Malice

License To Kill ROCK CANDY

Old-school thrills aplenty.

Despite the dominance of glam on the LA rock scene of the early 80s, not every musician heading to the city with hopes of hitting it big relished the idea of changing their name to Bobbi Sexx and singing songs with titles like Hott Rokk Shokk. Take Portland, Oregon émigrés Malice for example, whose combination of hammering riffage overlaid with the stratosphere-scraping vocals of James Neal, drew frequent comparisons to Judas Priest, and sat more comfortably alongside Stateside counterparts Queensrÿche and Savatage. Detailed sleevenotes allow guitarist Jay Reynolds to outline the problems which prevented License To Kill from fuelling a deserved commercial breakthrough for Malice in 1987, but irrespective of how it fared on the charts, the album holds up remarkably well. The material is consistent from opener Sinister Double through to the closing swing-tempo thrust of Circle Of Fire, Max Norman’s production applying a subtle sheen while retaining a razor-keen edge. Armed with sharp riffs and solos you could scalp a brontosaurus with, and choruses ripe for the yelling, this overlooked set of old-school metal stompers deserves its second chance.