History & Biography Revenant was the band of several known thrash and death metal musicians and existed between the spring of 1986 and 1995. The act was formed by highschool class-mates Henry Veggian and bassist John Pratscher (who was the initial singer). The initial drummer was Paul Ledney who would end up in Incantation, Havohej and Profanatica later. He was replaced by Joe Fregenti who, in turn, was replaced by John Regan briefly. The early guitarist, alongside Henry Veggian, was John McEntee who would go on to establish and run Incantation in 1989. The band’s first concert was a free one with Mucky Pup, Apathy and HodgePodge. The debut demo Beyond The Winds Of Sorrow was recorded and released in 1987. The next one was called Asphyxiated Time in 1988. Concerts with the likes of Immolation and Morbid Angel followed. Demo 1990 followed. Two of the tracks here became the Distant Eyes 7” courtesy of France’s Thrash Records.Dave Jengo joined here. He had been in Parasyte with Tim Scott. The band toured with Ripping Corpse and Morbid Angel.
1991 was the time for the band’s debut record, Prophecies Of A Dying World, through Nuclear Blast Records. That label had heard the act’s Thrash records’ single. Will Corcoran, formerly of Lacerated, was drumming. Veggian had jumped on stage and ang with Lacerated earlier himself. The band toured Europe with label-mates Gorefest, and had several concerts with Pungent Stench and Napalm Death. Gorefest’s guitarist Frank even contributed backing vocals once to a Revenant tune. The band’s technical death/thrash metal took a back seat to the deluge of death metal at this time. The band was also unhappy with the album’s cover artwork and the video for the song The Unearthly. The label and band parted ways. The band and Suffocation played several concerts. Rage Records pressed a 7” called Exalted Being for the band in 1992. The group dedicated it to the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine. Seeking a new deal, the band issued a demo called Faithless and a promo tape in 1995 before throwing in the towel. The tape’s material was to be some of the music the band wanted to include on an album called A New Paganism. Veggian left and focused on his studies. The group’s last two concerts were with Brutal Truth and Napalm Death respectively. At the same time, Henry and Dave Jengo became live substitute members for Whiplash in 1998. Nevertheless, several of these demo tracks were remixed and became an EP called Overman in 2002. The material was mixed by Erik Rutan formerly of Ripping Corpse. Xtreem Music released a compilation called The Burning Ground in 2005. Incantation recorded Revenant’s Degeneration for Decibel Magazine’s Flexi Disc series in 2012. Incantation gave the song a reworking.
Will Corcoran was reported dead in 2022. Robert Plant used the same image as the cover of Prophecies Of A Dying World for his 29 Palms release in 1993.
Reviews REVENANT - THE BURNING GROUND - XTREEM 
This is not a reunited band’s new material. The Burning Ground is demo and rare material from various Revenant demos and singles from the years 1987 to 1993 compiled here by the band for release through Xtreem Music. That is not a good idea. First, underground material should remain just that. Second, this material was not first-class upon release and is even less so in 2006. Even upon release, Revenant’s full-length for Nuclear Blast (which this CD passes over) was one of the label and era’s weaker moments. Most of the material here is harder and rawer than said album, but still hardly required or adding anything to the underground or the metal scene. The band’s music and vocals were never contenders, which stand true for its demo material as much as proper studio recordings. - Ali “The Metallian”
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