ALIAS MANGLER 'Bite The Bullet' re-issue available via Heaven & Hell Records
What began on the Sunset Strip with bands like Quiet Riot, Ratt, and Motley Crue would spread like a virus across the United States in the early 1980s. Halfway through the decade, everyone would have the hard rock fever and the symptoms were countless hundreds of metallic rock bands began to spring up all over the country. Most of these bands would only enjoy sort rides on their local and regional club circuits before disappearing and never being heard of again. Some of these bands would amazingly manage to even get out a modest release before slipping into obscurity.
One such band was a four-piece from High Point, North Carolina that formed in 1984 and went by the name of ALIAS MANGLER. Not too much is known about the band and their brief career. In 1985 ALIAS MANGLER would enter a Battle of Bands competition at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina where the band would take first place over thirty-two other bands from all across the state. First place prize included studio time at CMC studios in Zebulon, NC where the band would lay down nine tracks that would become their debut album ‘Bite the Metal’.
In addition to recording time, the band’s winnings also included a limited five-hundred pressing of the album on vinyl. Five-hundred cassettes would also follow. Both vinyl and cassettes sold extremely well considering the limited distribution.
ALIAS MANGLER would continue to play the local and regional circuit with other local acts such as Nantucket and PKM. ALIAS MANGLER would eventually record some demos in 1987 for a follow-up album that would never be released. Eventually, the band had run its course and ALIAS MANGLER would disband in 1991.
Many years after ALIAS MANGLER’s circuit ride had come to an end and the band’s disbanding European metal collectors would pick up on this obscure U.S. metal release and pay prices of $250 – $300 to obtain a copy of ‘Bite the Metal’ on vinyl.
ALIAS MANGLER was not unlike countless other bands across the country in the mid-1980s. They are a band who is barely a footnote at best in the greater scheme of things. Despite this, the name ALIAS MANGLER would gain some sort of notoriety in time with collectors, long after the band’s demise. That alone is much more than most bands will ever achieve.
ALIAS MANGLER – Bite the Metal
01. Bite the Metal
02. We Come to Rock
03. Womanizer
04. Body Aches
05. Instrumental
06. Death on Foot
07. I’m Right
08. Take a Chance
09. Spoils Go To the Victor
bonus demo tracks
10. The Real Deal
11. Take Control
13. Strange Love
14. Rock n’ Roll Angel
15. Private Lives
16. Bound for L.A.
17. Blind Driver
18. Save My Rights
19. Halloween All Year
20. Turning Circles
ALIAS MANGLER is:
Danny Hutchins (vocals)
Jimmy Hinson (guitar)
Kelly Rowsey (bass)
Terry Baker (drum)
Originally produced by Steve Bass & Mike Bartholomew
Bass Music Corporation/BMC Records Recorded at CMC Studios in Zebulon, NC Engineered by Vic Lipscombe, Robbie Clark & Alias Mangler Original cover art by Dale Ackers Back Cover Photos by Dana Rowsey All Arrangements by Alias Mangler
Tracks 10-20 are demo tracks recorded in 1987
2018 Executive producers J. Golden & G. Shafer
Audio transfer and restoration by Tom Rowan at Soundlab Studios in Greensboro, NC
Re-mastering by Jamie King at The Basement Studios NC in Winston Salem, NC
2018 cover art by Yannick Bouchard
Layout design by Chris Ferguson
