Cruella was formed by Roger DeCarlo in early 1986 after his previous band XINR folded in late '84 due to the deaths of two founding members. The original line-up featured DeCarlo on lead and rhythm guitar, co-songwriter, and bassist Kate "Fate" Wilson, Kirk Johnson on second guitar, Wes Johnson on drums and Rick Nolen on vocals. They recorded their first demo, 'Power Metal' that year and started playing shows. A while later Kirk went into the army and Wes had to move from Portland. Drummer Dave Hval came on board and it became a four piece. Wilson was soon fired after that and bassist Rob Conrad replaced her and the band was solidified. After many local gigs and another popular demo tape, Metal Revenge, the group landed a deal with US Metal records in Germany for their two album releases. Nolen left after 'Vengeance Is Mine' was released and Ex-Iscariot singer Terry Kysor stepped in on vocals for a short while. Later Hval replaced him on vocals for the next album, 'Shock The World', in 1990 - with Conrad also handling some of the vocal chores. The band broke up in mid-1990 initially but reformed the following year with DeCarlo, Conrad and Charlie Nelson on drums. The band broke up again in 1992 for good.
