Malice (band)

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Malice
General information
Genre (s) Heavy metal
founding 1980, 2006
resolution 1989
Current occupation
James Rivera (since 2010)
Jay Reynolds (since 1981)
Mick Zane († 2016)
Mark Behn
Pete Holmes since 2006
former members
singing
 James Neal (1980-1987)
Drums
 Pete Laufman (1981-1984)
Drums
 Cliff Carothers (1984-1987)
singing
 Brian Allen (2006-2010)

Malice is an American heavy metal band. It was founded in 1980 and initially existed until 1989. In 2006 it was re-established, in which three members of the original line-up took part.

background

Malice was founded in 1980 by guitarist Jay Reynolds and singer James Neal, who played together in Portland in the group The Ravers. They moved to Los Angeles together , where shortly after their arrival they began working on their first demos with guitarist Mick Zane, bassist Mark Behn and drummer Pete Laufman .

The group's first publication came in 1982 when the editor of the fanzine The Heavy Metal Revue , Brian Slagel, published a heavy metal sampler entitled Metal Massacre , Vol. 1 , which only contained contributions from groups that did not yet have a record deal possessed. In addition to Malice and other bands, the groups Bitch , Cirith Ungol and Metallica were also represented, but only Malice had contributed two tracks to the album, namely Captive of Light and Kick You Down . Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia attests to the release that it "sounded much more mature than Metallica's contribution", Hit the Lights . But while Metallica received a contract with Megaforce Records a little later and Slayer, for example, found accommodation on Slagel's label Metal Blade Records , Malice was initially denied a contract.

The group later found an interested label and signed with Atlantic Records . Her debut album In the Beginning was released in 1985, at a time when Metallica and other groups had revolutionized classic heavy metal and thereby created thrash metal . Malice's sound was based heavily on Judas Priest . After various tours with Alice Cooper , Queensrÿche and WASP , the group recorded their second album, License to Kill (1987).

The group's records were received very positively by the relevant German magazines, with Rock Hard magazine awarding each of them at least 9 out of 10 points. Götz Kühnemund wrote in 1985 that the debut album contained “nine absolute hymns,” Malice had “long surpassed Judas Priest and left it far behind” thanks to “the unbelievable siren tube by singer James Neal (the best after Dio!).” Holger Stratmann took in 1987 the review of the second album referred to an article from 1985 and wrote: "Even back then, when we made our cover story in No. 13, nobody really wanted to believe that these five leather boys are the stars of the day after tomorrow."

Nevertheless, the group remained an insider tip. After the release of License to Kill , Malice was only given the place as the opening act for Slayer on their European tour. Frustrated by the moderate success, Jay Reynolds left the band to replace Chris Poland at Megadeth , but got out after an argument with Dave Mustaine and returned to his band. Shortly thereafter, Atlantic Records canceled the record deal. In 1989 Malice released an EP called Crazy in the Night, for which she signed Mark Weitz to replace the singer James Neal, who had since dropped out. The EP was released on the Metal Blade label, a little later the group broke up.

Jay Reynolds became guitarist with Metal Church in 2006 , but left the same year to revive with Mark Behn, Mick Zane, Black-'n-Blue drummer Pete Holmes and singer Brian Allen Malice. There was another line-up change when Allen was replaced by James Rivera ( Helstar ). In May 2012, Malice released the album New Breed of Godz, which contains eight new recordings of old songs and four new tracks. The album was released by the German company SPV . Guitarist Mick Zane died on December 23, 2016 of a brain tumor.

Discography

  • In the Beginning ... - 1985
  • License to Kill - 1986
  • Crazy in the Night ( EP ) - 1989
  • The Rare and Unreleased (Best of / Compilation) 2008
  • New Breed of Godz - 2012

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ a b c d Band biography at Allmusic.com
  2. ↑ Rock Hard, No. 11 (1985)
  3. ↑ Rock Hard, Volume 21 (1987)
  4. ↑ Malice: Guitarist Mick Zane is dead