Blitzkrieg (band)

This article is about the heavy metal band. For other uses, see Blitzkrieg (disambiguation).

Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg at Jalometalli 2008 in Oulu
Background information
Origin	Leicester, England
Genres	Heavy metal
Years active	1980–1981, 1984–1991, 1992–1994, 1996–1999, 2001–present
Labels	Neat Records (1980-1985, 1995-1998) Roadrunner Records (1991) Edgy Records (2002) Metal Nation (2004–present)
Members
Brian Ross - vocals Ken Johnson - guitars Guy Laverick guitars Paul Brewis - bass Phil Brewis - drums

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).

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.

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^{[citation needed]}. The song was rerecorded in many different styles through the band's career, but the Buried Alive b-side version of Blitzkrieg was the recording which 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).

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^{[citation needed]}. Blitzkrieg was highly appreciated by the public after the release of these albums, and they were even more appreciated when the album, Ten, was released in 1997^{[citation needed]}. Ten received a good response from the public^{[citation needed]}, and was later backed up by the release of The Mists of Avalon in 1998, which also brought forward a positive response^{[citation needed]}.

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 10, 2007 Blitzkrieg released their new album Theatre of the Damned through their record label Armageddon Music.

Members

Brian Ross

• Brian Ross - vocals (1980–1981, 1984–91, 1992–94, 1996–99, 2001–present)
• Ken Johnson - guitars (2002–present)
• Guy Laverick - guitars (2006–present)
• Paul Brewis - bass (2004–present)
• Phil Brewis - drums (1999, 2001–present)

Former members

Guitars :

• Ian Jones (1980–81)
• Jim Sirotto (1980–81, 1984–86) [born Jim Sieroto]
• 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

Title	Released
"Buried Alive"	1981
A Time of Changes	1985
Ten Years of Blitzkrieg	1991
Unholy Trinity	1995
Ten	1997
The Mists of Avalon	1998
Absolute Power	2002
Absolutely Live	2004
Sins and Greed	2005
Theatre of the Damned	2007

External links

• http://www.blitzed-alive.com - Official Blitzkrieg website (c) Blitzkrieg 2006
• New Wave of British Heavy Metal - Encyclopedia - Blitzkrieg page
• http://www.ragnarokradio.co.uk/2008/07/episode-23-blitzkrieg.html - Ragnarok Radio interviews Brian Ross from Blitzkrieg 2008