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. He didn't have to ask twice if we wanted to hear it! 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. It clocks in at over 70 minutes, 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. Needless to say, this compilation should be avoided by those who value good recording and production above everything else, but all collectors who are enthusiasts of US metal from the '80s should definitely check it out.
Watch 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:
Three songs, pre-MELIAH RAGE "Beginning of the End", "Kill to Survive" in its first 1987 demo version (we also prepared a music video for this track - you can see it on YouTube here) and one live track from 1988 "Bates Motel" are available for streaming our Bandcamp player on the page of the release (where you can see the whole track list and all details too).
You can pre-order the CD from our SHOP 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.
Cover art by yours truly (http://www.jowita-kaminska.com)
We've just received the CDs of MELIAH RAGE and DOOMSHINE and starting to prepare the orders today.