WICKED MARAYA started life in 1983, but were called MYSTIC back then. In that time they released one demo. In 1989 these guys from Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, USA decided a change in their name was in order, as the musical direction they were taking had shifted from pure and unadulterated Heavy Metal to more Epic Metal. That is when WICKED MARAYA was born. Just to make it more confusing, they changed the name once again in 1998, to just MARAYA. At that point they had released two more albums, “No Hope For Humanity…?” (1996) and “Counterculture”(1997). From 1998 they were non-existent, until 2011 when they reformed. Since then they released one album, in 2016 it was “Lifetime In Hell” that came to fruition.

Back to the start of WICKED MARAYA. After releasing their demo in 1993 they were signed, which led to the original release of “Cycles”. And now, it has been rereleased to celebrate its thirtieth birthday. As to the musical direction that WICKED MARAYA follows on “Cycles”, it is quite simple. You take a large chunk of QUEENSRŸCHE pre 1994, add a bit of SAVATAGE from the same area. And sprinkle that with a little bit of the 1991 “Metallica” album and some pure WICKED MARAYA bits, and you’re done. Once I started listening to “Cycles” I was wondering why I don’t own the original album myself, but after hearing all the influences flying by, that became clear. I already own all the external influences I mentioned, so why add to it? Plus, one must not forget that it was released in the heyday of Grunge, so it was fighting a losing battle to start with.

Is it a pity that it came to that? Well, yes, it really is, because however I look at it, WICKED MARAYA made one hell of a beautiful debut album with “Cycles”. The music is top notch, the musicians are phenomenal, the singing is beautiful and fitting. But what is even more important, the songs are brilliant. My personal favourite is “Johnny”. I just love the atmosphere and the music supposedly clashing in such a beautiful way. Simply said, there is no escaping the fact that “Cycles “is a class album, to be treasured by all of those who love the influences I mentioned. So, if like me you missed out acquiring “Cycles” the first time around, please don’t make that same mistake again. Go get “Cycles”. I can assure you that you won’t regret it.