Blitzkrieg (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Blitzkrieg


Img_capt = Blitzkrieg at Jalometalli 2008 in Oulu
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Origin = Leicester, England
Genre = Heavy metal
Years_active = 1980-81, 1984-91, 1992-94, 1996-99, 2001-Present
Label = Neat Records (1980-1985, 1995-1998)
Roadrunner Records (1991)
Edgy Records (2002)
Metal Nation (2004–present)
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Current_members = Brian Ross - vocals Ken Johnson - guitars Guy Laverick guitars Paul Brewis - bass Phil Brewis - drums
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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). Blitzkrieg have been in the music industry for more than two decades and they are still remembered Who|date=May 2008 for their first single featuring Blitzkrieg and "Buried Alive"Fact|date=May 2008 ; "Blitzkrieg" is their most popular song due to Metallica's cover versionFact|date=May 2008 .

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. In spite of this, they are credited as being one of the last true British heavy metal bandsFact|date=May 2008.

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 Fact|date=May 2008 . 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) Fact|date=May 2008 . The song was rerecorded in many different styles through the band's career, but the Buried Alive b-side version of Blitzkrieg was track that 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) Fact|date=May 2008 .

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 Fact|date=May 2008. Blitzkrieg was highly appreciated by the public Who|date=May 2008 after the release of these albums, and they were even more appreciated when the album, Ten, was released in 1997 Fact|date=May 2008. Ten received a good response from the public Fact|date=May 2008, and was later backed up by the release of The Mists of Avalon in 1998, which also brought forward a positive response Fact|date=May 2008 .

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 10th Blitzkrieg released their new album "Theatre of the Damned" through their record label Armageddon Music.

Members

*Brian Ross - vocals (1980-Present)
*Ken Johnson - guitars (2002-)
*Guy Laverick - guitars (2006-)
*Paul Brewis - bass (2004-)
*Phil Brewis - drums (1999-)

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

External links

*http://www.blitzed-alive.com - Official Blitzkrieg website (c) Blitzkrieg 2006
*http://www.ragnarokradio.co.uk/2008/07/episode-23-blitzkrieg.html - Ragnarok Radio interviews Brian Ross from Blitzkrieg 2008