Biography
Persian Risk ranked among Wales' strongest early contributors to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, even though their brief run registered little broader influence on mainstream pop charts or the wider hard rock and heavy metal community. The group formed in Cardiff's suburbs in 1980, where lead guitarist Phil Campbell, rhythm guitarist Alex Lohfink, bassist Nick Hughes, and drummer Razz Lemon began working together. Original frontman Jon Deverill departed almost at once for the Tygers of Pan Tang, prompting an immediate replacement in Carl Sentance. Sentance made his first appearance on the band's independently funded 1981 single "Calling for You," a polished seven-inch that became a notable regional success after Lohfink's exit reduced the lineup to a quartet and sparked wider national attention. That momentum secured a follow-up 45, "Ridin' High," issued the same year through the metal-specialist Neat Records. Although the songs surpassed much of the label's contemporary output in both writing and execution, Neat showed little urgency in pursuing additional material. Before another company could intervene, Campbell was recruited by Motörhead, where he stayed for an extended period.
Lemon soon followed him out the door, leaving Sentance and Hughes to rebuild around ex-Sphinx guitarist Graham Bath and former Chinatown drummer Steve Hopgood. Their revised lineup secured a deal with the small Zebra label, which issued the three-track EP Too Different in 1984. Lengthy delays followed until the sole full-length album, Rise Up, appeared on the Metal Masters imprint in early 1986, nearly twelve months after its completion with additional guitarist Phil Vokins. By that point the band had already disintegrated: Bath and Hopgood joined Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone, while Sentance pursued several minor projects before moving to the United States, where he later assembled a short-lived club-tour version of Persian Risk.
Lemon soon followed him out the door, leaving Sentance and Hughes to rebuild around ex-Sphinx guitarist Graham Bath and former Chinatown drummer Steve Hopgood. Their revised lineup secured a deal with the small Zebra label, which issued the three-track EP Too Different in 1984. Lengthy delays followed until the sole full-length album, Rise Up, appeared on the Metal Masters imprint in early 1986, nearly twelve months after its completion with additional guitarist Phil Vokins. By that point the band had already disintegrated: Bath and Hopgood joined Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone, while Sentance pursued several minor projects before moving to the United States, where he later assembled a short-lived club-tour version of Persian Risk.
Albums