Steve Rice of Imagika

Imagika was formed in 1994 by Steve Rice and former vocalist David Michaels as way to keep Bay Area Thrash alive during a time when Metal was a bad word and the local scene had all but dried up. The band quickly recorded a demo and their first CD within a year of forming to use as a basis to establish themselves as purveyors of what the Bay Area scene was now lacking. With a complete DIY attitude the band got the CD out to the fans that were dying for something to keep Thrash alive. The band was able to secure a release in Europe and within the next year had already written and begun recording their next CD “Worship”. The CD was again released by the band on Steve’s own Headless Corpse Records with Nuclear Blast picking up the distribution.

The band then toured Europe with Grave Digger and Iron Savior. After the tour the band once again started writing and released “And So It Burns” through Massacre Records who had signed the band by this time. Touring plans fell through since their former bassist left the band and a suitable replacement didn’t happen for 6 months until current bassist Elena Luciano (also a Dean Artist) joined the band. The band by this time was able to get a US release through WW3 records and this had the band hitting the road in the US for the first time with gigs all over the west coast/southwest playing with bands such as Testament, Agent Steel, Metal Church, etc.

The band had a hiatus for couple years after this point since Elena and Steve both had children and drummer Henry Moreno went back to school. The band finally recorded their next CD with famed producer Neil Kernon (Judas Priest, Queensryche, Nevermore) in 2004 and the CD was released by Mausoleum Records in Europe and the US. This CD brought the debut of current vocalist Norman Skinner who took the band to the next level.

The band again hit the road and made quite a few festival appearances with Thrash Against Cancer and Chicago Powerfest being the highlights. Wasting no time the band again started the recording of the new CD “My Bloodied Wings” and signed a deal with Crash Records which has helped the band raise its profile to the next level with the labels distribution into major retail outlets.

Steve Rice is the bands main songwriter and an accomplished guitarist with over 20 years of experience. His main influences are Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, UFO, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy and Bay Area Thrash. He currently plays Dean ’79 series and Black Gold V’s.