Category: MALICE

Rock Candy Records already remastered MALICE first album, and after a couple of years they did the same for their second LP, the indeed killer “License To Kill“, a really welcomed release because the only remastered version (Japan) has been out of print for ages.
For their second album, Malice hardened their sound, but still there’s an implicit L.A. hard rock groove / melody all over. With British producer Max Norman (Ozzy Osbourne, Y&T) behind the desk, the album’s sound is much more polished.
For many, this is the album Judas Priest should have released after Defenders Of The Faith instead of Turbo.
For me, “License To Kill” is what would happen if Dokken suddenly grew 8 foot tall testicles.
Killer opener “Sinister Double” is a mid-paced American hard / metal romp featuring some high, over-the-top vocals from …

If there was one ’80s album needing an proper remastering, MALICE first cult effort “In The Beginning…” won the prize. Fortunately, it has been Remastered & Reloaded by Rock Candy Records. With the rise in the early ’80s American metal scene, bands were forming from coast to coast with California / Bay Area being the epicentre of the movement. It was also the home of Metal Blade Records, a fiercely pro-active independent label dedicated to unearthing the best of the breed. Among their discoveries were Metallica, Metal Church, Armored Saint and… Malice.
Now, listening “In The Beginning…” in perspective, decades after its original release, the album originally considered ‘metal’ now feels classic rock, classic metal if you want. Here Malice sounds more close to the first Dokken or even Queensryche than Judas Priest, and these great songs feel typically American. It’s a killer set of classic stuff.
We really liked the Rock Candy remastering treatment; it’s sharp and with an analog heart, something this kind of records need…