HELL HATH NO MERCY

"Hell Hath No Mercy" is the first demo recording by US, Florida based technical death/thrash metal act Atheist, released in November 1987 after the band changed their name from R.A.V.A.G.E. earlier that year. They had already recorded and released two demos under the R.A.V.A.G.E. monicker so "Hell Hath No Mercy" is effectively the band´s third demo release. Lead guitarist Mark Schwartzberg´s tenure with the band was short and he only appeared on R.A.V.A.G.E.´s "On We Slay" demo from early 1987. On "Hell Hath No Mercy" the band is down to a trio again as future Atheist lead guitarist Rand Burkey didn´t join until the material featured on this demo was recorded.

The demo features three tracks and a total playing time of 9:56 minutes. Although "Hell Hath No Mercy" doesn´t appear on Atheist´s debut full-length studio album "Piece of Time" (Active Records, May 1990), it actually does...but the lyrics have been changed on the subsequent studio version and it was re-titled "Why Bother?". As both "Beyond" and "On They Slay" were also re-recorded and included on "Piece of Time", you won´t find any forgotten demo gems on "Hell Hath No Mercy", but what you do get is early, raw, and unpolished versions of three of the songs, which would subsequently appear on "Piece of Time".

Stylistically this is a continuation of the technical death/thrash metal style and sound of the 1987 "On We Slay" demo, but the band have obviously grown and have become even better musicians since the last demo. The sound quality is pretty good, considering that this is a late 1987 extreme metal demo, and upon conclusion it´s no wonder that R.A.V.A.G.E./Atheist are considered one of the seminal proto-death metal artists on the Florida music scene along with artists like Mantas/Death, Massacre, Morbid Angel, Executioner (later Xecutioner and even later Obituary), and Hellwitch. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)