MELIAH RAGE "Before the Kill" details and pre-order.
As anybody familiar with Metal On Metal Records knows, we're not a label specializing in releasing lost recordings from the '80s or '90s (we've had only one exception so far, BITTER END "Have a Nice Death!"). But presented with some really interesting material from a band we've been working with for several years, we couldn't say "no". One day in the spring last year, MELIAH RAGE founder/guitarist, Anthony Nichols, found in his attic a rehearsal tape from 1986, when they still played without a band name and with another vocalist. The energy emanating from this recording, the sheer enthusiasm pouring out with every note, and this special, exciting vibe of a young band playing their first songs (and being very tight at that!), all led to the decision it should not stay on that tape and our hard drives only. It deserved to be heard, even just for the 4 never re-recorded songs. It showed a bit more US power and classic metal face of the band, and it's also interesting to hear the other 4 songs, which later became MELIAH RAGE classics, sung by a different vocalist, a very talented Mark Mastroianni. Anthony kept digging in his boxes and found also the very first MELIAH RAGE demo tape with 4 songs from 1987. The quality was decent enough, so we decided to add it to the rehearsal, and the compilation was completed with 3 live tracks from 1988 and "Kill to Survive" song from the band's second demo. All audio has been digitally remastered, and in the booklet you will find many archival photos and an in-depth interview focused exclusively on the earliest period of the band's existence. The compilation, titled "Before the Kill", will be out on August 31st, and needless to say, should be avoided by those who value good recording and production above everything else, but is a must for all collectors who are enthusiasts of US metal from the '80s.
Check out the promo clip for "Before the Kill" album, featuring fragments of two tracks: a pre-MELIAH RAGE song "The Eagle" and MELIAH RAGE "The Pack" from their first 1987 demo. You can watch it on YouTube at this location or here:
Two songs from the album are available for streaming from our YouTube channel (pre-MELIAH RAGE "Beginning of the End" here and a music video for "Kill to Survive" in its first 1987 demo version here), and from the Bandcamp player on the MELIAH RAGE page, where we put additionally one live track from 1988 "Bates Motel". The compilation track list is as follows:
1. Misunderstood
2. Beginning of the End
3. The Eagle
4. Stand Up
5. Warrior Lord
6. Enter the Darkness
7. Fight
8. The Pack
MELIAH RAGE:
9. Beginning of the End (1st demo '87)
10. The Pack (1st demo '87)
11. Enter the Darkness (1st demo '87)
12. Kill to Survive (1st demo '87)
13. Bates Motel (live '88)
14. Meliah Rage (live '88)
15. Deadly Existence (live '88)
16. Kill to Survive (from the 2nd demo '87)
(Cover art by Jowita Kaminska-Peruzzi)
Find out more about "Before the Kill" and see the high-res cover on the page of this release.
You can pre-order MELIAH RAGE "Before the Kill" CD from our SHOP page until August 31st, with 2 Euro discount. IMPORTANT: if you order it before August 25th, you can save also on the shipping cost, because we will send it from Germany. Pre-orders placed between August 25th and 31st will be sent from Italy, which is convenient only for Italian customers.
Those who don't collect CDs can pre-order the album as digital download (in lossless formats) from our Bandcamp page. Later on, it will be distributed digitally by CD Baby and made available also from iTunes, Amazon MP3, eMusic and other retailers.