When William J. Tsamis, founder of legendary epic metal masters Warlord, sadly passed away on the 13th of May 2021 at the age of only 60, it looked as if the premature death of one of the most creative forces in American metal had come. However, Warlord bounced back in 2024, with a new line-up and a brand new highly acclaimed studio album entitled “Free Spirit Soar” (on High Roller Records).
This was quickly followed by “From the Ashes to the Archives – The Hot Pursuit Continues”, a limited edition release to mark the occasion of the band’s festival appearances in 2024 with returning Warlord vocalist Giles Lavery (who also sings for Jack Starr and Alcatrazz).
With a new studio album in the bag, it was time for the “reborn” Warlord to hit the road. In the summer of 2024, they appeared at Trveheim (Germany), Golden R Festival (Greece), Pyrenean Warriors (France) and Metalitalia (Italy).
It was the band’s idea to give their loyal following a something extra in return for their loyalty, as Giles Lavery explains: “We wanted to do something special and also something I don’t think anyone else has ever done before – release and ‘give away’ an exclusive ‘free download’ song to mark each festival stop on the tour… four of them in one month. The reactions at these shows was again something that exceeded our expectations, people singing every word with us, the energy and response from the festival crowds was amazing”.
The songs we are talking about are “Golgotha (Place of the Skull)”, “The Rainbow”, “Lost Archangel” and “Stygian Passage”.
All four can be found now in physical form on Warlord’s new compilation album “The Lost Archangel”, out on June 27th, 2025.
The singer goes into more detail: “They are brand new recordings: but ‘The Rainbow’ is an old Warlord demo from the very early 80s, which was recorded back then, so we re-recorded it in 2024. The other three songs were compositions Bill released on his Lordian Guard albums in the 90s, that we ‘Warlordized’ also in 2024… These were the last three Lordian Guard songs that we felt we could bring over to Warlord, so we thought why not release them this way as ‘free downloads’.
Almost directly after we released them free we were asked if we were going to issue these in physical format.
Apart from these four new songs, ‘The Lost Archangel’ also features a wealth of older and more recent live recordings as well several studio re-workings of historic Warlord material”.
Pre-order “The Lost Archangel” here.
Tracklist:
1. Golgotha (The Place of the Skull) (2024 Single)
2. The Rainbow (2024 Single)
3. Lost Archangel (2024 Single)
4. Stygian Passage (2024 Single)
5. Enemy Mind (2025 Recording)
6. 70,000 Sorrows (2025 Recording)
7. Night of the Fury (2025 Recording)
8. Twin (first time on vinyl)
9. Father (Live in Athens 2013)
10. Glory (Live in Athens 2013)
11. Soliloquy (Live in Athens 2013)
12. Lucifer’s Hammer (Live Italy 2024)
13. Black Mass (Live Greece 2024)
14. Child of the Damned (Live France 2024)
Produced by Giles Lavery, Thomas Mergler & Eric Juris
Note: The vinyl edition also includes the previously “CD only” bonus track “Twin” from the CD edition of “Free Spirit Soar”.
Line-up:
Giles Lavery – Vocals 1-13
Eric Juris – Guitars 1-5 / 11-13
Diego Pires – Guitars 1-5 / 11-13
Jimmy Waldo – Keys 1-5 / 11-13
Philip Bynoe – Bass 1-5 / 11-13
William J Tsamis – Guitars 6-10
Mark Zonder – Drums
With:
Angelo Vafeiadis – Keys 8-10
Paolo Viani – Guitars 8-10
Weblinks:
www.warlordband.com
www.facebook.com/OfficialWarlord
