Happy birthday to Steve Rowe (Mortification)!

Happy birthday to Steve Rowe (Mortification)!

Steve Rowe - vocalist/bassist for Australian extreme metal band Mortification

Wikipedia: born 19 January 1965

Metal Archives: born Jan 24th, 1965

The following brief biography comes from Wikipedia: Stephen Andrew Rowe is an Australian musician who is the founder, vocalist and bass guitarist of the Christian death metal band Mortification, which is considered to be a pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification, he was in a traditional heavy metal-styled Christian band known as LightForce. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1997, but made a full recovery. He is currently the owner and head of the Rowe Productions record label. In 2015, Rowe announced his retirement from Christian music. However, his career has continued, while Mortification has been inactive the members' side project, Wonrowe Vision, have remained active.

Steve was first introduced to heavy metal bands like AC/DC and Deep Purple by his older brother Scott when he was just eight years old. By the time he reached the age of 15 his favourite bands were Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Judas Priest. Because Steve grew up in a Baptist home with strong Christian values he became disappointed that the music he enjoyed appeared to be so focused on themes that cut against his faith. In 1980 he began to feel as if he did not fit in with the people he knew at church and started spending his spare time partying with his heavy metal friends.

In 1983 Steve purchased his first bass guitar and began learning how to play. The main influences on his style as he was learning were Lemmy of Motörhead, Joey DeMaio of Manowar, and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. In that same year a youth pastor from the church he used to attend invited him to come back to church and gave Steve a copy of a Resurrection Band album. The album changed Steve's views on what Christian music could be like and was a major factor in his decision to return to the church. Seeing how much rock music combined with a Christian message had helped him, Steve vowed to form a Christian metal band that would change the world. Initially, he formed a band with a few friends back at his church, but it soon became clear that finding people with the same vision and goals would not be an easy task. It was while he was attempting to start this band that Steve became unhappy with the Church he was attending, and as a result, he left and joined the Harvest Christian Centre, which had engaged in outreach to groups like metalheads and punks. It was here that Steve finally found a home for his Christian metal vision.

After several failed attempts with different bands and constant lineup changes, Steve formed LightForce in 1986. Initially that band was a failure as well as their first lineup, which was disbanded after only one show. Steve then reformed the band with a new lineup that won the "Melbourne Heavy Metal battle of the bands competition" in which it was competing with five secular metal acts. LightForce was instantly accepted into the Australian metal scene and went on to record their first full album Battlezone and tour across Australia. In 1988 the band released the album Mystical Thieves. The album went on to sell very well and they toured constantly in support of its release, opening for bands such as Stryper, Whitecross and Leviticus.

Just when it seemed set for LightForce to make a big name for themselves in the Christian metal scene, two of the band's members announced they were leaving the band. Steve spoke with the remaining members about forming a more extreme thrash metal oriented LightForce with him handling vocal duties as well as playing bass. The remaining members did not think it would work so Steve reformed the band with guitarist Cameron Hall and Jayson Sherlock on drums. The band changed their name to Mortification in 1990 and recorded Break The Curse which was later released in 1994.

Mortification went on to record many more albums and the band is considered to be one of the pioneers in the extreme Christian metal scene. The 1992 album Scrolls of the Megilloth is considered to be a great classic of death metal. In 1997 Steve was diagnosed with leukemia. Despite doctors giving him only hours to live on several occasions and a seemingly failed bone marrow transplant, Steve managed to make a full recovery. Mortification then went on to release the 1998 album Triumph of Mercy which dealt with the personal issues Steve faced while receiving treatment for the disease. Mortification is still currently making music and to date has released 13 studio albums. Steve is also the owner and head of the Rowe Productions record label and has performed guest vocals on a song on Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm by Tourniquet.

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Steve Rowe, the founder and bassist of the Australian metal band Mortification, has faced several severe health challenges throughout his career.

In September 1996, Steve was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. His battle with the disease was intense and involved several near-death experiences: 

• Failed Transplant: He underwent a bone marrow transplant in early 1997 which was initially thought to have failed. 

• Secondary Cancer: In mid-1997, he developed a secondary cancer in his spinal fluid. On multiple occasions, doctors reportedly gave him only hours to live.

  • Recovery and Impact: Despite the odds, he made a full recovery from the leukemia by 1998. However, the treatment and the spinal cancer left him with L1 Paraplegia. He typically performs while sitting on a stool and uses a wheel walker or cane to assist with mobility. 

Subsequent Health Issues

• Coma: Following his cancer recovery, Steve fell into a coma after attempting to stop morphine treatment "cold turkey" due to the extreme pain he was experiencing. He survived this episode and eventually regained enough strength to tour. 

• Stroke (2016): In August 2016, Steve suffered a stroke. This setback required him to undergo extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to walk and process thoughts. In updates from early 2017, he mentioned that the stroke had affected his memory and his ability to work on computer files, though he remained optimistic about his recovery. 

Current Status (as of 2025/2026)

Recent reports and social media updates from close associates indicate the following:

• General Health: He is generally described as "doing well" considering the cumulative impact of his cancer battle, paraplegia, and stroke.

• Privacy: Steve has become more private in recent years and is less active on social media.

• Musical Activity: While Mortification has been largely inactive as a touring or recording unit recently, Steve has remained involved in the music scene through his side project, Wonrowe Vision, and his record label, Rowe Productions. 

Mortification - Scrolls of the Megilloth