Spartan Warrior came together in 1980 in Tyneside, U.K., as a hard rock band built around Dave Wilkinson on vocals, Neil Wilkinson on guitar, Tom Spencer on bass, and Gordon Webster on drums. Part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that also produced Saxon, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and Iron Maiden, the group devoted the next two years to refining its sound while searching for a second guitarist, first trying John Stormont and Baz Warne before Paul Swaddle joined permanently. Two of its songs appeared on the Guardian Records compilation Pure Overkill, after which the band issued its debut album, Steel n' Chains, in 1983. Although the record did not achieve major commercial breakthrough, it attracted Roadrunner Records, which signed Spartan Warrior and put out the self-titled follow-up in 1984. Despite earning both critical praise and sales success, internal conflicts and label difficulties led to the band’s breakup the next year. In 2006 the members regrouped and oversaw a digitally remastered reissue of Spartan Warrior.
