UMUR
"Rotting in Hell" is the first demo recording by US, Florida based technical death/thrash metal act R.A.V.A.G.E. The demo was independently released in August 1985. R.A.V.A.G.E. formed in 1984 under the Oblivion monicker, but changed their name to R.A.V.A.G.E. in 1985 without having released anything under the Oblivion name. "Rotting in Hell" is therefore their first output. R.A.V.A.G.E. themselves would only exist from 1985 to 1987 and then change their name to Atheist. At this point (in 1985) R.A.V.A.G.E. worked as the trio of Kelly Shaefer (guitars, vocals), Steve Flynn (drums), and Roger Patterson (bass).
Stylistically the material on the five track, 21:52 minutes long demo is some pretty raw, brutal, and aggressive thrash metal. Shaefer sounds pissed and there´s some caustic intensity to the performances which brings the right authentic atmosphere. You´ll hear the technical/progressive tendencies that Atheist would be known for on occasion on this demo, but they are not dominant elements. None of the tracks from this demo would survive into the Atheist years of the band´s career.
Considering the young age of the band, they are very well playing and already this early on you´re able to hear that Patterson was a bassist extraordinaire, and of course both Flynn and Shaefer are exceptionally skilled on their instruments too. The sound production is decent for a first demo recording, but it´s arguably a very raw and unpolished sounding production, so don´t expect studio sound quality. All in all "Rotting in Hell" is a good quality first release by R.A.V.A.G.E. and it´s no wonder they are considered one of the seminal proto-death artists from Florida along with artists like Mantas/Death, Massacre, Morbid Angel, Executioner (later Xecutioner and even later Obituary), and Hellwitch. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.