Warlord was one of the great unsung bands of the 80's, as their
blend of classy, vaguely progressive riffs
and just the right amount of melody produced
a number of great songs (two of the best being the two
Metal Massacre compilation tracks, "Child Of The Damned" and
"Mrs. Victoria"), but while they are deservedly underground cult
favorites, mainstream success was never in the cards.
Their discography is a confusing one, as the original incarnation
really only recorded
a few songs (the mini-LP Deliver Us plus the odd single and
aforementioned compilation track), but they were repackaged
and re-recorded in various forms for several years afterward --
really, Best Of Warlord might as well be called
All Of Warlord,
as it covers virtually their entire career.
Stage names were used throughout their brief original run
(including several
different vocalists who shared the same stage name), but the
core of the band was always guitarist Bill Tsamis
and drummer Mark Zonder, the latter of whom would find greater
fortune in
Fates Warning.
While the original band broke up in the mid-eighties, fans clamoring for
a reunion finally brought Zonder and Tsamis back together, and
in 2001 the band reformed on a project basis,
with
HammerFall
vocalist Joacim Cans
joining the reunited duo.
The 2002 comeback album,
Rising Out Of The Ashes, was
what everyone might hope for such a release, as it retained
class that was Warlord without sounding stale or dated.
After another long hiatus, the band reappeared back once again in 2013
with The Holy Empire, as well as yet another re-recording of
early tracks with the obscure 2015 release entitled THe Hunt For Damien.
They broke up again soon after that, and with Tsamis' passing in 2021,
the band is surely done for good.
