King Fowley and guitarist Doug Souther started the band in 1984 in Arlington, Virginia with a goal to "out-thrash Slayer".

Tragedy struck the group on March 3, 1988, when Sterzel and several friends, including the brother of guitarist Doug Souther, were killed in a hit-and-run accident.

The lineup of King Fowley, Mike Smith, Mark Adams, and Les Snyder lasted over a decade and recorded some of the group's most celebrated works.

Since leaving Relapse, Deceased have continuously released new material, including As the Weird Travel On (Thrash Corner Records) in 2005, an independent vinyl-only live album entitled Blood Orgy in College Park – Stalking the Airwaves in 2010, and the more recent LP Surreal Overdose in 2011 on their own Shrieks From the Hearse label in conjunction with PATAC Records.

[3] A split 12" with the band Conceived By Hate, titled "The Figure of Uneasiness", was released in the fall of 2014 on El Salvador's Morbid Skull label, featuring four live-in-the-studio recordings with the current live lineup.