When a band reunites with a new lineup, longtime followers tend to be cautiously excited -- they're glad to see the band reunite, but how will the new lineup compare to previous lineups? And how will the new material measure up to the older material that won them over in the first place? In the case of
Meliah Rage, getting back together after a long absence proves to be a good idea on
Barely Human. This 2004 release, which is the Boston headbangers' first album since 1996's
Death Valley Dream, finds three members of
Meliah's original 1985 lineup -- guitarists
Anthony Nichols and
Jim Koury and bassist
Jesse Johnson -- joining forces with newcomers Paul Souza (lead vocals) and
Barry Spillberg (drums). Original lead singer
Mike Munro is gone, but thankfully, Souza shows himself to be a worthy replacement -- and stylistically,
Barely Human isn't a radical departure from
Meliah's '80s and '90s recordings.
Meliah is still a loud and forceful yet melodic thrash metal/speed metal outfit along the lines of
Metallica,
Anthrax,
Megadeth and early
Testament, and respectable tracks like "Bloodbath," "Invincible" and "Hate Machine" give the listener reason to be optimistic about the band's new post-
Munro lineup. The interesting thing is that even though
Barely Human is generally faithful to
Meliah's history, the material doesn't sound overly dated by 2004 standards -- certainly not as dated as '80s pop-metal and power metal bands sound in the 21st century. And that can be attributed to the punk element in
Meliah's metal; like
Anthrax,
Metallica and
Slayer,
Meliah has enough punk-minded aggression to be relevant to a post-
Nevermind rock world. Some longtime fans may feel that
Barely Human isn't as essential as
Meliah's best '80s and early-'90s recordings; even so, it's a worthwhile, enjoyably focused comeback for the New England thrashers. (Note: early pressings of
Barely Human included the bonus disc Unfinished Business, which contains 1992 demos employing
Godsmack's
Sully Erna on drums.)