Lionsheart

For other uses, see Lionsheart (disambiguation).

Lionsheart

Lionsheart is an British heavy metal band from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, formed in 1992. Founded by former Grim Reaper/Onslaught vocalist Steve Grimmett Lionsheart's early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as a major player in the NWOBHM subgenre.The band found initial success in Japan but took a long hiatus in 2002 when members Mark and Steve Owers left the band to pursue other ventures.

Lionsheart has released four studio albums, and one live album

History

Lionsheart was formed in the West Midlands in 1992, by former Grim Reaper/Onslaught vocalist Steve Grimmett, alongside twin musicians Mark and Steve Owers formerly of Fury and Touche. Lionsheart with the addition of drummer Anthony Christmas soon released a set of demos coming from the classical rock mold. In 1994 the twins quit the band two shows into the Lillian Axe British/European tour necessitating the recruitment of guitarist Nick Burr and Zakk Bajjon. The new lineup opened for Magnum on the British tour.

While Lionsheart scored success in Japan on their first album entitled Lionsheart, their follow up album titled Pride In Tact, achieved another success, selling over 100,000 copies in Japan. Faced with a cold response from the British press, the group's reaction from British rock fans was lukewarm. In spite of this, the band garnered a successful tour in 1995 with labelmates Tyketto. Anthony Christmas was replaced with Michael O'Brien at this time.

Their third effort Under Fire took three years to emerge as legal battles with its record company waged on. Finally released in 1998, the album featured Grimmett and Tyketto guitarist Brooke St. James, Collett and O'Brien. The sales were poor. At this time, Lionsheart folded and Grimmett founded Pride. In late 2000, Grimmett unveiled Seven Deadly Sins. Joining him on this venture was Collett, Eddie Marsh on bass and Peter Newdeck on drums.

A live recording titled Rising Sons - Live In Japan 1993 emerged in 2000 via the Zoom Club label. Finding some new momentum, Lionsheart reformed and self financed a new studio album Abyss. Recorded at the Warehouse Studio in Oxford throughout May and June 2003. Dallas, Texas based label Metaledge Records released this album digitally in June of 2004 in North America, and Italian based label Frontiers released the album to the rest of the world. Lineup changes brought Gavin Cooper to the band in May.

In late 2006 Grimmett unveiled his brand new Tewkesbury based band project, simply titled The Steve Grimmett Band, this unit involving guitarist Ian Nash, bassist Ritchie Walker and drummer Pete Newdeck. Album recordings were co-produced by Newdeck and Pink Cream 69 bassist Dennis Ward.

In July 2008 Grimmett was announced as fronting the Fargo, North Dakota Heavy Metal band Grimmstine, assembled by Methuselah and Dozer guitarist Steve Stine in union with the Sons of Poseidon rhythm section of bassist Hat and drummer Dave Johnson. The latter also has credits with Denied By Christ and Methuselah.

Band members

Current members

• Steve Grimmett-Vocals
• Ian Nash-Guitars
• Steve Hales-Drums
• Eddie Marsh-Bass

Former members

• Anthony Christmas-Drums (1992-1994)
• Graham Collette-Keyboards (1992-1994)
• Mark Owers-Guitars (1992-1994)
• Steve Owers-Bass (1992-1994)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label
1993	Lionsheart	Music For Nations
1994	Pride In Tact
1998	Under Fire
2004	Abyss	Metaledge Records/Frontiers

Live Albums

Year	Title	Label
2000	"Rising Sons - Live In Japan 1993"	Zoom Club Records

Sources

1. Christe, Ian (2003), Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-380-81127-8

External links

• Official MySpace
• Metaledge Records