Malice is an American heavy metal band formed in 1981, best known for their appearance on the first '' Metal Massacre'' compilation and the release of a pair of albums on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Their heavily-European-influenced style elicited comparisons to

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

Biography

Malice formed in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

in the early-1980s when former The Ravers guitarist Jay Reynolds assembled an embryonic line-up consisting of vocalist James Neal, future Wild Dogs duo, Matt McCourt on bass and Deen Castronovo on drums, and Kip Doran on guitar. Reynolds next decided to make the move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, soon to be joined by fellow guitarist Mick Zane, to start an all original metal band. When the duo was unable to find suitable players for their new venture, they convinced Neal, bassist Mark Behn and drummer Pete Laufman to move down from Portland as well after the initial Malice demo caused a stir and garnered label interest from Brian Slagel of

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

Records. "Captive of Light" and "Kick You Down" from the demo were both selected to appear on '' Metal Massacre I'' alongside tracks by

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Ratt Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...

, Steeler and others. Malice made their L.A. live debut in November 1982 at the

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

headlining a bill with Metallica and Pandemonium as opening acts. Other memorable L.A. shows included opening up for then new major label signees Armored Saint at Perkins Palace in

Pasadena, CA Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial ...

in the spring of 1984. Adding drummer Cliff Carothers, formerly with the bands Snow and Assassin, in place of Pete Laufman, Malice set about recording new demos with producer

Michael Wagener Michael Wagener (born 25 April 1949) is a German retired record producer, mixer and engineer from Hamburg, best known for his work with many popular American hard rock and heavy metal music, heavy metal bands in the late 1980s. He is particularly ...

and soon found themselves in the midst of a label bidding war. Eventually, the band signed with Atlantic Records in the summer of 1984 and released their debut album, ''In The Beginning...'', in 1985. It consisted of songs the band had cut with Wagener and material recorded with Ashley Howe producing. Malice teamed up with producer

Max Norman Max Norman is a British record producer and recording engineer active since 1973. He produced many acclaimed heavy metal releases. While Norman was resident engineer at Ridge Farm Studios in London, Ozzy Osbourne was recording his debut sol ...

for their sophomore album, ''License to Kill'', released in 1987.

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and

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and

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's Jaime St. James,

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and Jeff Warner provided backing vocals on two songs, "License to Kill" and "Chain Gang Woman." The band toured with

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, W.A.S.P. and

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, among others. They were also the support act for

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on their 1987 "Reign In Pain" European tour, an ill-fated trip that saw Malice faced with open hostility from the headliner's rabid crowds which forced the band to drop off the bill once the trek reached Germany. In late 1987, Jay Reynolds left the band to join Megadeth in place of

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but was ultimately ousted several months later when bandleader Dave Mustaine decided on hiring Jay's former roommate and guitar teacher, Jeff Young, instead. The band also parted ways with James Neal and carried on with a new vocalist, Mark Weitz, but finally split up in late 1988. The 1988 film Vice Versa featured Malice in a concert sequence, filmed in Champaign, IL, performing "Crazy In The Night". Metal Blade would issue a third Malice release, ''Crazy In The Night'', in 1989. It contained 3 songs recorded with Neal and "Vice Versa", with producer Paul Sabu providing lead vocals. Following the demise of Malice, Jay Reynolds formed War Party with former Megadeth drummer Chuck Behler. Mick Zane and Mark Behn would team up with former Black 'n Blue drummer Pete Holmes and vocalist Mark Isom under the name Monster. The band's sole album, ''Through the Eyes of the World'', surfaced on Long Island Records in Europe in 1995 and on Pulse Records in the U.S. in 1997. In 1999, EastWest Japan re-issued both ''In The Beginning...'' and ''License to Kill'' on CD; U.S. label Wounded Bird would follow suit in 2004. Jay Reynolds joined a revamped

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line-up in early 2004 and recorded 2 albums with the band, '' Weight of the World'' (2004) and '' A Light in the Dark'' (2006), before exiting again in 2008. In 2006, Malice announced that they would be doing a reunion tour but canceled a number of European tour dates the following year. The band did perform a handful of shows in the U.S. utilizing the services of Last Empire and future

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vocalist Brian Allen. The band finally returned to Europe in April 2011 to co-headline the Keep It True XIV festival in Germany with new vocalist James Rivera ( Helstar, Vicious Rumors). In 2008, Malice issued an archives release, ''The Rare and Unreleased'', on Retrospect Records containing all 4 songs from the ''Crazy In The Night'' EP and various early demos. In late 2011, it was announced that Malice had signed a record deal with Germany's SPV/Steamhammer; Robert Cardenas of

Agent Steel Agent Steel is an American speed metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1984 by vocalist John Cyriis with drummer Chuck Profus. The band released two full-length albums and one EP before disbanding in 1988. They were most notable for Cyriis' ...

was confirmed as the band's new live bass player. ''New Breed of Godz'', containing 4 new songs and re-recordings of 8 songs culled from ''In The Beginning...'' and ''License to Kill'', was released in May 2012. Mick Zane died from brain cancer on December 23, 2016. In 2020, Malice released a new album ''Rockin' with You''.

Members

* Jay Reynolds – Guitars (1981–1988, 2006–2016) * Mick Zane – Guitars (1984–1988, 2006–2016; died 2016) * Pete Holmes – Drums (2006–2016) * James Rivera – Vocals (2010–2016) * Robert Cardenas – Bass (2011–2016) ;Former members * James Neal – Vocals (1981–1987) * Kip Doran – Guitars (1981–1984) * Deen Castronovo – Drums (1981–1982) * Mike Zaputil – Bass (1981) * Matt McCourt – Bass (1981–1982) * Mark Behn – Bass (1981–1988, 2006–2011) * Pete Laufman – Drums (1982) * Cliff Carothers – Drums (1982–1988) * Mark Weitz – Vocals (1987–1988)

Discography

* '' Metal Massacre'' – 1982 * '' In the Beginning...'' – 1985 * ''License to Kill'' – 1987 * ''Crazy in the Night'' ( EP) – 1989 * ''The Rare and Unreleased'' – 2008 * ''New Breed of Godz'' – 2012 * ''Rockin with You'' – 2020

References

External links

Official website

Malice on MusicMight.com

James Neal MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malice Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles American speed metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 American musical quartets