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Formed in 1993 by vocalists/guitarists Jeff Wu and Ian Kauffman, bassist Andy Dickins, and drummer Justin Foley, Avon, CT's Red Tide honed their chops with a set of demos (1994's "Steps to the End," 1995's "Expressions," 1996's "Hybrid") before delivering an album -- 1997's Themes of the Cosmic Consciousness -- which many specialists consider to be one of that decade's finest examples of progressive death metal.
But the quartet's independent status (they never signed with an established record label) and rather extreme avant-garde ambitions had few parallels during the late-'90s (Michigan's Thought Industry being one of the few that come to mind), and certainly none that enjoyed any commercial success à la perennial gold-sellers Dream Theater, who, by comparison, were mining significantly more accessible and predictable territory. Even so, Red Tide hung around long enough to finance a nearly as impressive second effort called Type II (released in 2001 and featuring new bassist Blue), but the limitations of cult existence eventually led to their demise. Of the bandmembers, only drummer Foley has managed to turn his fortunes around thus far, after joining melodic metalcore giants Killswitch Engage in 2004. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia