Malice: License to Kill (1987)

How many metal bands can say that they have appeared as themselves in a mainstream movie?  I can't think of too many honestly.  Cannibal Corpse appeared in Ace Ventura.  White Zombie appeared in Air Heads.  Armored Saint appeared in Hellraiser 3.  And Malice appeared in Vice Versa.  For those that do not remember, Vice Versa was a body-switch movie with Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage.  It was...not very good.  I only vaguely remember it, but I don't think I enjoyed it too much. 

Now Malice, I enjoy them quite a bit.  With a sound that can best be described as Judas Priest playing glam metal, it is somewhat surprising that this was as close as the band came to breaking into the mainstream.  "Against the Empire" is a song that would have fit in very well on Priest's Defenders of the Faith album and the band definitely has some damn catchy songs.  They also utilize an impressive dual-guitar attack. 

As far as downsides, Malice is a little overly-reliant on the mid-paced rock songs.  They are at their best when they are playing no-holds-barred speed/power metal as in "License to Kill" and "Chain Gang Woman".  Unfortunately, they do not do that nearly enough.  The other issue is James Neal's vocals are very similar to Rob Halford, but he does not have quite the pipes to really emulate Halford.  He definitely cannot hit the real high notes.

Overall, this is a pretty decent album.  I am not sure it quite qualifies as a hidden gem, but it definitely has its moments.  I am still baffled why the band didn't make a little more noise in the mainstream though.