Biography
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Years Active
1979 – present (45 years)
Battleaxe is an English heavy metal band from Sunderland, England. As one of the bands of the new wave of British heavy metal scene, they started out with the name Warrior and morphed into Battleaxe sometime in early 1980. The band consisted of Dave King (vocals), Brian Smith (bass), Steve Hardy (guitar), and Ian Thompson (drums). After playing around the area and honing their chops, they entered the recording studio to make a demo called "Burn This Town". In doing so, they garnered the attention of Roadrunner Records and the result was their first album, Burn This Town.
Once a deal had been struck with Roadrunner Records, the master tapes were sent to Roadrunner Records and the album title was agreed upon as Burn this Town. The record company asked the band for some concept ideas for the cover artwork, so the guys asked a friend and local artist Arthur Ball if he could come up with anything. He then produced the first Burn this Town cover artwork as it is now, but only as a rough proof drawing, and stated that, if it were approved by the record company, he would redraw the whole thing again to a much higher standard. However, when Roadrunner received the proof artwork for approval, they went ahead and pressed 2000 units for a worldwide release without the band's consent. The original Burn this Town cover artwork is one of the most talked-about album covers in heavy metal history. The graphic looked amateurish, and the band worried what it might do to their reputation. However, the music did the talking and the album sold well. The band began developing a reputation in the region as a solid heavy metal outfit.
A short time after finishing the recordings of the album Burn This Townat Guardian studios County Durham, Ian Thompson was badly injured from a skull fracture when attacked by a thug with an iron bar. Thompson's injuries were very bad and took a long time to heal but the band's momentum was still ongoing with the signing to Road Runner Records and was contracted to complete a second album by the end of the year. Ian McCormack ex Satan's drummer was asked to fill the drum position until Thomson had recovered, however, when Power from the Universe was released on both Road Runner and Music for Nations labels the band suddenly found themselves on another level as this album showed a more refined and mature Battleaxe and was voted as having one of the best heavy metal album openers of the time with "Chopper Attack". They continued on with the same line up to complete a BBC Radio One Session on the Tommy Vance Friday Rock show. A Nationwide tour supporting Saxon, and a Leeds Queens Hall Festival with Twisted Sister, Girlschool, Anvil, Spyder and Plus.
Success seemed to be on their doorstep as they tore up venues throughout England. On the eve of a major appearance at Hammersmith Odeon London in support of Saxon on their Crusader tour, some A&R guys from Atlantic Records were showing interest. After the show, they wanted the band to organise a showcase for them. It was then, for still unknown reasons to the band and fans, that Steve Hardy quit and they had to pull out of what could have been a major signing. It took almost two years before a new lineup was found that was somewhere near the quality and spirit to what they had. This was a severe blow to their career and put the band on hold until they could regain their ground. That happened when they toured the UK in support of Madam X, who had to pull out of the tour due to an illness, leaving Battleaxe to headline. They finished the tour at the Dominion theatre in London. The new lineup added Mick Percy and John Stormont. That lead and rhythm guitar combination put a new level and fuller sound to the band's performances live as well as in the studio. Soon after, they went into Neat Records studio to record the tracks Radio Thunder, Girl Crazee, and Killer woman. These tracks were added to their current EP release Nightmare Zone. John Stormont, one of the best lead guitarists around at the time, contributed a phenomenal lead break performance on the track Killer Woman. Sadly, John left the band for domestic reasons, and afterwards, there was a rotating door of musicians until 1987 when they recruited Jason Holt on guitar and Stew Curtan on drums (after Ian McCormack hung up his sticks). During this period of instability, the band were lucky enough to have met drummer Paul AT Kinson from Newcastle, filling in now and then, but not joining the band until a later date. With this lineup, their sound had fattened, being made more powerful and adding much versatility that was not possible with one guitarist. The power and energy from this new lineup was sensational. Unfortunately again, as the way bands tend to do, this promising new lineup lasted only a short time before the lack of demand in the UK for good quality British rock died and a new wave of death metal and grunge appeared. This made it hard for Battleaxe to tour. Metallica, when first appearing on the metal scene, wanted to tour the UK and Europe with Battleaxe but because of strange politics within the band, changed their minds. However Battleaxe were added to a compilation album with Metallica, Manowar, and other big-named bands. This album is detailed on the band's web site. In 1995/6/7/8 the band hired another guitarist for a short while and did a one off show to a small audience at Klenal Hall Biker's Festival. Plans were made to record a third album, and they went into the studio to record the demos that were to become the recently released Nightmare Zone EP. The third album was originally going to be called Metal Edge, but they were not able to secure interest from a record label back then, and the band began to lose interest. Touring and live gigs at the time were impossible due to the sheer lack of funding. In 2007 the four piece (Mick Percy Guitar, Paul AT Kinson (ex Jess Cox/Skyclad/Bob Dee-USA) and the two founding members, Brian Smith Bass, and Dave King Vocal (not the Fastaway vocalist Dave King) shot a video to the track Chopper Attack, the video appeared to relaunch the band onto the re-emerging NWOBHM scene.
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