Diamond Head

Diamond Head occupies a pivotal place in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal thanks to their commanding volume, original guitar patterns, and decisive sway over Metallica and Megadeth. Although the group never matched the sales figures of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, or Def Leppard after surfacing in the early 1980s, their first album, Lightning to the Nations, endures as one of heavy metal’s defining releases and a cornerstone of thrash’s development. Across multiple dissolutions and personnel shifts, guitarist and co-founder Brian Tatler has remained the only continuous member; in 2019 the band delivered its eighth studio album, The Coffin Train.

School friends Brian Tatler on guitar and Duncan Scott on drums established Diamond Head in Stourbridge, England, in 1976. Sean Harris joined on vocals shortly afterward, followed several months later by bassist Colin Kimberley. Fresh from school and determined to avoid the pub-cover circuit, the young musicians also navigated the height of punk, shaping their style through repeated private rehearsals and writing sessions. Three years on, still without a label deal despite scattered Midlands shows, they self-released the singles “Shoot out the Lights” and “Sweet and Innocent.” Between February and April 1980 they recorded and issued their debut album on their own Happy Face Records label via mail order. Whether by inexperience or intent, the record appeared in a plain white sleeve that omitted even song titles and was dispatched to British music journalists. Sounds metal editor Barton received a copy of the untitled LP—later known as the “White Album” or Lightning to the Nations after its opening track—and promptly arranged an interview. Widely acclaimed as a masterpiece, the album quickly achieved legendary status within the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Tatler’s massive riffs and Harris’s supple yet forceful vocals had fused Black Sabbath-scale heaviness with Led Zeppelin’s expansive scope.

The subsequent narrative proved less triumphant. Buoyed by the acclaim, Diamond Head signed with MCA, released the Four Cuts EP, and embarked on extensive touring that included a celebrated 1982 Reading Festival set. The momentum collapsed once they entered the studio for the follow-up. MCA and producer Mike Hedges intervened heavily, and the band’s reluctance to resist produced Borrowed Time, an underwhelming echo of the debut; Sean Harris’s mother serving as manager compounded the difficulties. Despite their skill at intricate anthems, Tatler and Harris could not—or would not—craft mainstream singles. Re-recorded versions of “Am I Evil?” and “Lightning to the Nations” fell short of the originals, and although the album reached a respectable number 24 on the British charts, it soon vanished. Mounting pressure during work on the third album led to the dismissal or departure of Kimberley and Scott midway through the 1983 sessions for the uneven Canterbury. A manufacturing defect that yielded 20,000 faulty copies further damaged sales, and a slot at that year’s Castle Donington Monsters of Rock Festival failed to reverse the decline. Overwhelmed Tatler, nearing collapse, ended the band; Diamond Head ceased operations.

Among the band’s earliest admirers was Danish drummer Lars Ulrich, whose encounter with their initial recordings directly shaped his new band, Metallica. Metallica incorporated numerous Diamond Head songs into early set lists, covered “Am I Evil?” on the B-side of the 1984 “Creeping Death” single, and later added “Helpless” in 1987. This exposure gradually rekindled interest, and when Tatler and Ulrich assembled the 1987 compilation Behold the Beginning, American listeners received their first widespread introduction to the catalog. Tatler hesitated at a full return until 1993, when he, Harris, bassist Pete Vuckovic, and drummer Karl Wilcox performed club shows as Dead Reckoning. The official reunion arrived with the 1993 album Death & Progress, which included contributions from Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, yet it generated limited renewed attention. After prominent U.K. concerts that summer, the band split again but not before issuing the live album Evil Live, captured at their Milton Keynes support slot for Metallica.

Although numerous compilations appeared in the intervening years, Sanctuary/Castle finally supplied a properly restored edition of the debut in 2001. Promotion of that reissue prompted another reunion that brought Diamond Head’s first U.S. performance at the New Jersey Metal Fest on 5 April 2002. Sean Harris departed in 2003 and was replaced by vocalist Nick Tart. Two years later the band released its first new studio album since 1993, All Will Be Revealed. Subsequent lineup fluctuations did not halt activity; the group continued extensive touring, issued several live albums, and delivered the studio records What’s in Your Head in 2007 and the self-titled Diamond Head in 2016—the latter introducing vocalist Rasmus Bom Andersen—before returning with The Coffin Train in 2019.