Meliah Rage
is one of the many overlooked metal bands of the late 80's
and early 90's that deserved a much better fate and a much
greater following. Metal fans that have heard Meliah's music
know that throughout their existence they've continually churned
out strikingly powerful, heavy, crunchy, brutal, and even
melodic (at times) heavy metal music.
'Solitary Solitude'
is a metal masterpiece that should be part of every heavy
metal fan's collection. Mike Munro
continually delivers awesome heavy vocals with each and every
track. His singing ranges from brutal chants to driving howls.
He even goes out on a limb to deliver a twisted ballad in
"Deliver Me". Though
admittedly it's not one of the strongest tracks on the album,
it does show Munro's
diversity and talents as a singer.
One thing that is very evident is that this album kicks
ass and is unwavering from beginning to end. All the songs
have incredibly catchy galloping guitar riffs, courtesy of
Jim Koury and Anthony
Nichols. The band is held together with impressive
solid bottom end from Jesse Johnson
and killer pounding beats delivered feverishly by Stuart
Dowie. Built mostly around simple power chords,
many of the songs evolve into masterfully woven fist-pounding
anthems! Nichols, who
with Munro have been the
backbone of the band since it's inception, create a rock solid
foundation capable of delivering a slew of never ending head-banging
delights!
There's even a song included ('Swallow
your Soul') based on the cult classic horror
movie Evil Dead.
Hey, any band that can turn out a metal anthem based on Evil
Dead (one of my favorite movies) is tops in my book! This
is a true Killer Metal Classic!
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