Malice

Malice was formed in Portland, Oregon, in the early 1980s, when The Ravers guitarist Jay Reynolds assembled a first line-up including James Neal, the future Wild Dogs duo, Matt McCourt on bass, Deen Castronovo on drums, and Kip Doran on guitar. Reynolds then decided to relocate them to Los Angeles, shortly after being joined by Mick Zane, to form a metal band. As the duo was unable to find musicians up to the task, Neal tried to convince bassist Mark Behn and drummer Pete Laufman to leave Portland; thus, Malice recorded its first demo, which attracted the interest of Brian Slagel of the Metal Blade label.