High Roller Records, white label test pressing, ltd 12, numbered, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert printed on uncoated paper, When William J. Tsamis, founder of legendary Epic Metal masters Warlord, sadly passed away on the 13th of May 2021 at the age of only 60, it looked as if the premature death of one of the most creative forces in American metal had come. However, Warlord bounced back, with a new line-up and a brand new studio album entitled »Free Spirit Soar« (on High Roller Records). With guitar and bass parts of Bill Tsamis saved from original recordings, the current team of Mark Zonder (drums), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards) and Giles Lavery (vocals) (plus Eric Juris on guitars and bass on two songs) is now following »Free Spirit Soar« with an additional album called »From The Ashes To The Archives – The Hot Pursuit Continues«. Singer Giles Lavery explains: “What we wanted to do with this release was to revisit some of the songs from the »Rising Out Of The Ashes« record with this line-up (and using Bill’s guitar and bass tracks from 2002) – but recording them closer to Bill's original vision for the songs. He would often tell me that the ‘Lordian Guard’ versions were how he originally heard these songs, musically and as far as vocal melodies and such. I think Joacim Cans did a brilliant job on the »Rising Out Of The Ashes« versions, so these new versions are to be seen as a companion to the 2002 versions, rather than a ’replacement’ for them. However, the mixes this time around are a little heavier and rawer, and to me it sounds more like it's the 1980s era Warlord performing these songs, which ironically is when most of these songs were written. It might seem like a stretch to some people, but it's almost like if in an alternate reality there was a follow-up EP to »Deliver Us« and these songs had been recorded and released in 1986 or so, then this could be a look at what could have been.” The vinyl of »From The Ashes To The Archives – The Hot Pursuit Continues« contains eight songs whereas there are fourteen tracks on the CD version. Once again, Giles Lavery has all the details: “Tracks 9-14 are tracks that have appeared on the various expanded reissues and compilation albums over the years, some of which are now out of print, and thus we wanted to consolidate what we thought were the best of these unavailable rarities for this collection on the CD format. Of note are the pre-production recordings of some of the »Deliver Us« tracks from 1983, recorded mere days before the EP was tracked ... so these are every bit as good quality wise as what ended up on the EP, however, you can hear many differences between the two versions. In addition we wanted to have a special compilation for the Warlord live dates in 2024, something that celebrated the band’s past with the present line-up. And as every Warlord release should also serve a ‘useful’ purpose (we have no desire just to spew out pointless releases like so many bands do) the opportunity to revisit six of the »Rising Out Of The Ashes« songs, and record them as Bill always intended them to sound seemed like a timely thing to do to mark the occasion of the band’s return to the live stage.” Giles Lavery - vocals William J Tsamis - guitars, keys & bass (Tracks 2–5, 8) Eric Juris - guitars & bass (Tracks 1, 6–7) Jimmy Waldo - keys (Tracks 1, 6–7) Philip Bynoe - bass (Track 7) Mark Zonder - drums 01 Invaders 02 Battle of the Living Dead 03 Winds of Thor 04 Achilles Revenge 05 War in Heaven 06 Sons of a Dream 07 Deliver Us from Evil 08 Winds of Thor (Thomas Mergler Mix)
| Item weight: | 0,33 kg |
