Christian Death is an American deathrock band formed in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1979. The band was fronted and founded by Rozz Williams and featured former Adolescents guitarist Rikk Agnew, bassist James McGearty and drummer George Belanger. Christian Death is most notable for their debut studio album Only Theatre of Pain (1982), which was a major event in the birth of gothic rock and deathrock subculture within the United States and beyond. The original band broke up in 1983 amid band infighting and drug abuse. Williams assembled a new version of the band later that year by merging with another L.A. rock band, Pompeii 99.