And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun...

At first I thought part of my problem with this album lay in some conflicts I had with USPM, it's a subgenre that has a number of classics I don't like and many of its fans have a prepotent and condescending attitude towards european power metal that I just don't understand (smells like male insecurity) but recently I've been digging bands like Jag Panzer, Virgin Steele, Cirith Ungol and damn, I like them, I like them a lot. So I wanted to delve into this Warlord album, which I had a pretty bad memory of and see if this was due to a prior willingness to dislike it. But no, this release is bad in its own right.

First a superficial complaint, at times I really came to believe that this was a parody band, like Horde but even earlier, a group of people taking elements of a particular style to subtly imitate and parody them, I couldn't find any other explanation for why a band can have a name as radical and powerful name as Warlord, and titles as cool and powerful to end up sounding super bland while singing about Christianity. And I'm not saying that because I think singing about Christianity is a bad thing, but it has been used as a method to make fun of the metal scene. But no, it turns out that Warlord is a legitimate band, the problem is that most of its members don't seem to be interested in its creation.

I say this on the support of something I already know, that 3/5 members would never participate in Warlord or other musical projects again, and it's funny how just the performance of these members is the most questionable. Am I being opportunistic? Maybe a bit, but I don't care, my critical reasons are quite justified if one listens to this record. For example, the keyboards are very inconsistent, they appear very little but when they do they are incredibly intrusive, and when this happens they sound incredibly pop oriented, they don't provide atmosphere, intensity or anything, they are simplistic and weak.

But if we talk about weakness we have to talk about the vocalist. If the long play is mediocre in itself this guy's performance makes it offensive, it's even surprising that a vocal performance can be so empty and lacking of any kind of emotion, we are talking about metal music and this is the quietest vocalist I've ever heard in my life, in a genre marked by extravagant vocalists that take their highs to the limit this guy manages to sound boring, nervous and tired every time he opens his mouth, like he's scared to raise his voice too much, he looks like the shy guy in your group of friends who sings karaoke in the tiniest way possible so nobody notices him, the occasional high-pitched screams are like an oasis in the middle of the desert, even so they are not spectacular either.

The drums are a hit or miss, the music moves between heavy music and various overly melodic and simplistic sections that end up sounding like pop music again, and part of the responsibility lies with the drums, which on many occasions obfuscate into a simple and boring beat that they maintain in the same way a drum machine would, these sections being clearly the worst parts of the album. Luckily there are some genuine moments of good skills behind the kit, but they are still negatively influenced by the poor and dry sound of the production.

The production, another big problem of this record, is absolutely poor and amateurish, but contrary to many other releases where this ends up working by giving the sound some rawness or a kind of human authenticity charm, here it doesn't happen, the simple and poppy structures and rhythms don't benefit from that dirty sound, especially the pretentious keyboards and the extremely melodious voice of the vocalist. But the one that suffers the most from this poor production is the bass, because it ends up being in no man's land, because it is not buried enough in the mix to be completely inaudible, but the quality is not good enough to be heard in a clear and satisfactory way, so it ends up being the worst result of the two, an audible bass, but it sounds bad and annoying.

The only redeemable factor of this record are the guitars, specially in the leads and solos, here you can appreciate a hard work, there is an effort, a love in showing the best of oneself, these sections are the ones that really lift some songs, despite of not having a really great tone and many moments not being really guitar driven. But the truth is that every time Tsamis has the opportunity to shine he takes it, being the best moments of the album the intro of "MCMLXXXIV" or the middle section of "Black Mass", thanks to his solid and effective display full of a controlled virtuosity, that allows him to show off without oversaturating.

Is this quality enough to redeem the album? Far from it. With everything this work shows I wouldn't be surprised if it had been a totally rushed album made when the band wasn't really ready, a passion project on Tsamis' part that he didn't let mature enough. That's why there are even strange choices in the themes and songwriting of some songs. One can see that there is a clear tendency towards Christian themes with epic and apocalyptic structures and tones, and yet there are songs that don't fit into that dynamic, like "Lost and Lonely Days" with AOR tendencies and danceable rhythm while the lyrics tell you a love story about a girl, or the very strange "Aliens", with a chorus so extremely corny and cheesy that it's even offensive, while the lyrics talk, for some reason, about an random up alien invasion. The whole thing feels like a disjointed album where pure filler songs were added to get the album past the 20 minute mark, and it's these songs that absolutely sentence the album. The fact that this is a cult classic among USPM fans makes me think that I'm probably already dead and I'm living in hell.

Every once in a while you find an album that just clicks on every level, with no one reason why it’s good – it’s just enjoyable, a melding of hooks, energetic songwriting, powerful electric musicianship, everything adding up to an intangible kind of thing. A ja ne sais quoi sort of thing where you just hear it and go ‘oh, shit, this is just immaculate’ without any kind of critic brain or older persons’ cynical nature. Just like the idyllic way you heard your favorite bands for the first time. Sometimes you just hear stuff like Warlord's debut album and go 'ah that's what good music is, it's so easy to enjoy.' Sometimes you don't need analysis. It just hits you right and that's how you get favorite songs and bands. But that doesn't make for a review, so...

Warlord were an old 80s legend despite not having much in the way of material – a bunch of these songs are rerecorded from their EP and would be redone again and again years later. But if they’re this good, then I am not inclined to complain. This thing is like 30 minutes long and doesn’t waste a note. The band’s sound is right in the sweet spot as metal was getting rid of its old hard rock influences but before it got the thrash fever later – so if you like the sounds of classic Maiden or Diamond Head or bands like that, that crisp, galloping riff-focused, kinetic classic metal sound, this is like mana from heaven. Interestingly this was recorded live in the studio. I think that adds something too, a kind of frenetic, electric energy you don’t always get from studio recordings – it’s just this cool extra jolt of energy hearing these dudes just fucking bash out these songs.

In spite of that it’s not a rough punkish listen. By contrast it’s got just the right level of polish to come off classy as fuck. None of the songs are bad. “Lucifer’s Hammer” is a volleying blast of energy, and other tracks like “Aliens” and the album high point in the speedy adrenaline of “Child of the Damned” are just exactly what you want from this early 80s kind of metal. Elsewhere they do some commercial stuff like the slick “Lost and Lonely Days,” and “Soliloquy,” which is as suave and melancholic as a metal tune from this genre gets, show off the band’s dimensions. There’s just no weak songs at all.

Guitarist William J Tsamis just had an inimical style, not overly technical but just with this sense of cracking power and the right amount of virtuosity and flair to stand out from the pack. His writing style melds these strident riffs with ultra-melodic vocal hooks, this time delivered by singer Rick Cunningham, who has a sort of understated voice, a nice midrange that ends up growing on you with the verve and style he puts into this performance. Mark Zonder’s drumming is an insane acrobatic thing, easily the most virtuosic instrument here, a contrast to the smooth accessibility of the rest in a good way, adding an extra kick to it all. The songwriting is just instantly memorable and has genuine character, with every one a unique identity, fully formed. It feels like these songs just came into being by themselves, organic things, born of the aether into your speakers.

So yeah – go get it.

Warlord is one of those bands that did not reach their full potential, both in the wider metal scene and their own scene, USPM. Listening to And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun, Warlord gives the impression of a band much larger and more successful, like a band such as Queensryche if they were doubly more popular. This release and the band as a whole comes across as fairly odd. Releasing a live album is incredibly risky, especially since they have no full-length albums before this. I guess they are trying to do the same as kiss in the opposite way of Kiss. Kiss releases a live album to cover up how shitty their songs are and give the illusion of fun, while Warlord does so to show how great they perform musically. Indeed, this strategy works, with its smooth production, tight playing, and great songs. One thing I forget to mention is this album being live without an audience. Weird concept, I know, but they apparently recorded this album on video and it’s easily accessible on Youtube. Such a weird idea, releasing a live album without a live audience. The fact that they are so good running one take (as far as one knows) and the production is pretty good, one could be easily mistaken in thinking this is just a normal studio recording, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of a live album I think. But if one knows this is a live recording, I guess this release makes one more likely to go to one of their concerts.

Now the songs themselves are good, even great. Warlord clearly has talent in the songwriting department with and incredibly strong setlist. USPM isn’t usually dark, but Warlord breaks this expectation right out of the gate with Lucifer’s Hammer. Every song on And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun is kind of dark, with the exception of Lost and Lonely Days. Speaking of that track, it’s kind of the odd one out on this album. While the instrumentals are quite good, it feels like Warlord trying to sneak a single into a mainstream rock station. This is fine, but the mood of the other tracks and its themes of broken love don’t mix in with the satanic themes, abject loneliness, defeating evil, and an alien invasion on the other tracks.

While I made a reference to a fellow USPM band earlier, I do not think a Queensryche comparison does Warlord any justice. A mending of Queensryche and a little-known USPM band called Shok Paris, and maybe a bit or Riot, is what Warlord sounds like to me. They certainly possess their own sound, but I like doing comparisons on occasions. The most interesting iteration of Warlord’s sound on this album is on Aliens. Aliens sounds like a Dragonforce Song written in the 80’s with one guitarist. Even with more interestingly named tracks, Aliens is a real standout, and perhaps one of the first instances of metal sounding electronic with its consistent trilling and high pitch sweep picking.

One of the most interesting aspects of the live video recording are the interludes, with soliloquies with the nameless band members. While this isn’t part of the version I’m reviewing, it does give a glimpse into one of the potential pitfalls causing Warlord not to release anything new after this release. All the bandmates are insufferable and incredibly pretentious. If the songs were not all great, this album would awful. Warlord is one of those metal bands that ruins the fun with their lectures on how much they practice, calling their band an ideology, bragging about how intelligent their careers goals are, and their pretentiously named fan club called the “Battle Choir.” I thought power metal was supposed to be fun, not a brag fest about your genius plans to become a successful band (irony). Jag Panzer isn’t successful in the USPM scene because of bragging; they’re successful because they kick ass and sing about kicking ass. Thankfully, none of Warlord’s songs give off the air of arrogance, but that probably explains why they did not function as a band and thus, did not release anything after And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun.

And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun is a classic in power metal. Not only that, And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun contain the best recording of all the Warlord songs contained within. Listening to Deliver Us (the EP) is hard since the production of this album is so much better, with a better vocalist, and more energy. Overall, And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun is a great album that USPM nerds such as myself must listen to.

...And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun. Truer words have never been spoken in the case of California's Warlord. AtCoDHB is the vocal debut of singer Rick Cunnigham; also known as Damien King II. Though typically less popular among fans of Warlord than Jack Rucker, his voice complements the band nicely. Guitarist/songwriter William Tsamis is truly a master of his art, and it's a crime that Warlord aren't currently holding world famous status.

The album starts with the poetic Beginning, a speaking part that preludes Lucifer's Hammer, one of the band's strongest songs. The guitar attacks with a melodic fury, leaving the drums, bass, and soaring vocals to finish you off. Next up is the band's most mainstream song Lost and Lonely Days, a touching song of lost love. Following up is Black Mass, a powerful song that goes against the grain of the band's more "Warn all ye sinners" attitude lyrically, but is still nonetheless a great song. Marching down the album's warpath are melodic Soliloquy and Aliens, still keeping true to the band's epic style. MCMLXXXIV (1984, the year of the album's release, but in roman numerals for dramatic effect) is an instrumental prelude to the band's fastest song Child of the Damned. The album reaches it's peak with Deliver Us, a melodic battle hymn showcasing the band at the peak of their religious lyrical theme.

AtCoDHB is honestly one of the greatest epic metal albums ever released, in the opinions of many more than I alone. Warlord truly should've been a force to be reckoned with, more so than their legacy permits. But the band's inability to maintain a vocalist aswell as other plights eventually lead them to their downfall. Any fan of Manowar, Omen, and the NWOBHM will find themselves taken among the Battlechoir. A must-have for metal fans.

Why this band never managed to record a proper debut album, but made this “video soundtrack” to accompany a staged “live” performance is beyond me. But what truly matters is that it’s another fine release from this majestically inclined and powerful outfit. Some of the better material from their ’83 EP is here in slightly more energetic form, but there is enough otherwise unavailable stuff to justify snapping this up.

To wit, “Lost And Lonely Days” is a spiraling, upbeat number with some great gritty riffing sparring with the band’s trademark keyboard embellishments. Similarly “Soliloquy” is a weepy ballad with a slow drive and emotional approach that works exceedingly well. The same goes for “Aliens” with it’s threatening riffs and creepy keys, highlighting the unique compromise between melody and power that this band achieved in a way many others have attempted with less convincing results. For those of you who really like what you hear from this band, I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of the 1993 Best Of Warlord CD issued by Metal Blade. It contains all the band’s studio work, including a couple of otherwise absent tracks from a long lost 1987 release titled Thy Kingdom Come.

Also guitarist and band leader Bill Tsamis recorded two releases with Lordian Guard, a frankly Catholic progressive metal band. I’ve heard ‘em and find ‘em dull, ponderous and exceedingly preachy, but that’s just me.