.
Biography and Early Career
Raised in a Christian home, Steve began playing bass in 1983, influenced by traditional heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden and Motörhead. In 1986, he formed the traditional heavy metal band LightForce. Searching for a heavier, thrash-oriented sound, he reshaped the band, stepped up to lead vocals, and officially changed its name to Mortification in 1990.
Mortification and Christian Metal Pioneering
Through Mortification, Steve Rowe became a true pioneer in the Christian death and thrash metal scene worldwide. Their 1992 album, Scrolls of the Megilloth, is widely considered a death metal/grindcore classic that helped define the genre. The band unapologetically combined guttural vocals and intense, heavy riffs with deeply Christian lyrics, breaking massive new ground at the time.
Battle with Leukemia and Resilience
In September 1996, Rowe was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was given a mere two hours to live on multiple occasions after the cancer aggressively spread to his spinal fluid. Miraculously, he survived, although the intense ordeal left him with L1 paraplegia. Using a walking frame, he defied the odds and continued to tour the world, perform, and record, channeling his immense pain and steadfast faith into the powerful 1998 album Triumph of Mercy.
Legacy and Retirement
Rowe also owned and operated Rowe Productions, a prominent record label that supported and distributed Christian metal bands globally. In 2016, his extraordinary journey was detailed in the biography "Metal Missionary: The Steve Rowe Story" written by Vic Campbell. Rowe ultimately announced his retirement from the Christian music industry in 2015, leaving behind an indelible legacy of faith, unyielding perseverance, and groundbreaking extreme music.