Malhavoc is a Canadian

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band, formed in 1983 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The band's only constant member is singer and multi-instrumentalist James Cavalluzzo. Starting out as an

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

act, the band soon employed elements from industrial music, becoming one of the earlier acts of

genre. The band is also known for its stage antics, which incorporated

sadomasochism Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

, role-playing violence and

self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...

History

Malhavoc was formed in 1983 by James Cavalluzzo. The band has recorded multiple demos during the '80s, ''The Destruction Starts'' (1983), ''The Destruction Continues'' (1984), ''Age of the Dark Renaissance'' (1986) and ''Shrine'' (1988), last of which introduced industrial,

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

and ambient elements to the band's sound. The band's debut album, ''The Release'', was issued in 1990; its line-up included guitarists Dave Kiner and Rob Wright, and bassist Steve Jelliman alongside Cavalluzzo. 1991's ''Punishments'' EP saw the inclusion of programmer Steve Crowhurst, as well as contributions from

Dave Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician based in Vancouver. Ogilvie started his recording career as a mixing engineer at Mushroom Studios. He frequently collaborated with industrial band Skinny Puppy ...

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...

. The band's second album, ''Premeditated Murder'', was released in the following year; featuring elements from

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

and

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

, the record met with a sampling controversy after the band

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

Sympathy for the Devil "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 Studio album, album ''Beggars Banquet ...

" by The Rolling Stone without clearance. Its follow-up, ''Get Down'' (1994), saw the introduction of live drummer John Carss; the record strayed away from the band's heavy metal roots while featuring heavier elements from

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

, ambient and industrial. The record was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Best Hard Rock Album in 1995. Increasing disagreements during the release of ''Get Down'' led to line-up changes within the band. The band's forthcoming release, ''Lazarus Complex: A Tale of Two Zombies'', was subsequently delayed as a result of the complications between the band and the record label; it was eventually issued in 2000. It was produced by

. Following its release, Cavalluzzo sporadically resurrected Malhavoc as a personal project. In 2004, Malhavoc released a cover EP, ''Human Fly''. In 2007, Cavalluzzo assembled a live band for touring.

Band members

;Current members *James Cavalluzzo (Jimi LaMort) — vocals, guitar, bass, programming *Bryan Somerville — guitar *Tim Hagberg — drums ;Past members *Justin Pearen — bass *Dave C. Bass — bass *Justin Small — bass *Steve Jelliman — bass, guitar, programming *John Carss — drums *Steve Crowhurst — drums, keyboards, programming *Chris Scahill — guitar *Dave Kiner — guitar *Lee McCormack — guitar *Rob Wright — guitar *Nigel Williams— guitar *Jeremy Inkel — keyboards *Ric H. — vocals

Discography

;Studio albums *''The Release'' (1990) *''Premeditated Murder'' (1992) *''Get Down'' (1994) *''The Lazarus Complex: A Tale of Two Zombies'' (2000) ;Demo albums *''Destruction Starts'' (1983) *''The Destruction Continues'' (1984) *''Age of the Dark Renaissance'' (1986) *''Shrine'' (1988) ;EPs *''Punishments'' (1991) *''Human Fly'' (2004)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1983 Canadian industrial music groups Canadian thrash metal musical groups Musical groups from Toronto Obscenity controversies in music Canadian musical trios Industrial rock musical groups 1983 establishments in Ontario