Legendary US Metal band Warlord was formed in 1981 by Mark Zonder and William J. Tsamis. One year later, in 1982, the song “Lucifer’s Hammer” (based on a novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle) appeared on the prestigious compilation album »Metal Massacre II«. This resulted in a deal with Metal Blade Records, with Warlord recording their debut mini-album. »Deliver Us« was released in 1983 and is today considered as the blueprint for what was later to be called “Epic Metal” (alongside Warlord bands such as Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol are widely considered to be the godfathers of this specific style of metal music).

“Not sure if we were the originators of that style,” comments drum legend Mark Zonder regarding Warlord’s status of being the inventors of “Epic Metal”. “But I would like to think we are a very original band. We have influences but do not sound like anyone else. I think anyone can identify a Warlord song in about ten seconds. There is a certain magic with the music and lyrics. A very definitive sound. A lot of the style came from Bill and I trying to improve as musicians. We would spend hours and hours practising by ourselves as well as playing together. We were always trying to stretch the sound and make it special.”

1983’s »Deliver Us« was a very special debut indeed. Some of the song structures of compositions such as “Child Of The Damned” or “Winter Tears” have been influenced by classical music: “Yes, Bill was a big fan as well, as traditional classical guitar was what he was raised on.” Although for some “Child Of The Damned” is the outstanding track on »Deliver Us«, opinions tend to differ: “Everyone has a different favourite. This is what makes this album and Warlord as a band different from most bands. No two songs even remotely sound the same. Great song writing and attention to detail. Every song stands on its own and creates a different mood and feeling.”

The High Roller Records de luxe re-issue of »Deliver Us« is going to be a triple vinyl. Mark Zonder explains where all the additional bonus material comes from: “Some live demo stuff. We used to record into a cassette deck with two microphones. Also demos that we did on our little Fostex 4-track cassette recorder. We would spend a lot of time recording and bouncing tracks. We also have a couple tracks of singer auditions that no one has ever heard before.”

Mark Zonder had a helping hand in gathering those numerous extra goodies: “Giles Lavery was trying to put together the ultimate Warlord release as so many various editions have been put out. So he spent a lot of time and effort hunting down a lot of the old tracks and demos that people have never heard. He also made sure he had the best quality of the songs. So many have been ruined on youtube and other sites.”

The original cover artwork of »Deliver Us« is a very haunting painting. Even today, it’s still a very evocative piece of art, a timeless piece of art. “We have an artist friend,” explains Mark Zonder. “And Bill basically sat down and gave her his ideas about the cover and she went from there to create it. It is an actual painting, so it was done when she said it was done. No changing or photoshopping the cover.”

With »Deliver Us« being such a strong and original debut album, in retrospective it’s a shame that Warlord never received the credit they deserved. So did Metal Blade do everything they could to break Warlord in 1983? “Funny question,” laughs Mark Zonder. “I understand it was a certain time in history and Metal Blade was starting out and maybe they did all they could do, but they really did not do much for the band to promote or put the band on tour. It seemed they were more of a factory and just pumping stuff out hoping something would stick. In 2002, when we were doing »Rising Out Of The Ashes«, we talked with Metal Blade and they said they were not interested in the release in a two line email.”

Matthias Mader

As I write this it is currently nighttime on March 13th, 2023, and if you’re wondering why this is important it’s because March 13th is, or rather was, the birthday of Warlord mastermind Will Tsamis as well as only a few weeks shy of the EP’s 40th anniversary. As such I decided to celebrate by writing a review of what I consider the single greatest piece of heavy metal ever written. It’s also my birthday but that’s beside the point.

If there was one thing you didn’t want your metal to be in the 1980s it was Christian. For every Trouble that used the imagery and didn’t come across as preachy, a dozen Strypers were being ridiculed by fans who didn’t bother to actually listen to the music and see if it was good. Then out of nowhere in early 83 Metal Blade Records released a little EP that changed metal forever. Not only did it help pioneer the niche genre of epic metal beating both Manilla Road’s Crystal Logic and Manowar’s Into Glory Ride, which were released later on in the year, but also the nascent US power metal genre that would reach its peak in the coming few years. Between Tsamis’ grandiose yet restrained guitar and bass work, Mark Zonder’s (later of Fates Warning) lived up to his stage name Thunder Child, and keyboard player Diane Korarens’ atmospheric keys truly elevated the music to a higher level when compared to what other bands on Metal Blade doing at the time. No small feat given the fact Slayer, Savage Grace, Armored Saint, Shakin’ Brains, and Bitch all put out material on the label that same year. However, for me, the true stand out are the vocals of Damien King I aka Jack Rucker in what would be not only his one official release with the band but also one of the only two non-compilation releases he’d ever receive a vocalist credit on which I consider a massive shame. His passionate vocals are the main reason why this is my preferred Warlord release when compared to that band’s latter material. It doesn’t help that my two favorite songs on the EP, Winter Tears and Penny For A Poor Man, are the only ones to not be rerecorded for the band’s debut album.

As alluded to earlier the lyrics on this album are from a Christian perspective as typified by the title track which reads almost like a prayer spoken before going into battle, and with song titles like Child Of The Damned and Black Mass it’s not exactly subtle, but honestly, I’d say that probably for the best. Might as well get out ahead of the accusations and just get it over with so that you don’t have to deal with closed-minded people complaining about it. I personally love how poetic they are though I’m also a dumbass who doesn’t have much of a grasp on poetry so that might just be why. Literally, the only complaint I have about this album is that I’m not a fan of the song Mrs. Victoria but that was originally released on Metal Massacre 2 a year prior and only included on the EP with later reissues so I’m not gonna dock points for a bonus track, I’m not quite that petty. YET.

At the end of the day, I consider this to be a perfect piece of music, and while I don’t attach numbers to these reviews (except for when uploaded to The Metal Archives) this would the only release I’d give a perfect score of 100%. I can’t think of a clever way to end this.

Best Tracks: Winter Tears, Penny For A Poor Man, Black Mass