The seeds of Death Ritual were sown in the winter of 1986-1987, as bandmates John Picciandra (guitar) and Jon Belk (drums) pulled the plug on their current project—BFD—because of a lack of momentum. While John P. relocated to Atlanta, Jon B. befriended beginning bassist Storm Miller. During the spring of 1987, Miller and Belk jammed in the living room until several very primitive metal songs, and the name “Death Ritual,†emerged. By default, Miller undertook vocal duties. At this point the style of Death Ritual lacked any sort of technical nuance, sort of Celtic Frost-ish or Black Sabbath. Around October 1987 Picciandra returned from Atlanta, and Belk was quick to re-engage with his former bandmate. Ironically, since Picciandra was the more accomplished musician, the nascent Death Ritual rhythm section essentially auditioned for the guitarist, rather than vice versa. A good chemistry quickly arose, and Picciandra opted to join the band, forming the first line-up for the group. The old songs were junked, and the band began to embrace the rudest elements of the increasingly technical trashmetal of the late 1980s. In March 1988 the group recorded their first demo, and the following month began gigging—at house parties and clubs—to a reasonably favorable response. As the spring of 1988 progressed, Death Ritual continued to explore more complex arrangements, such that the group decided to add a second guitarist. Accordingly, Picciandra identified schoolmate Mike Roberts as a good candidate to fill out the band’s sound. Roberts was new to the heavier forms of thrash, but his attention to technique and theory enabled the band to realize its goal of combining the old devotion to heaviness and power with the new focus on the speed and melody of bands such as Kreator, Exodus, and Slayer. With this focus on diversity of style, Picciandra and Miller began to share vocal duties. The band continued gigging throughout the remainder of 1988 and into 1989, in Austin as well as San Antonio and Houston, playing with central Texas acts such as Lunacy, Hurlant, Agony Column, Civais, Dead Horse, Dread, and Fury. By the spring of 1989, Death Ritual’s music had become so complex that someone was needed to handle vocals exclusively. The band had its eye on Lance Coy, a particularly brutal-sounding singer for locals Pestilence/THC, for several months. When this band broke up, Coy was quickly folded into the Death Ritual line-up. At this point, however, the musical strength and progression of the band was not matched in terms of the band’s personal chemistry. Picciandra and Roberts alternately left the band briefly before returning. Belk and Miller had problems as well, leading the band to fire Miller in October 1989. To replace Miller, the band chose Walker Oden, a prominent fixture in the Austin metal scene who, interestingly, had played in one of the other bands at Death Ritual’s first show. With Oden in the lineup, Death Ritual entered the studio to record the “What Pain Really Is†demo/EP (being nearly 28 minutes long) and enjoyed a string of successful gigs into the summer of 1990. Chemistry issues reemerged, however, and Oden left the band in July, clearing the way for Miller to return. In September, Coy left the group, and the final lineup—Picciandra, Belk, Miller, and Roberts (with both Miller and Roberts handling vocals)—of Death Ritual emerged. Through the fall and winter of 1990-1991 the band enjoyed its greatest success, appearing on Capseyez Live TV and other local TV shows, playing some of the last shows at iconic Austin venues Liberty Lunch and The Ritz, as well as the first two Austin Metal Fests. Following the second of these festivals, in May 1991, the band disintegrated, as Roberts departed to pursue his own interests, and Belk and Picciandra formed a new project known as Grasp. Talk emerged of a Death Ritual periodically—most recently in 2006—but the old band members are so spread out and engaged in such different pursuits that such a reunion seems unlikely (and given the myriad lineup changes, who exactly would be the definitive “Death Ritual�)
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Death Ritual live, FOOD FOR THOUGHT
