NEW YORK (Screaming Ferret/Escapi Music/ www.meliahrage.com) - Boston's reformed metal heroes MELIAH RAGE are primed to make 2004 truly a landmark year for the band. Recently having their music featured on an episode of FOX TV's hit series The Shield, MELIAH RAGE is following the success with a brand new studio album, their first in over a decade. The nine-track sledgehammer of sonic vengeance Barely Human is slated for release on Screaming Ferret Wreckords in coordination with Escapi
Music and Navarre Distribution on August 24th. A major North American tour will soon follow.
Guitarist Anthony Nichols, guitarist Jim Koury and bass guitarist Jesse Johnson, all original members, are joined by new vocalist Paul Souza and drummer Barry Spillberg (formerly of Wargasm) on Barely Human. Original vocalist Mike Munro decided not to take part in the Meliah Rage reunion in order to focus on family.
The tracklisting for this monumental release includes:
Hate Machine
Rigid
Bloodbath
Barely Human
Hell Song
Motor Psycho
Wrong Place, Right Time
Barely Human was produced by Joe Moody and Nichols. Moody also recorded and mixed the album at Danger Multitrack in Providence, RI. All songs were written by Nichols and Souza except "The Wrong Place" which was written by Nichols, Souza and Clark Lush and "Ungodly" which was written by Nichols, Souza and Spillberg. Nichols completed all musical arrangements and Souza wrote all lyrics for the album. Bob Mayo, formerly of Wargasm and a one-time Meliah Rage member, contributes special bass tracks on "Invincible."
A single for the title track 'Barely Human', was recently filmed as a video on the set of the upcoming horror film God Of Vampires, and is currently available for download on the Screaming Ferret Wreckords website: https://www.screamingferret.com/screamingpages/audio-video.php. An MP3 of the track 'Hate Machine' is available here:
https://www.screamingferret.com/sfw_audio/meliahrage_av/Meliah_Rage_Hate_Machine.mp3
As an added bonus, the initial pressing of Barely Human will include a bonus disc, the previously unreleased album Unfinished Business, which features performances by Godsmack's Sully Erna on drums. Originally recorded in 1992, the tracks on Unfinished Business were intended as demos in order to secure a new record deal, upon the band's departure from Epic Records.
Formed by Nichols formed in Boston in 1985, Meliah Rage was named for the Meliah Indians' practice of taking opium to prepare for battle. The original lineup included Nichols, Koury, Munro, Johnson and drummer Stu Dowie. They stood out as the only metal band around, since Boston is renowned as a college town which supported big alternative and hardcore music scenes. Nichols played briefly with the hardcore icons Gang Green and that connection led to management and label interest for Meliah Rage. The band signed with Epic in 1988 and released the debut Kill to Survive.
Intense touring followed and a live EP, Live Kill, was issued in 1989. The second studio album, Solitary Solitude, was released on Epic in 1990. The changing musical tide in the early 1990s resulted in Meliah Rage leaving Epic in 1992. The band soldiered on with a new rhythm section consisting of Sully Erna and bassist Keith Vogele. Erna stayed with the band for 18 months. Several side projects were pursued but didn't produce, so Meliah Rage reunited in 1995 with Nichols, Koury and Munro along with Mayo and drummer Dave Barcos. The album Death Valley Dream appeared in 1996.
Now, Meliah Rage is back again! Despite weathering personnel changes and changes in the musical tide, the band has endured. Meliah Rage is here to stay.
Meliah Rage joins a proud group of classic metal bands, like Anvil, Candlemass, Dismember, and Trouble, who have experienced rejuvenation and renewed interest through the work and partnership with Screaming Ferret Wreckords, LLC, & Escapi Music, organizations designed to further expose new talent and to introduce groundbreaking classics to a new audience.
Upcoming releases from the united labels include Canadian Metal legends Anvil's latest slamfest Back To Basics, Texas-based Tearabyte's new doomfest Gloom Factory, a reissue of Nuclear Assault drummer Glenn Evans' rare CIA release Attitude, Swedish death metal pioneers Dismember's debut live DVD Live Blasphemies, doom-rock legends Trouble's new DVD Live In Stockholm, and many, many more.
