Vicious Rumors

Vicious Rumors are an American power metal band, originally formed in 1979 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was conceived by founder and guitarist/vocalist Geoff Thorpe, and has been actively recording and touring worldwide since their full-length recording debut in 1985. They are signed to the Germany-based label SPV/Steamhammer. Guitarist and composer Thorpe began his musical career as a teenager in Honolulu, Hawaii. He had set out to start forming the band in the San Francisco Bay Area during the summer of 1979. Other Bay Area-based bands like Exodus, Anvil Chorus, Metallica, and Death Angel were also starting out during that era. These bands were playing the same local venues and establishing the Bay Area thrash metal scene—which in a few years would become very popular worldwide. While working towards a stable lineup, early incarnations of Vicious Rumors played live extensively within California's Bay Area between 1980 and 1985. Their first studio recordings appeared on compilations such as KMEL's New Oasis and U.S. Metal vol. III and IV in 1982, 1983 and 1984. These recordings helped the band obtain their first record deal with the legendary Shrapnel Records.