Year : 2013
Style : Heavy Meatl , Power Metal
Country : USA
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 88 mb
Bio:
Warlord is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1980 and based in Los Angeles, CA. The brainchild of guitarist/songwriter William J (Bill) Tsamis and drummer Mark S Zonder, Warlord made the trip from their native San Jose, California to Los Angeles and proceeded in crafting their unique style, which pioneered what is called today “Epic Power Metal." The new band caught the attention of Brian Slagel, whose label, Metal Blade Records, had recently issued Metal Massacre, a compilation featuring up-and-coming local metal acts such as Malice, Steeler, Ratt, Slayer and Metallica.An aficionado of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and admirer of the Euro-metal aesthetic, influences of which are evident in Warlord's sound, Slagel was impressed by Warlord's semi-progressive style inspired by such diverse acts as Rainbow, Scorpions and Jethro Tull. Slagel decided to offer the band a spot on his next compilation and Warlord would make their vinyl debut with "Lucifer's Hammer" on 1982's Metal Massacre II. Earning rave reviews, Warlord made a repeat appearance with "Mrs Victoria" on Metal Massacre III and were signed to Metal Blade for their 1983 Deliver Us album which got the band featured in important publications such as Kerrang, Sounds, Burrn, and Music Connection. Furthermore, Warlord was receiving continual FM radio play in major US markets.Adding further intrigue to the growing Warlord mystique was the band members' use of pseudonyms such as 'Destroyer' / 'The Raven' (Tsamis), 'Thunderchild' (Zonder), 'Damien King' (vocalist Jack Rucker), and 'Sentinel' (keyboardist Diane Kornarens) as well as Warlord's refusal to become just another LA club act, opting to present themselves on a grander scale instead. To that end, the band rented The Raymond Theater to stage what would turn out to be the only Warlord live performance in the USA until now (August 2013). It was filmed and recorded for the group's first full-length release, "And The Cannons Of Destruction Have Begun...," issued in October 1984 and accompanied by a VHS home video release of the same name (now in DVD). The album featured 2 brand new tracks, "Soliloquy" and "MCMLXXXIV", as well as both cuts from the "Lost And Lonely Days" / "Aliens" 12" single released earlier that same year. Tsamis, Zonder, and Kornarens were joined by bassist Dave Watry ('Archangel') and new vocalist Rick Cunningham ('Damien King II'). A third vocalist worked shortly afterwards with the band (even if just in studio-recording and never on a stage): Rick Anderson, also known at the time as "Damien King III".The prevalence of “hair metal," "rap music," and the inability to retain a live lineup that could be up to Tsamis' and Zonder's high standards led to the cessation of band operations in 1986. The band's label, Metal Blade, would issue "Thy Kingdom Come", a quasi Best-Of, in December of that year. An extended version, including the whole Deliver Us album, followed in 1989, titled "Best of Warlord." Unbeknownst to Tsamis and Zonder, however, the music of Warlord had already taken off in Europe, and the band amassed a cult-like following. This was largely due to rave magazine reviews, continuous radio play, and the circulation of many demos via "tape trading," as well as positive word-of-mouth promotion among metal fans. With the onset of the internet, the music of Warlord spread worldwide and thus helped secure Warlord a place in the history of heavy metal as one of the greatest metal bands of all time for both artistic integrity as well as their unique melodic style.Post 1986, found Tsamis recording first an acoustic demo under the name “Lordian Winds” as part of a sprawling project based on John Milton's "Paradise Lost" (released in 2012 by NoRemorse records) and then launching an apocalyptic-themed female-fronted band called Lordian Guard. In the meantime, Zonder joined Prog Metal pioneers Fates Warning and went on to release numerous albums with them as well as other bands since (due to his universally recognized talent) his skills were -and still are- in high demand.It was during one of Fates Warning's tours that Zonder realized that Warlord's following had grown considerably with fans approaching him to sign Warlord albums and demanding new music from the band.Zonder contacted Tsamis and, as soon as schedules permitted, Warlord was once again converted to active status. Vocalist duties were assigned to Hammerfall vocalist (and big Warlord fan) Joacim Cans. Thus, in 2002, a new album, "Rising Out Of The Ashes," was recorded and released worldwide to rave reviews. And this was followed by the first ever Warlord live performance at the Wacken Open Air festival.A string of mishaps and very serious family health issues plagued Warlord after these performances and Warlord was once again, put on a hiatus which lasted for almost 9 years. With these issues resolved and considerable pressure by fans and promoters alike, Warlord returned to active status formally in March 2012, with the surprise release of the first new Warlord song in 10 years. “Night Of The Fury” was first released on Warlord's fan club (and in general) on Facebook where it was also revealed that not only was Warlord back in the studio working on a new album, but that vocalist duties would be handled by one of the original 80s Warlord vocalists, Rick Anderson (whose stint in Italian band Martiria had just ended). Philip Bynoe (current Steve Vai) joined the band on bass and the collaboration resulted in a new 55 minute album, "The Holy Empire," which quickly sold out, leading to ongoing re-pressings. "The Holy Empire" was also released on all major digital platforms as well as a collector's edition limited-release cassette which sold out in under one day. A vinyl 2 LP version (with a live bonus track) of "The Holy Empire" will be released in October 2013 by Alone Records.In the meantime, mounting pressure by promoters and fans bore fruit and Warlord announced that it would headline the April 2013 German "Keep It True XVI" Festival. This announcement was followed by two more headlining dates in Greece - Thessaloniki and Athens which sold out, thus demanding a second show in Athens which was sold out as well.“The Holy Empire," has received numerous rave reviews from the international metal press and has been featured in almost all major in-print publications as well as internet-only outlets the world over. In April 2013 Warlord took the full page cover of the prestigious Greek Metal Hammer print magazine.On September 2013 during an interview with Mike Catricola, Tsamis and Zonder announced that they have tapped vocalist Nicholas Leptos of Arrayan Path and Astronomikon to be the new Warlord singer. Said Tsamis "In Nicholas we have found the perfect Damien King we were always looking for".Currently Warlord is working on their fifth yet-unnamed full length studio release as well as overseeing the production of a Blu-Ray/DVD/Double CD combo shot in HD video and audio during the Athens concerts.
Album:
Eleven years after their previous release the legendary Warlord are finally back with their new album, “The Holy Empire”. The question one could ask is whether it was worth the wait or not. Well the answer is quite simple once you have listened to it and it’s a definite yes. What we are dealing with here is a creation of epic proportions, overflowing with lyricism, melancholy and metal riffs of divine descend.Throughout the album the guitar playing of William Tsamis is unparalleled while Mark Zonder's drumming sounds like a devouring force consuming all in its way. The bass playing of Philip Bynoe (Vai, Ring of Fire, Slavior etc) is great too, but perhaps a slightly more powerful production could have given it a bit more. Finally the lead singer here is Rick Anderson (ex-Martiria), who was also the bands singer during the Lordian Winds demo era. His voice sounds quite calm and soothing and it fits perfectly with the music of nowadays Warlord, so no objections there either.As far as the 8 songs are concerned, you won’t find any filler ones here. The album flows by like a stream of red hot lava, at first seeming to be ever changing in form, but once you give it time, it becomes solid as a rock and its true essence is revealed. Heavy mid tempo killers, true to the vein of Warlord, a few hints of symphonic metal here and there and an ever present dark and obscure feeling of 80’s epic metal, along with some of the best guitar melodies you‘ll ever hear. Songs like “70000 Sorrows”, “Thy Kingdom Come” and “Night of the Fury”, could have taken their place on any of Warlords previous releases. In fact they are what some would call instant classics. But don’t be fooled, the rest of the stuff on this album is great too, maybe even better than the three aforementioned songs. It’s just that you may need to give them a little time before you can actually understand their qualities. Some may seem as overly simple (“Glory”, “Father”, “City Walls of Troy”) and others as overly produced (“Kill Zone”, “The Holy Empire”) but given a little time you will understand that everything is as it should be, and every time you listen to it you will find yourself discovering new hidden secrets that you missed in the first place. One more thing to be noted is that on the song “Kill Zone”, the vocals are held by Giles Lavery of Australian power metal act Dragonsclaw! But whereas in his band he sings in a more Conklin meets Halford kind of way, here his screaming is reduced and a new dimension of his abilities is uncovered. No wonder he is going to be the singer of Warlord in their live performances.All in all, this album is a masterpiece in the true essence of the word! Do not be fooled by the fact that Warlord are merely categorized as epic metal. They are actually above and beyond any heavy metal genre, and no matter how hard you look, you won’t find many similarities with any other band out there today. Bill and Mark seem to have launched a full scale attack in order to justify the name of the band. So do yourselves a favor and listen to “The Holy Empire”, let its majestic atmosphere envelope you within and it will reward you with much more than you could possibly have imagined!
Line Up:
Richard M. Anderson - Vocals (1986, 2011-present) - See also: ex-Martiria
William J Tsamis - Guitars, Bass (1980-1986, 2001-2002, 2011-present) (R.I.P. 2021) - See also: ex-Lordian Guard, William J Tsamis
Philip Bynoe - Bass
Mark Zonder - Drums (1980-1986, 2001-2002, 2011-present) - See also: Dark Center Light, Slavior, Zeroasis, Jim Matheos, ex-Under-Radio, ex-Fates Warning, ex-Shattered Destiny, ex-Cans, ex-In Progress, ex-Ten
Tracklist:
01. 70,000 Sorrows 06:55
02. Glory 06:24
03. Thy Kingdom Come 06:49
04. City Walls of Troy 03:34
05. Kill Zone 07:37
06. Night of the Fury 07:14
07. Father 05:21
08. The Holy Empire 11:30
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
