Forum.RttP{Thrash Assault...}

RITUAL SACRIFICE - The Early Years 1988-1992

AreaDeath Productions Presents:

Cat.Nr: ADP010
Bar Code: No
Format: CD
Style: Thrash Metal
Release Date: 7th Apr. 2007
Songs: 17 tracks
Total Running Time: 1 Hour 4 Mins
label web: http://adp.areadeath.net

(Box Set included chinese lyric paper, Obi, Patch and Tshirt, Black sliver box packing, Ltd. 200 hand numbered)

OVERVIEW
Since Ritual Sacrifice's formation almost 20 years ago, they have released several demo tapes of incredible old school Thrash Metal and become extremely respected throughout the Metal underground (by everyone who was able to obtain their demos, which had become increasingly harder to find over the years). Now, with the release of "THE EARLY YEARS 1988-1992" these recordings will finally be available to true Metal fans worldwide. Ritual Sacrifice's goal right from the start was to break away from the usual Satanic Death Metal concepts that a lot of Metal bands had at the time and do something completely unique and original (both musically and lyrically). Their demos received lots of attention and positive reviews from local Metal fanzines around the world, and they have been compared to bands like CYNIC (USA), FALSE PROPHET (USA), CARDINAL SIN (Puerto Rico) and also frequently compared to DARK ANGEL ("Darkness Descends" era) and SLAYER ("Reign in Blood" era).

Area Death Productions is proud to announce the release of this compilation CD "The Early Years 1988-1992" that includes the first 3 demos ("1989 Self Titled Demo", "The Inhuman Race" and "Into Darkness, We Fall") as well as their mega rare WRIU Radio Session previously unreleased, for a total of 17 blasting technical Thrash Metal! This great CD comes with a nice 12-page booklet full of information, rare band pictures and lyrics, as well as postcard, poster with Chinese translations, sticker, woven patch and OBI strip. CD is limited to only 1000 hand numbered copies! Limited T shirt (black with red/grey colors) in various sizes available too! Don't miss the chance to re-discover this true gem of American Underground Thrash Metal! Write for details, MP3 samples and artwork!

HISTORY
Ritual Sacrifice was first started in Central Falls, Rhode Island, in early 1988, by brothers Dave Latraverse (drums/backing vocals) and Ray Latraverse (guitar/backing vocals), and guitarist Jim Otis. Previously, the Latraverse brothers had been in the 80's Death/Thrash Metal band Dark Lord, alongside Tony Lazaro (who would later form Vital Remains). In 1987 Dark Lord split up to pursue other musical interests, but the Latraverse's continued to play together and wanted to form a new band. Early in 1988 the Latraverse brothers and Jim Otis began collaborating with each other and together they formed the first Ritual Sacrifice lineup.

Ritual Sacrifice's goal right from the start was to break away from the usual Satanic Death Metal concepts that a lot of Metal bands had at the time, and do something completely unique and original (both musically and lyrically). That year Jim Otis also started doing lead vocals (along with guitar) and writing lyrics for the new Ritual Sacrifice material. Ritual Sacrifice's lyrics dealt with various topics, such as disaster, religion, political unrest, corporate corruption, war, insanity and sickness. In 1989 Ritual Sacrifice began the recording of their first demo (a self-titled demo tape with the songs "309" and "Ritual Sacrifice").
During the recording of the demo Ray Dowaliby recorded the bass tracks, and joined the band shortly thereafter. The band also had a friend of theirs, Joe Shit, draw the cover art for the demo, and the completed tape was released in mid 1989. Joe Shit had also recently drawn the "Death's Head" Ritual Sacrifice logo, that was used in some fanzine's articles on the band in the following years. After the release of the first demo, Doug Azevedo joined the band as the lead guitarist, and Jim Otis continued as Ritual Sacrifice's lead vocalist (no longer playing guitar, but still contributing to the song writing). With the self-titled demo receiving lots of attention and positive reviews from local Metal fanzines around the world, and after being compared to bands like CYNIC (USA), FALSE PROPHET (USA), and CARDINAL SIN (Puerto Rico) (as well as frequently being compared to DARK ANGEL and SLAYER) the band started writing the material for their upcoming second demo tape. However, later in 1989 Doug Azevedo left the band, leaving them with no lead guitarist.
Before the end of 1989 the demo (entitled "The Inhuman Race") was recorded with engineer/producer by Tony Ricci (at Atonal Studios in Rhode Island). The demo would include the songs "This Is Your God", "Illusions of Sanity", "Day of Retribution", and "Dead Reckoning". For the recording of the demo the lead guitar was recorded by Tipper Gore (and later Parricide) guitarist Bill Pincins. Early in 1990 Bill joined the band, and "The Inhuman Race" demo was released (with the infamous cover art that was also done by Joe Shit).

Soon after the release of the demo original Ritual Sacrifice bassist Ray Dowaliby left the band. More new material was written, and in March of 1991 Ritual Sacrifice was invited to play on "The Metal Cage" radio show on WRIU 90.3.

Around the same time Doug Azevedo re-joined Ritual Sacrifice (this time as the bass player). The set, played at The University of Rhode Island, included 3 new songs ("Flesh And Blood", "Side Effects", and "Thou Shalt Not Kill"). None of these songs had ever been recorded before (and would never be recorded afterwards). The recording of this set was made into a demo, but after two copies were made, one for Dave and one for Jim, it never ended up being released to the public (until now).

Later in 1991, Doug Azevedo left the band again, and 18 year old Rob Schulze (currently lead vocalist/guitarist of Immune) joined the band on bass. The 4 song demo tape "Into Darkness We Fall" was recorded live on 2 tracks with this lineup (Jim Otis / Dave Latraverse / Ray Latraverse / Bill Pincins / Rob Schulze). This demo was also produced / engineered by Tony Ricci, and it included the songs "Drop Dead", Condemned to Live", "Into Darkness, We Fall" and "Empty Churches". More material was written by this lineup in 1992 (such as "The Deafening Silence" and "Crucifixion") but the songs were never recorded. This is because (due to internal conflicts between the band members) both Dave and Ray Latraverse left Ritual Sacrifice in mid 1992...

Label Connect: wang@areadeath.net

Band Connect: http://myspace.com/ritualsacrifice813