Melinda and Betsy were soon jamming regularly with each other in her father’s house. But they wanted to record their playing to listen to later. Melinda received a decent amount of spending money from her father, but even so, she would not be able to rent a proper sound-studio, such as the one near the University of Nebraska, South Campus. There was a college drop-out who worked the mixing boards at the studio. His name was Richard Steele. But he also sang, usually in a high-pitched screem. He would eventually meet Maggy Mannis in a bar near Nebraska University. She played bass, and they soon shared an apartment together after Richard, who called himself…Rickie Steele, began working at the local bar called The Drop-out. Not sure what to do, Betsy and Melinda were out walking around town when they noticed a shabby recording studio owned by Raymond Mannis, father of Maggy. There was a sign on the door indicating that the studio was for rent. Betsy called the number on the sign and spoke to Raymond. He agreed to rent the studio to them at a cheap rate, which Melinda was able to afford. The two girls moved their equipment into the studio. Raymond told Maggy one day about two college girls who played rock music with a distinctive, grinding sound. Maggy and Rickie met Betsy and Melinda at The Drop-Out one night, while a young woman named Miranda Keel, who called herself…Morbia, was playing heavy-metal guitar and singing, backed by some local musicians. She wore black leather and dark make-up around her eyes. When she played, a grinding sound similar to that played by Betsy and Melinda filled the bar. Betsy thought that Morbia had the name and appearance that she was looking for. Maggy and Rickie, who tended bar at The Drop-Out and jammed with Morbia, introduced the two girls to her, and she agreed to jam with them at The Drop-Out. But she also jammed with Rickie and Maggy on the weekends. One night at the bar, Maggy saw Rickie talking with two guys wearing suits and dark glasses. All three drank for about an hour, and then disappeared out into the night. When Maggy went back to the apartment, Rickie’s stuff was gone. She later heard that he moved to Los Angeles. Then a scout from a west coast record label saw Rickie and his band playing in Oakland, and he was given a recording contract. Maggy’s father gave her six months’ worth of rent. She was intent on playing bass in a heavy-metal band…a real heavy-metal band, not the pussies popular on the radio at the time…so she knew she had better move fast.

Maggy’s career time-crunch was now matched with that of Betsy, who didn’t like school, and was very close to being kicked out of Summerset, her dorm room door now glowed orange with all the notices stuck to it. The only thing she found interesting in her classes was the Countess Elizabeth Bathory. She decided that she, Melinda, and Maggy should form a real heavy-metal band. They would adopt very dark imagery for their albums, and imitate the appearance of Morbia, each in her own way. Betsy decided they should change their names to fit their image. She took the name of…Erzebet, after the countess, Maggy became Druvillia, and Melinda became…Mallacaria. They were now constantly playing at Raymond’s sound studio and at The Drop-Out. On a warm Saturday night, Morbia was tending bar at The Drop-Out and, impressed with the trio’s sound, was persuaded to join the band.

Before long, Rickie Steele was on the Midwest leg of his latest tour, and he stopped by to drink in The Drop-Out. He was very impressed with the band’s sound, although it made more of a…grinding sound…than his own, though not by much. But by the end of the night, he asked the girls to play warm-up for him. The final leg of the tour was on the west coast, where Erzebet’s band met another band who played with Rickie Steele. Erzebet became friends with guitarist Tammy Hedrick, who liked to say that…you can’t fast enough. Before long, Tammy’s band was thrust into the lime-light. Their first single…Speed Freak…was popular on campus radio, which was affiliated with a club called The Yardbird, where Tammy’s band played. But then they released…Bitter Roses…and soon had a recording contract, thanks to a heavy push by campus radio and Rickie Steele’s influence behind the scenes. His company, Rickie Steele Inc., helped the band with the finances surrounding their first singles and album. They would tour with Rickie, along with Erzebet’s band. Following the tragic death of Rickie Steele, the two bands toured together, Erzebet, Morbia, Druvillia, and Mallacaria playing warm-up. When Tammy’s band was about to break up, Erzebet, now good friends with Tammy, convinced her to join her band, and play as fast she wanted. Erzebet suggested that Tammy take the name…Bathoria. Their album, Curse of Darvulia, went gold then platinum, with the hits…Rise of the Countess, We Are Legion, and Broken On the Wheel. The follow-up album, Phantasm, also went platinum, featuring the hits…Fire Lord, Rise of the Coven, and Witches’ Hammer. After Morbia’s departure from the band, they recorded Necromancer, which went pre-order gold, then platinum upon release, featuring…Sonic Hex, Dream Chaser, Suffer the Witch, and The Fires of Samhain. While stuck at LAX due to flight delays, the band met guitarist Vivian Vaster. She met the band in San Diego for an audition, and was hired under the name of…Hekate. She played on the albums Necromancer, Santa Muerte, and Sin Eater. Mallacaria took on a greater role as song-writer after Morbia’s departure, writing Queen of Hades, Depths of Abaddon, and Grave Lillies on the Santa Muerte album.  She later married drummer Rex Railey, former husband of Riki Railey, who played drums for The Kerry Cooper Band, and was best friends with Jackie Steele, Rickie Steele’s former wife and rhythm guitarist.

Mallacaria

Mallacaria was born Esther Melinda Danes in a Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in a family with a Jewish mother…Tamar Danes (nee Tamar Cohen) and Walter Danes, an agnostic protestant. The marriage, that resulted roughly 10 months after the birth of her older brother Jacob Danes, was a stormy one. Tamar continually pestered Walter about converting to Judaism, but he didn’t care anything for religion. Melinda only met relatives on her mother’s side of the family on rare occasions. This was due to Tamar’s marriage to Walter. Melinda and her brothers Jacob and Solomon preferred to follow their father’s example, and sought to avoid everything religious. Her school years at Beth Emeth Elementary School did not go well, with Melinda consistently being in trouble. The only teacher she got along with was the music teacher, who taught her piano. In future years, she would play keyboards for the band, and also taught piano to select, private students.

This continued during her high school years at the Ya’akov Steinberg Jewish Academy. She continued to play the piano. Melinda also became a devoted fan of rock music, and particularly the drums. Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, Charlie Watts, and Dennis Thompson were some of her favorites. But her favorite favorite was John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, with the loud-style of his playing jiving with her growing belief that drums should be played loud and fast…the louder and faster the better. Her high school music teacher, David Horowitz, after learning about Melinda’s zeal for the playing-style of John Bonham, showed her another music room down the hall from the piano room. Entering the room, she was amazed. The room was soundproof, and soundproof for a good reason…the room contained a very large drumkit. There was even a mixing board and recording equipment. Mr. Horowitz told Melinda that she could use the drum-room if she continued playing piano. She readily agreed. Soon she was playing drums on a daily basis, and her teacher would even meet her at the school on weekends to let her play. The equipment in the drum-room included a pretty decent stereo, so she could play Led Zeppelin and The Who songs and play along with the drum tracks. Mr. Horowitz was able to isolate the drum tracks, allowing Melinda to master the techniques of Keith Moon and John Bonham, among many others.

Following the death of her mother, Melinda’s father moved to Filbert, Nebraska to sell John Deere farm equipment. Jacob and Solomon remained in New York, while Melinda moved with her father. She received enough money following her mother’s death to buy a decent set of drums. Her father enrolled her in Nebraska University, and she chose to move into the Summerset girls’ dorm on campus. After getting her room assignment, as she walked down the hall for the first time, she heard loud, distorted guitar-playing coming from the dorm room. Her roommate was Betsy Billows, who was a devoted guitar player. Melinda would return from class to find Betsy tinkering with her two guitar amps as she developed different distortion levels, always seeking to get more and more from the amps. She played with so much distortion that the father of her future bandmate, Maggy Mannis, described it as…grinding. Melinda told Betsy (later known as Erzebet) that she played drums, having mastered the ability to play very fast. On some days Melinda went to her father’s house to play drums, and returned in the evening to find Betsy playing loudly, with several Orange Notices taped to the door. Orange Notices were warnings from dorm staff when the rules were being broken. Betsy hardly showed any awareness of the notices covering their door. Some residents had written, in dark, black marker, insults and threats on the door. Betsy would usually ask if they knew how to count to two…holding up one finger on each hand for them to count.