Warrior

In 1982 the Los Angeles outfit Warrior assembled in California, forging a style that sat between Manowar’s barbarian bravado and Queen’s overblown pomp. Perry McCarty supplied vocals, Tommy Asakawa and Joe Floyd handled guitars, Rick Bennett covered bass and keyboards, and Liam Jason played drums. After refining their approach in local clubs, the group cut a three-track demo that generated sold-out hometown dates and contracts with MCA Records in the United States plus 10 Records in Europe.

Technical setbacks plagued the sessions for Fighting For The Earth. Bennett and Jason exited once the recordings concluded, prompting Bruce Turgon, formerly of Black Sheep, to join on bass and Jimmy Volpe to take over drums. The finished debut offered a thick wall of rhythmic guitars and booming percussion beneath McCarty’s near-operatic singing, while its lyrics spun entertaining yet absurd sub-Nietzschean fantasy vignettes. Although obvious parallels to Judas Priest surfaced, Warrior avoided twin-lead guitar lines; their leather stage outfits incorporated futuristic armor motifs suited to the band’s name.

Public response stayed tepid, and journalists, viewing the act as an industry fabrication, reacted with scorn. Warrior disbanded in 1986; McCarty subsequently entered Steve Stevens’ Atomic Playboys, and Turgon later joined Shadow King.