siLLy puPPy
WARLORD was basically the creation of guitarist and songwriter Bill Tsamis and drummer Mark Zonder in 1980 which started in San Jose, CA but moved down to LA to find greener pastures and soon after this fortuitous decision caught the attention of Metal Blade Records with a couple demos and in no time at all released their debut EP album DELIVER US which found the band riding the new epic metal wave of early 80s bands. While WARLORD was clearly inspired by the sounds of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) they managed to distance themselves sufficiently in their approach along with other early American pioneers of this sound such as Manilla Road and Brocas Helm. On this debut Tsamis handles both guitar and bass duties but ironically goes by Destroyer on the guitar parts and The Raven on bass while Zonder copped the alias Thunder Child. This early version of the band included Jack Rucker aka Damien King on vocals and Diane Kornarens on keyboards who adopted the name Sentinel.
DELIVER US is an excellent slice of top notch early metal which offers all of the best features the era had to offer. The music is heavy and melodic with catchy riffs, well crafted compositions, excellent instrumental executions and all of the juicy lyrical themes ranging from mythology, fantasy, Christian values and epic battles. Damien King has the perfect vocal skills for this type of metal which captures all of the melodic flavors and operatic yumminess of Iron Maiden or Judas Priest with a more “earthy” type of grounded sound to it and sounded like a precursor to the more energetic power metal bands that would emerge towards the end of the decade. The guitar riffs are crisp and the independent bass lines delivery the classic 80s galloping effect while the keyboards are restricted to atmospheric generators to give the overall sound an epic ambience with some flashy effects thrown in now and again.
While WARLORD were clearly a product of their era, their true strength is in the excellent songwriting skills of Tsamis who cranked out one addictive track after another. Some tracks offer classical acoustic guitar intros that build up to a cranking riffy early metal anthems and some just rip from the get go and while soloing is included it is used sparingly as for effects rather than interrupting the overall flow of the music. Personally i’m not sure why WARLORD has never garnered more attention as their material was some of the strongest the early 80s metal scene had to offer but was probably overshadowed by the greats of the era stealing their thunder and also the MTV scene had propelled metal music onto the world’s stage and it seemed like everyone wanted to start a band and become the next Maiden or Priest. WARLORD was one of the strongest bands to emerge from this era and is definitely a must for fans of melodic 80s epic metal in the vain of Manilla Road, Blind Guardian or Virgin Steele. They would only release this debut EP and the following “And The Cannons Of Destruction Have Begun…” the next year but have released a few albums sporadically since 1997.