Posted on: August 17, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement introduced many talented bands over the years, some of which became living legends of the genre. Although Spartan Warrior never managed to reach the first league, their albums remain worthy representatives of the old-school British scene, delivering a masterful combination of 70’s hard rock, glam, speed and heavy metal.

The exclusive re-release of the group’s second and most prominent offering brings back a forgotten classic that truly captures the essence of NWOBHM. Released in 1984, their self-titled offering brought a collection of brilliantly written heavy metal tracks, strongly influenced by other genres such as 70’s hard rock and glam. With clear nods to such acts as Saxon, Tank, Iron Maiden and even the Scorpions, the band’s music introduced all the best features of the NWOBHM movement. The album included fast, heavy metal tunes such as “Mercenary” and “Sentenced To Die”, hard rocking classics “I’m On Heat” and “Son of a Bitch”, and slower, more melodic fragments like “Assassin” and the power ballad-themed “Hanging On”.

Metal Mind Productions will re-release “Spartan Warrior” on 27th July in Europe and 8th September in USA (via MVD). New digipak edition is limited to numbered 2000 copies and digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc.

Spartan Warrior
“Spartan Warrior” (remastered)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1305 DG
Barcode: 5907785035188
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numbered copies)
Genre: NWOBHM
Release date: 08.09.2009 USA

Tracklist:

1. Assassin
2. Black Widow
3. I’m On Heat
4. Son Of A Bitch
5. Sentenced To Die
6. Hanging On
7. Mercenary
8. French Girls
9. Broken Promises

Bio
Spartan Warrior was born around 1980 in Tyneside, UK, when founding members Tom Spencer (bass) and Gordon Webster (drums) teamed up with brothers Neil (guitar) and Dave Wilkinson (vocals). The newly formed group still needed a second guitarist – the job was first given to John Stormont, then to Baz Warne and ultimately to Paul Swaddle, who was the last addition to Spartan Warrior’s classic lineup. The group’s first success was getting two of their tracks on Guardian Records’ sampler “Pure Overkill” (which also featured the bands Risk, Millenium, Tokyo Rose and Incubus). The presence on that sampler pushed the band to record their first full-length album, which was released on Guardian Records in 1983. “Steel n Chains” proved to be a very successful release and the band was soon contacted by the acclaimed record label Roadrunner Records. After securing a deal with them, Spartan Warrior began working on their second album…
Released in 1984, the self-titled offering brought a collection of brilliantly written heavy metal tracks, strongly influenced by other genres such as 70’s hard rock and glam. With clear nods to such acts as Saxon, Tank, Iron Maiden and even the Scorpions, the band’s music introduced all the best features of the NWOBHM movement. The album included fast, heavy metal tunes such as “Mercenary” and “Sentenced To Die”, hard rocking classics “I’m On Heat” and “Son of a Bitch”, and slower, more melodic fragments like “Assassin” and the power ballad-themed “Hanging On”. Interesting fact about this album was that the band primarily wanted to call it “Assassin”, but due to some misunderstandings with the label, the LP remained self-titled. Wilkinson: “I can say that as far as we are concerned the title is ‘Assassin’, but I don’t think that the record company were made aware that we wanted that as a title.” Also the front cover graphics were somewhat a disturbing issue for the group: “The album cover was totally different to what we had suggested” – says Wilkinson – “The first time we saw it was when Terry showed us a copy that Roadrunner had sent to him. Although it is a great painting the band have a bit of a down on it because it wasn’t what we wanted – at the time we saw it as another thing that had gone wrong and we were starting to get a bit sick of it.” Numerous problems with the label and inside the band itself soon led to a fatal end – sometime after the second LP was released, Spartan Warrior disbanded. Fortunately, in 2006, that is 22 years after the release of “Spartan Warrior”, the band got back together again, hoping to get a second chance on the contemporary metal scene. “The aim for me is to get a deal and release a new album but this time hopefully do things right.” – says Wilkinson. With such masterpieces as “Spartan Warrior” in their discography, it is more than certain that this band will once again be on everybody’s lips. In the meantime, feel free to explore the amazing musical talent captured on Spartan Warrior’s second LP… New digipak edition is limited to 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc

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