Although today’s music fans may not be familiar with the name Malice, the band has become legendary in the heavy metal underground since its inception more than 30 years ago. Malice not only toured as the opening act for theatrical hard rock legend Alice Cooper and thrash favorite Slayer, but also had a then-unknown Metallica as an opening act in 1982. There has been an absence of Malice for the better part of the last two decades, with its last full-length release (Licensed to Kill) coming out in 1986. But the band is back with the same evil intentions it always had with the new album New Breed of Godz, a collection of re-recorded classics such as “Against the Empire” and “Godz of Thunder,” as well as four new songs. Core guitarists Jay Reynolds and Mick Zane were joined by original bassist Mark Behn in the studio to record New Breed of Godz, with new members including Helstar singer James Rivera. With some California shows this weekend, Malice plans to tour Europe next month, with a possible North American tour this fall. Staying busy with Helstar and Malice, Rivera takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about metal’s resurrection.

This being your first album with Malice, what was your input, especially considering that much of the album is re-recorded versions of older songs?

My input on the new material was where we need to be and go musically. Malice was a band that a lot of people don’t even know who they are. They had a big thing going on pretty much at home, but not anywhere else. The first time I remember seeing them was when I was with a friend of mine who was totally into them and kept insisting that I go see them. But back in the day, when I lived in the Southern California area in 1987 or something, there was a band I was helping out called Daggers Edge. They took me to a show and I want to say it was Stryper, W.A.S.P. and Malice, but they were all going to see Malice and it had nothing to do with the rest of them. I was like, “OK, who’s this Malice band?” I had no clue. Then I saw them and was like, “Wow! Killer. Sounds like Judas Priest.”

Ever since I’ve gotten involved with the band, I’ve really wanted to do stuff from the first record when they were a little bit more Judas Priest metal. The second album was a little more Hollywood, but there were some great songs throughout the band’s career.

You’ve been performing with other bands for about the same amount of time that Malice has been in existence. Did any of those bands ever play with Malice or anything like that?

No. The way I got hooked up with Malice was me and Jay were in a classic ’80s metal tribute band called Denim and Leather based out of Las Vegas. The guy that put it together used to have members from Leatherwolf, Metal Church, Malice, Helstar, and eventually he got Jay and me in the band and that’s how we met. It went back to that show in San Diego and here we were 25 years later and he would just not let up, saying, “You’re going to be singing for Malice, dude! This is going to be the best shit ever.” Then we got invited to play the Keep It True festival and that’s where everything started. That was about a year ago.

With the new album out for just a few weeks, will you be going on tour to promote it?

Things are in the works to do a tour from Los Angeles to Texas. What we’re doing right now is we’re trying to capitalize on the markets where we’re both strong – from their past and who I am. I’m from Houston, so I’ve got a big following in Texas, and they have a following in California. But the big plan is to do a full-on U.S. tour in the fall.

You’re best known for your work with Helstar. Will you continue working with that band or are you working solely with Malice now?

No, Helstar is still my number one priority. We just had our 30-year anniversary show and we’re releasing a double live album and live DVD of the show we just did in Houston. We’re touring in Europe starting August 29 through September 15. That’s going strong and Helstar is basically my baby. That’s my bread and water and it is a priority project. Malice is a band I’m hoping is going to run parallel along the lines of Helstar and I’m more than happy to give it that chance. I have a tribute band called Sabbath Judas Sabbath that I keep busy with and I have seven chapters all over the world. Between all of that stuff, I’m kind of like a carpenter: “Where can I build? I will build. Give me a hammer and some tools and I’m there.”

How does the dynamic with Malice compare to your other bands?

Actually, I’ve become a lot more melodic with my singing. I’m doing more high-pitched stuff constantly, which is what they were known for back in the day. That exercises my voice, which is a good thing, and it allows me to do something a little bit more straightforward and commercial. I think if everything is done right promotional-wise, label-wise and business-wise with Malice, this band could actually take leaps and bounds over anything I’ve ever done in my life. That’s where my head is at and my heart is with it because I’ve put so much work into it. Helstar’s always going to be more of an underground band at this point. We’ve all decided and realized we’re never going to be Metallica or any of that stuff. We can keep putting out great records, we can tour Europe, we can do this, but we’re going to have a fan base. But I think Malice can actually take me to another point if everything is done right.

Why do you think the band has already reached that level previously?

Well, they kind of did. So far the album has gotten phenomenal reviews. For me, we’re talking about filling the shoes of some guy that was considered one of the greatest singers in the world. I think with all the great reviews, the one thing that’s different – and this is not only coming from major magazine writers in Germany and major promoters in Germany – when we did that Keep It True festival, the one thing I always heard was, “I just hope you can nail the stuff live because when we saw James Neal, he sucked live.” I said, “I kind of have to agree with that.” When the Keep It True show was over, that’s when the guy from SPV came to us and said, “I want to do a contract.” That’s a really big compliment to me. What you do in the studio and what you do live are two different things. Then I also heard straight from the horses mouth of the band, “Yeah, he was never good live. He did a couple of shows that were OK, but for the most part he never could do it.”

When you have Atlantic Records backing you up with thousands and thousands of dollars, I guess you can sit in the studio for two fucking months and do the vocals. I never had that treatment. I go in and I do the vocals in two weeks for every project I’ve ever done in my life. That’s it because I figure a song a day is all you need, not three months. I think that has a lot to do with why things are in a more positive spin now. The producer took what James Neal did and incorporated it with me. When I started this thing I would do everything just like James Neal did and he’d stop. He’d be laughing through the glass and be like, “Come here.” I’d be like, “Oh, shit. What did I do wrong now? What’s flat and what’s sharp?” And he’d be like, “Everything’s killer, but it sounds just like the old guy. I don’t want that. I want it to sound like you. So what we’re going to do is change that line.” I was real skeptical at first. But then when the band started hearing it, it was like, “Fuck yeah. This is metal now.” So I was like, “OK. Let’s keep going this way.” So being in this band has been a great thing for me.

This style of metal has never gone away, but it’s definitely been a while since it’s been mainstream. However, it also seems like there has been a resurgence of ’80s metal a of late. Do you think Malice could ride that wave to bigger success?

It’s resurfacing, that’s for sure. And it’s a good thing to know that we’re still some of the main ingredients from the old school that are around, because if we weren’t around it wouldn’t exist. Accept is fucking bigger than ever, Iced Earth and all these bands from back in the day are bigger now because of a new generation of kids that are into it. My son just graduated from high school and when he comes to the shows he brings 80 people that are all into metal. It reminds me of the old days in the ’80s when you’d have a garage band and play a backyard party and, dude, you’d have 500 people in that backyard. It’s kind of going back to that again and I think people are just getting tired of garbage and going, “Hey, this is the real music. This is musicianship. This is what it takes.” There’s a lot of bands out there that are very corporate and boring and I often wonder how the fuck these guys got there.

For more information, go to www.malicemusic.com.