The Southern Death Cult

Southern Death Cult was a gothic rock band in the early 1980s. It is now primarily known for having given its lead singer and parts of its name to the multi-platinum hard rock band The Cult. Despite the similarities in the names, "Southern Death Cult" was distinct from "Death Cult"/"The Cult".

Southern Death Cult emerged from the ashes of the seminal Bradford punk band Violation. In place at that time were Aki Nawaz-drums, Barry Jepson-bass, Mick-guitar & Mick Brady-vocals. Notable songs in their set were 'Boys in Blue' & 'Assault & Battery'- The high point for this line-up is probably their support slot to the Clash at Bradford's St. Georges Hall in 1980.

In 1981, Ian Astbury had moved into a new house in Bradford and reportedly discovered a band rehearsing in the cellar. Ian Astbury (performing under the name "Ian Lindsay") sang alongside guitarist David Burrows, bassist Barry Jepson and drummer Haq Qureshi (a.k.a. Aki Nawaz). Astbury renamed the band Southern Death Cult, after an obscure Indian tribe around the Mississippi delta area in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Southern Death Cult's first ever performance was at the Queen's Hall in Bradford, England, on 29 October 1981. The setlist the band played was: Crow, The Girl Apache, Vivisection, (unknown song), Moya, The Crypt, and there is a bootleg recording of that show in circulation. The fifth song is sometimes referred to as 'War Song', but its real title is unknown, seeing as the band never performed it again, nor was it ever recorded by them in the studio. The band toured heavily in the UK promoting its double A side single "Moya/ Fatman/ The Girl", which had gone to #1 on the independent charts, and even peaked at number 88 in Top 100. The band toured with Theatre of Hate, and then succeeding in getting a slot opening for Bauhaus, at the end of 1982, but Astbury disbanded the group after a show on 26 February 1983.

Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy (of The Nosebleeds and Theatre of Hate) came together later in April 1983 to form a different band, with a similar name, first called "Death Cult" and then, after releaseing a four song EP and a single, the band changed their name to simply The Cult. The other members of The Southern Death Cult formed Getting the Fear. Later they changed their name to Into A Circle. Qureshi went on to form the political, Islamic hip hop group Fun-Da-Mental and to create the label Nation Records.

Southern Death Cult's singles, demos, and some live recordings were later collected onto a ten song compilation album by Beggars Banquet, simply entitled Southern Death Cult. The vinyl version was released in a dozen countries after The Cult's popularity grew in the 1980's. An early ten song CD version was released in 1987 in Japan. It was issued on CD in 1988 with five bonus tracks, and then remastered and reissued on CD again in 1996. The songwriting credits to "A Flower in the Desert," off of The Cult's Dreamtime album, are from the Southern Death Cult line up – a credit which is sometimes omitted from the various different pressings of Dreamtime.