Rotting in Hell

R.A.V.A.G.E. are better known to the world as Atheist. They changed their name after two demos. The original name was (apparently) an acronym for 'Raging Atheists Vowing A Gory End', which is about as dated and immature as it gets. I'm glad the band ditched this in favour of a classier moniker. The original line-up was a three-piece comprising Roger Patterson, Steve Flynn and Kelly Shaefer. The latter handled both rhythm and lead guitar at this point. The band did not recruit Rand Burkey as a lead guitarist for another couple of years. Nonetheless, R.A.V.A.G.E. and Atheist were the same band.

Their first demo was recorded way back in 1985. That makes it one of the earliest recordings that could be described as 'death metal'. The basic recipe for the band’s early sound was to combine Slayer ("Hell Awaits"-era), with some early Teutonic thrash riffs and a couple of Celtic Frost/Hellhammer riffs. Kelly Shaefer's growled vocals sounded more menacing than the standard thrash of the era. The band were also ambitious musicians, so these songs sound complex and bone-crunching enough to qualify as death metal (to my ears). In some respects, they sounded more like death metal here than on their next couple of demos. Steve Flynn's excellent drumming is the key to all this. He enabled the band to play a more detailed, wild style that still retained focus. The production on his drums here is poor, but you can hear his skills.

The unfamiliar song-titles on the track-listing might fool you into thinking that these are primitive songs that the band ditched soon after. This isn’t true. None of these songs appeared on the band’s albums, but at least two of them were recycled for "Piece of Time". The most obvious example is "Rotting in Hell". The latter half of this song would later comprise the latter half of "Room with a View", almost note-for-note. The other example is "Brain Damage". This is a complex, proggy number that later appeared on two subsequent Atheist demos. Some of the riffing towards the end of the song would be included on the title track of their debut album. Both these songs (along with “Kill or Be Killed”) are impressive and full of twists and turns. The other two tracks ("The Eye of May" and "Hades Decree") are weaker, but still have their moments.

The only thing that stymies this demo is the under-cooked production, which suffers in comparison to other death metal classics from 1985 like "Seven Churches" and "Faces of Death". R.A.V.A.G.E. actually released this demo a few months before both of those recordings, which is food for thought. Few people ever credit Atheist for their pioneering role in early death metal. They are seldom mentioned in the same breath as Death, Possessed, Master and Sepultura. Atheist were arguably more complex than any of those bands. They created their own death metal niche here. This demo, however crude, is an example of 'proto-progressive death metal'. That makes it an essential artifact for anyone who wants to know about the roots of death metal. The music is excellent too.