Warfare | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Genres | Speed metal, heavy metal, punk |
| Years active | 1982–1993 |
| Labels | Neat, FM Revolver |
| Past members | |
Warfare was a British heavy metal band from Newcastle upon Tyne that formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1993. [1] They were part of the later stages of the new wave of British heavy metal. [2]
The band was founded in 1982 [3] by drummer/singer Paul "Evo" Evans, guitarist Gunner and bassist Falken. Evo had previously played drums in the punk bands Major Accident, The Blood and Angelic Upstarts, [4] and wanted to "blend metal and punk in a manner not done before". [3] In 1984, Warfare released two singles and an EP. On their first single, the band covered "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. [2]
The group also released their debut album Pure Filth in the same year, [2] which was produced by Algy Ward from the band Tank. Cronos from Venom took over vocals and bass on the song "Rose Petals Fall from Her Face". Another EP, Total Death, was released in 1985. [2] The band played very few concerts, with Atomkraft drummer Ged Wolf helping out on stage so that Evo could concentrate fully on the vocals. [2]
The second album Metal Anarchy was produced by Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, [2] with Motörhead guitarist Würzel as guest guitarist. The album was released towards the end of 1985. Work then began on the third album. During the recording, bassist Falken left Warfare, leaving Cronos to play bass until Zlaughter joined the group as the new permanent bassist. [2]
In 1986, the band released their third album, Mayhem Fuckin' Mayhem, which was produced by Cronos, who also sang guest vocals on "You've Really Got Me", a cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me". It was followed by a single with a cover of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love". Several concerts followed before the album was released. They interrupted the performances of other bands, including Metallica; [2] Warfare's label Neat Records did not like this and waited until the matter was considered obsolete before releasing the album in 1987. [2]
The fourth album, A Conflict of Hatred, featured Mantas from Venom and keyboardist Lazer joined the band as a new member. After the album's release in 1988, the band moved to FM Revolver Records. [2] The album Hammer Horror, which was a tribute to the British Hammer film studios famous for their horror films, was released on this label in 1990, [5] but Evo was not happy with the label and re-recorded the whole album featuring Algy Ward on guitars and released it with extra tracks on Silva Screen Records.
The band disbanded in 1993. [1] Evo appeared on Warhead's 1995 album Warhead with Algy Ward and Würzel. In 2002, the compilation Metal Anarchy – The Best of Warfare was released on Sanctuary Records with a selection of tracks from their releases. In 2021, Warfare released the 3-CD compilation Songbook of Filth [6] which featured Pete Way and Fast Eddie Clarke playing together for the first time ever.[ citation needed ]
Warfare's style has often been compared to that of Tank, Motörhead and Venom, each of whose members also produced one of Warfare's first three albums and contributed to several of their albums. [4] [5] [7] Chris Ward of OneMetal compared "Burn Down the King's Road" from their debut Pure Filth to Venom covering The Clash. [8] Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic called the album a slightly slower Motörhead and noted its punk influences. [9]
Urban "Wally" Wallstrom of RockUnited described Metal Anarchy as being "almost recorded live" in three days; the album "couldn't be more primitive and brutal". "If Poison is the glam version of US band Spın̈al Tap", Warfare is "definitely the blueprint of British comedy band Bad News". It was a "listening experience of ten different versions of 'Warriors of Ghengis Khan'". [4] According to Ward, the song "Living for the Last Days" would not have sounded out of place on Motörhead's album Orgasmatron , released the same year. [8] Wallstrom also described it as entertaining to hear Evo sing Barry McGuire's anti-war song "Eve of Destruction" on the re-release of Metal Anarchy. He described the style of the album as "1980s metal/punk/thrash" and a mix of Motörhead, Tank, Venom, Raven and Bad News. [4]
According to The Thrash Metal Guide, the music on A Conflict of Hatred developed "in the direction of more serious thrash" and was reminiscent of the Canadian band Piledriver and the debut album by Dark Angel, We Have Arrived . On Hammer Horror, the band introduced every track with orchestral passages and incorporated heavy, doom-heavy riffs in the style of Celtic Frost, atmospheric, "eerie" passages and, on "Phantom of the Opera", female vocals and "spooky" keyboard melodies; hence The Thrash Metal Guide also sees the album as an influence for later doom/gothic metal bands. [5]
Studio albums
Compilations
EPs
Singles
Other releases
Motörhead were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precursor to the new wave of British heavy metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Though several guitarists and drummers have played in Motörhead, most of their best-selling albums and singles feature drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor and guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke.
The Damned are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977) and tour the United States. Nine of the band's singles charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.
Venom are an English heavy metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered major influences on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Their second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre; as a result, Venom were part of the early wave of the genre, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory.
Voivod is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger, guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin and bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault. The band has had numerous members changes throughout its 42-year career, with Langevin as the only consistent member. Their current line-up includes Langevin, Bélanger, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (guitar) and Dominic "Rocky" Laroche (bass).
Machine Gun Etiquette is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned, released on 2 November 1979 by Chiswick Records.
Alasdair Mackie "Algy" Ward was an English punk rock and heavy metal bass guitarist and singer. He began his career in 1977, as a bassist for the Australian proto punk band the Saints. Afterwards, he joined The Damned, before founding Tank in 1980. Tank were part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement.
Black Metal is the second album by English heavy metal band Venom. It was released in November 1982 during the new wave of British heavy metal, and is considered a major influence on the thrash metal, death metal and black metal scenes that emerged in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Hammered is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Motörhead, released on 9 April 2002 via Steamhammer, their sixth with the label and beating the Bronze Records era total of original full-length album releases. It was also the beginning of distribution in North America, and other territories, under Sanctuary Records and their subsidiary Metal-Is.
"Bomber" is a song by the English heavy metal band Motörhead, recorded and released in 1979. It is the title track to their album Bomber and was released as a single peaking at 34 on the UK Singles Chart.
"No Class" is a song by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was released in 1979 in 7" vinyl pressings. The song first appeared on the 1979 album Overkill, and became one of the "cornerstones" of the classic 1981 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith. It is one of the band's "anthems".
"Iron Fist" is a song by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was released as a single in 1982, in 7" pressings in blue, black and translucent red vinyl.
Conrad Thomas Lant, also known by his stage name Cronos, is an English musician. He is the founder, vocalist and bassist of heavy metal band Venom.
Michael Richard Burston, commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician who played professionally for three decades. He played guitar in British rock band Motörhead from 1984 to 1995, playing on six studio albums and two live albums. Würzel died at the age of 61, following heart complications.
Welcome to Hell is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Venom. It was released in December 1981 through Neat Records at the culmination of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. The album was re-released by Sanctuary Records in 2002.
"I Just Can't Be Happy Today" is a song by English punk rock band the Damned from their 1979 album, Machine Gun Etiquette. Released as a single in November on Chiswick Records, it peaked at No. 46 in the UK Singles Chart.
Tank is an English heavy metal band formed in 1980 by Algy Ward, a former member of The Damned. The original band is known as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Tank was often compared to Motörhead as both bands were trios fronted by singing bassists, and played a loose, almost punk-styled metal music with often colourful lyrics.
Atomgods were a UK heavy rock band from late 1980s. The band were formed by former Inner City Unit guitarist Judge Trev Thoms, the first recording lineup consisting of Hiro Sasaki and Kofi Baker. They were signed to GWR Records producing the 1988 album WOW! and the 1991 album History Re-Written.
Neat Records was a British independent record label based near Newcastle, England. The label was established in 1979 by David Wood, who was the owner of Impulse Studios in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear. A key figure in the establishment of the label was Steve Thompson. Thompson was house producer at Impulse at the time and helped set up Neat, became the A&R manager and produced all the initial recordings, as well as managing the publishing arm, Neat Music. The label was sold in 1995 to Sanctuary Records.
Cast in Stone is the ninth album by British heavy metal band Venom, and their first album in 12 years to feature the original lineup. Recorded at Lartington Hall Studios near Barnard Castle, it was released on SPV/Steamhammer in 1997. It is the last Venom album to feature Abaddon on drums.
"In League with Satan" is the first song released by the English extreme metal band Venom. It was released on 19 April 1981 as a single with the B-side "Live Like an Angel" by Neat Records and later appeared on the band's first album, Welcome to Hell. The song has been cited as the first black metal song and is also often cited by critics who claim a connection between heavy metal and Satanism.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
