Meliah Rage – “Death Valley Dream”
First off, let me just say that yes, this release is at least two years in the can by now, but that does not detract from these guys at all, unless they dropped out of sight again in 1997 and I didn’t know! M. Rage came out of the Boston music scene in the late 80’s, thrashing away in clubs with the backing of recording industry juggernaut Sony/Epic, trying to get the break that Metallica got at the beginning of the decade. With the exception of Wargasm, there were very few metal bands to hail from the same area. (Extreme and Aerosmith don’t count.) In 1988, they came out with “Kill to survive”, “Live Kill”, a live E.P. in 1989, and in 1990, “Solitary Solitude”. Although they displayed great musicianship and slamming thrash/power metal riffs, they never really seemed to be able to crack the big time as their peers have. Despite killer riffs and great lyrics on tunes like “Bates Motel” on “Kill to S.” and “The Witching” and “Swallow your Soul” on “Solitary Solitude”, M. Rage seemingly disappeared not long after the later album was released. Then in the later part of 1996, with the little fanfare, they turned up with “Death Valley Dream” on Backstreet Records, a company I know very little about. It starts right off with the title track, not too bad, but not the best song they’ve ever done. But then things pick up a bit with the steady pound of “stranger’ and the nearly hardcore tune “Media”. Getting better as we go along, we get a dose of soaring conviction with “Crow” and a cool tune that makes me think of the Marvel Comic character Punisher, “War Journal”. Probably one of the most kick-ass songs on the album, “Prideland” continues the motif started in 1988 about the soldiers and settlers killing indians, and they do a far better job than Rage Against the Machine (who easily get on my list as one of the most shittiest bands in every sense of the word to help kill the 90’s, musically.) as far as championing the cause of the American Indian. I’m not the most politically correct guy in the world, but it’s good to see someone besides I. Maiden in ’82 doing a cool tune about this issue. I know Metal Maniacs pretty much dissed this album a few issues back, which they seem to do to most of the good bands from time to time, but do your self a favor, seek this one out. Not quite as raw as their earlier material, but enough catchy and heavy riffing to appeal to fans of Laaz Rockit (holy shit, where are those guys?) and Armored Saint type of traditional metal. At least they remain true every album, showing growth without flushing any integrity down the shitter. You reading this Lars? You fuckwit!