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Blitzkrieg

 
Artist: Blitzkrieg
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Group Members:

Brian Ross

Similar Artists:

Cruchifixion, Fist, Rose Tattoo, Angel Witch, Venom, Saxon, Motörhead, Judas Priest, Diamond Head
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "A Time of Changes-Phase 1," "Time of Changes," "Unholy Trinity"

Biography

The lifelong obsession of indefatigable vocalist Brian Ross, Blitzkrieg were among a handful of lesser known New Wave of British Heavy Metal acts who should have faded into rock and roll obscurity long ago had it not been for Metallica covering one of their songs. Ross first founded Blitzkrieg at the end of 1980, when he joined a Leicestershire, England-based group named Split Image and promptly convinced guitarists Jim Sirotto and Ian Jones, bassist Steve English and drummer Steve Abbey to upgrade to this much more ‘metallic' moniker. Literally within weeks of their decision, the newly-christened Blitzkrieg was already cutting a three-song demo tape that instantly attracted independent Neat Records, which included the track "Inferno" in their Lead Weight compilation. A deal was simultaneously struck for the release of a single containing the remaining two tracks, and the result was 1981's "Buried Alive," whose b-side -- an unashamed reworking of the prog-rock classic "Hocus Pocus" by yodeling Dutchmen Focus -- would both bear their name and ultimately guarantee their lasting legacy. The single was a huge success and by spring Blitzkrieg had already recorded enough new material to start thinking about an album; but trouble was already brewing within their ranks and both Jones and English were soon shown the door to make way for guitarist John Antcliffe and bassist Mick Moore. A second demo, the six-song "Blitzed Alive" was recorded at a gig supporting French hard rockers Trust, and was intended to pave the way a full-length debut, but this never came about, as the insecure members of Blitzkrieg wound up splintering by years' end. The book now appeared to be irrevocably closed on Blitzkrieg's brief trajectory as the musicians scattered to the four winds; but nearly four years later, after stints with Avenger, Satan and Lone Wolf, Brian Ross decided to give the band one more try. With a standing invitation from Neat to release an album if he could get one recorded, Ross brought back Sirotto and Moore, then borrowed Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist Mick Procter and Satan drummer Sean Taylor to re-record much of Blitzkrieg's old material for 1985's A Time of Changes. It all proved to be a case of too little, too late, however, and despite beyond-modest sales, not even Metallica's recent cover of "Blitzkrieg" provided enough momentum to launch the band into flight once again -- especially with such a patched together line-up. Refusing to give in, Ross spent the ensuing years trying to assemble a serviceable core of musicians with which to start anew, but it wouldn't be until 1991 that Blitzkrieg would fly again, albeit briefly, after releasing the semi-re-hashed 10 Years of Blitzkrieg EP through Roadrunner. A complete album entitled Unholy Trinity was then stitched together from old and new recordings, but contractual snafus kept it from release until 1995, by which time Blitzkrieg had discovered the lucrative possibilities of touring European countries still interested in the N.W.O.B.H.M. (Germany, Greece, etc.). Buoyed by this small, but reliable audience, the band has remained active over the years, with rotating groups of musicians backing up Brian Ross on albums like The Mists of Avalon (1998) and Absolute Power (2001). ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Blitzkrieg (band)
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the heavy metal band. For other uses, see Blitzkrieg (disambiguation).
Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg at Jalometalli 2008 in Oulu
Background information
Origin Leicester, England
Genres Heavy metal
Years active 1980-81, 1984-91, 1992-94, 1996-99, 2001-Present
Labels Neat Records (1980-1985, 1995-1998)
Roadrunner Records (1991)
Edgy Records (2002)
Metal Nation (2004–present)
Members
Brian Ross - vocals
Ken Johnson - guitars
Guy Laverick guitars
Paul Brewis - bass
Phil Brewis - drums
Ambox style.png
 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (March 2009)

Blitzkrieg are a heavy metal band from Leicester formed in 1980, consisting of Brian Ross (vocals), Ken Johnson (guitar), Guy Laverick (guitar), Paul Brewis (bass) and Phil Brewis (drums). Their song "Blitzkrieg" has been covered by Metallica.

The line-ups for Blitzkrieg have frequently changed since their formation, as the line-up for their first single differed greatly to the line-up for their most recent album, Theatre of the Damned. As a result of these changes, Brian Ross is the only remaining member from their initial line-up.

Contents

History

Blitzkrieg was formed in October 1980 after signing a record deal with Neat Records. In the early stages of their career they regularly produced gigs in England, but then later split in 1981. Brian Ross most notably went on to join Satan, another metal band, along with stints in Avenger, Lone Wolf and Unter den Linden. In 1984 Ross and fellow founding member Jim Sirotto, along with guitarist Mick Proctor (ex-Tygers of Pan Tang), bass player Mick Moore (of Avenger) and drummer Sean Taylor (Satan/Blind Fury, ex-Raven) then decided that it was time to record the Blitzkrieg album that was originally planned to be released in 1981, A Time of Changes. It was later released in 1985.

The song "Blitzkrieg" was then covered by popular American band Metallica on the Creeping Death EP. Metallica's drummer, Lars Ulrich commented that Blitzkrieg was one of their main influences, along with Diamond Head[citation needed] . Diamond Head is falsely thought to have also done a cover of the song Blitzkrieg, thanks to a mislabeled song spread over the internet; this is actually a version of the track performed by Blitzkrieg which featured on the Buried Alive single (released before the band's original split in 1981)[citation needed] . The song was rerecorded in many different styles through the band's career, but the Buried Alive b-side version of Blitzkrieg was the recording which inspired Metallica's cover of the song for their Creeping Death EP, as the first alternate version was released on the A Time of Changes album in 1985 (a year after the Creeping Death EP was released).

Blitzkrieg started recording songs in 1990 for the release of the album, 10 Years of Blitzkrieg, in 1991. In 1992 they started recording more songs for the next album, Unholy Trinity, released in 1995[citation needed]. Blitzkrieg was highly appreciated by the public[who?] after the release of these albums, and they were even more appreciated when the album, Ten, was released in 1997[citation needed]. Ten received a good response from the public[citation needed], and was later backed up by the release of The Mists of Avalon in 1998, which also brought forward a positive response[citation needed].

Vocalist Brian Ross was then involved in a car accident, which prevented Blitzkrieg from releasing any further material. Six months later, he decided to reform Blitzkrieg and create another album. They released the albums, Absolute Power (a studio album), Absolutely Live (a live album) and Sins and Greed. On August 10 2007 Blitzkrieg released their new album Theatre of the Damned through their record label Armageddon Music.

Members

Brian Ross
  • Brian Ross - vocals (1980-1981, 1984-91, 1992-94, 1996-99, 2001-present)
  • Ken Johnson - guitars (2002-present)
  • Guy Laverick - guitars (2006-present)
  • Paul Brewis - bass (2004-present)
  • Phil Brewis - drums (1999, 2001-present)

Former Members

Guitars :

  • Ian Jones (1980-81)
  • Jim Sirotto (1980-81, 1984-86)
  • John Antcliffe (1981)
  • Mick Proctor (1984-86)
  • J D Binnie (1986-87)
  • Chris Beard (1986-87)
  • Steve Robertson (1988-89)
  • Glenn S. Howes (1988-90, 1996-99)
  • Tony J. Liddle (1989-96, 2001-02)
  • Phil Millar (1996)
  • Martin Richardson (1996-98)
  • Paul Nesbitt (1992, 1998-2006)

Bass :

  • Steve English (1980-81)
  • Mick Moore (1981, 1984-86, 1991)
  • Darren Parnaby (1986-87)
  • Robbie Robertson (1988-89)
  • Glenn Carey (1989-90)
  • Dave Anderson (1992-94)
  • Steve Ireland (1996)
  • Gavin Gray (1996-99)
  • Andy Galloway (2001-04)

Drums :

  • Steve Abbey (1980-81)
  • Sean Taylor (1984-86, 1991-94)
  • Sean Wilkinson (1986-87)
  • Kyle Gibson (1988-89)
  • Gary Young (1989-90)
  • Paul Ward (1996)
  • Paul White (1996)
  • Neil Nattrass (1996)
  • Mark Hancock (1996-98)
  • Mark Wyndebank (1998-99)

Discography

Title Released
Buried Alive 1981
A Time of Changes 1985
Ten Years of Blitzkrieg 1991
Unholy Trinity 1995
Ten 1997
The Mists of Avalon 1998
Absolute Power 2002
Absolutely Live 2004
Sins and Greed 2005
Theatre of the Damned 2007

External links

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