Assalant was a supergroup of Texas sized proportions.  A rather clichéd statement to be sure, but a truthful one.  Assalant rose from the ashes of no less than three aspiring central Texas metal bands:  the hugely influential Militia, the highly respected Matrix, and the underrated FirstStrike.

Formed in early 1986, the original Assalant line-up consisted of Darren Keeling - bass, Mike Botello - drums (both formerly of Matrix), Louie Beltran - guitar (from FirstStrike), and J. B. Slimp - guitar.  All talented and experienced musicians, the core of Assalant clicked almost immediately and began writing material for what would become their debut demo 'The Damage Is Done'.  The songs were written primarily by the guitarists Beltran and Slimp and presented to the band as a whole to be refined and tweaked.  Vocalists were auditioned but (typically) no one was up to the task.  Frustrated by their lack of progress in finding a singer with the strength needed to do their music justice, the band decided to lay down instrumental tracks for their demo at Austin's legendary Cedar Creek Studios with Fred Remmert at the Engineering board. Assalant tracked the music to three songs during these sessions: Dragon of Peace, The Damage Is Done, and Insane Illusion.

With completed instrumental tracks but still no permanent lead vocalist in the ranks, the band asked WatchTower's Jason McMaster to lay down guest vocals on the demo.  Jason jumped at the chance to add his signature screams to the powerful tunes and asked Mike Soliz of Militia to come along and do backup melodies.  Lyrics to the songs Dragon of Peace, and Insane Illusion were written by McMaster. Dragon Of Peace is about a man's quest to return peace to a war torn kingdom while the lyrics to Insane Illusion deal with the importance of finding one's own identity amid a constant barrage of criticism and ridicule. The lyrics to the demo's title track The Damage Is Done were written by  Bobby Beltran; brother of guitarist Louie Beltran.This song addresses the dangers of living one's life on the wrong side of the law.  It warns the listener "...before you know it's too late,  you'll meet your destiny..."

McMaster entered Cedar Creek Studios and belted out the vocal tracks to these three songs in May of 1986.

Visit our Audio section to listen to rare clips of these early Assalant demo sessions with Jason McMaster.

This unofficial  demo quickly began circulating in the underground to rave reviews.  Specifically notable was the technical proficiency of the playing and the high production values of the recording itself.  It lacked many of the problems plaguing other demo recordings of the time such as muddy production and barely competent vocals.  Here was a band serious about their music and ready to burst on to the scene in a big way.  Only one problem stood in their way: they had no singer.  Jason McMaster was still happily wailing away in WatchTower, the biggest and most popular band in the Austin metal scene.  Recruiting him to join as a permanent member was not a possibility.

At this point, Mike Soliz was beginning to question the direction and potential of his long-time band Militia which had recently gone through some line-up changes.  In September of 1986, unsure about what Militia still had to offer, Soliz joined Assalant as their permanent lead singer.  Having secured a prominent frontman and the hottest voice on the scene, arrangements were quickly made to get Mike in the studio to re-record the vocal tracks to the demo.  Already familiar with the songs (having sung backup vocals to McMaster's original lead) it took Soliz only a few hours to record his vocal lines with only a few minor changes to McMaster's original melodies.  The result was the best sounding, professionally recorded and packaged demo to come out of the mid 1980's Texas underground scene. Mike Soliz, in the April 1987 issue of Austin fanzine Gray Matter, described the Assalant sound this way: 'I'd say that we're in the Accept vein.  There's a lot of influence from my old band Militia in this band because Louie Beltran is majorly into Militia's stuff.  We're influenced by Metal Church, Accept, etc.  I also think S.A.  Slayer has some influence on Assalant.  Vocal-wise, I'm always working on on my pronunciation, more clarity.  My favorite singer is Geoff Tate.  I also like Michael Sweet from Stryper and Rob Halford."   

Visit our Audio section to hear clips from the 'Damage Is Done' demo with Mike Soliz and Jason McMaster.