Ritual Carnage's unusual tale begins with Tampa, FL, native Dan Montgomery, who after joining the Air Force in 1986 found himself stationed at the American base in Yokota, Japan, where he spent his spare time playing bass with a few local bands, most notably hardcore act S.I.C. Shipped back to the U.S. in 1989, he briefly hooked up with local metal band N.F.G. and then became a motorcycle enthusiast before deciding to return to Japan to train as a tattoo artist five years later. He also started dabbling in music once again and, after deciding to try his hand at fronting his own metal band, slowly put together thrash purists Ritual Carnage with the aid of guitarists Shigeyuki Kamazawa and Eddie Van Koide, bassist Hide Ideno, and drummer Naoya Hamaii. There followed a string of high-intensity thrash albums for the French Osmose label (most of them recorded back in Tampa), including 1998's The Highest Law, 2000's Every Nerve Alive (recorded as a trio by Montgomery, Koide, and Hamaii), 2002's The Birth of Tragedy (including King's Evil guitarist Wataru Yamada), and 2005's I, Infidel. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia