The Batlord

Some of you here might have seen me raving about this band in recent months. I love this band. They're ****ing fantastic. They play heavy/power metal (eighties PM bands in general could be as much heavy as power metal) in a style that may not be particularly groundbreaking in 2014, but in the early eighties was probably cutting edge. I mentioned earlier when I talked about Sabbath that religion and fantasy in metal could have similar vibes and Warlord prove that. It would be very easy to assume they were another sword and sorcery band, but these guys were a straight up Christian band. This is probably why they're so epic. Any other band would have had fun with what they were doing and not quite pulled epic off, but these guys mean every word and put everything into their work and that emotion really transforms them into something more than just another cheesy power metal band.

*Note: Warlord only released an EP and one full-length before breaking up in the eighties, but have now reunited and recorded two more albums. While this rules, I am only really familiar with their eighties material, so I can't really speak about the newer albums. Hopefully I can come back and do something on the newer stuff later.




The thing that really makes this band epic is that this isn't euphoric gospel, it's a dark, apocalyptic plea for mercy. They aren't so much praising God as they are desperately trying to warn the rest of humanity of the threat to their immortal souls. This also comes across in the music. Even though Warlord generally stick to mid-pace there's just something frantic about the way they play. You really get the feeling they believe the end of the world is nigh and they don't have time to **** around. They need to get their point across now. I think these lyrics are pretty clear on that...





This song makes it pretty obvious what these guys think the Apocalypse will be like: nuclear war. Not exactly an original idea in 1983, but if one were religious enough to start their own band then the threat of nuclear war must have looked like an obvious sign of end times. This song is what made me realize how special this band was. The end, with the climactic, repeated appeal of "Save us! From ourselves!" is the perfect end to their Deliver Us EP. It really feels like the end of the world is happening two seconds ago and this is literally the last chance to repent and be saved.




This band really doesn't like Satan. But what really seems to piss them off is mankind's collaboration with him. In fact they get downright bitter when talking about it...



Thank Xenu I'm an atheist or this band would have me hiding under my bed. Metaphorically speaking of course, as I sleep on a mattress on the floor.

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