Meliah Rage

Comparable to Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Exodus and early Testament, Meliah Rage ranks among the mid-'80s thrash and speed metal acts. Though the Boston-based group never achieved the same visibility, it has maintained a devoted cult audience dating back to the Reagan era. Guitarist Anthony Nichols assembled the band in 1985 after a brief stint with the local punk outfit Gang Green; he recruited vocalist Mike Munro, guitarist Jim Koury, drummer Stu Dowie and bassist Jesse Johnson—the latter distinct from the Minneapolis funk musician who performed with the Time and Prince. The name Meliah Rage draws from the Meliah tribe's custom of using opium prior to combat. After building local momentum for three years, the band secured a contract with Epic Records, which issued the debut album Kill to Survive in 1988. That release was followed by the live EP Live Kill in 1989 and the second studio album Solitary Solitude in 1990. Both Johnson and Dowie departed in 1992, the same year Meliah Rage exited Epic; replacements Keith Vogele on bass and Sully Erna on drums arrived shortly thereafter. Erna remained for eighteen months before becoming frontman for Boston's Godsmack. During that period the band cut the demo Unfinished Business and circulated it to labels, yet A&R departments, fixated on the next Nirvana or Pearl Jam amid grunge's dominance, showed little interest, viewing the group as insufficiently alternative even though punk-inflected thrash and speed metal generally outlasted pop-metal and hair metal after Nevermind. Side projects attempted around 1994 collapsed, prompting another roster overhaul in 1995 once Vogele and Erna had exited: Bob Mayo, formerly of Wargasm, took over bass and Dave Barcos assumed drums. Following the 1996 release Death Valley Dream the band disbanded. Eight years later Meliah Rage reconvened with a 2004 configuration that reunited Nichols, Koury and Johnson alongside drummer Barry Spillberg, another Wargasm alumnus, and new vocalist Paul Souza. Although Nichols had hoped to collaborate again with Munro, the original singer declined in favor of family commitments, leaving Souza to fill the role. The refreshed lineup recorded Barely Human, issued on Screaming Ferret Records in August 2004.