Warlord in Tokyo
Mark Zonder brought his new version of Warlord to Japan. They did the legacy justice and proved that there is a future and not just a past for this terrific band.
Warlord at Holiday Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan on 16th March 2025
American heavy metal band Warlord got its break when they had a song included on Metal Blade’s compilation LP “Metal Massacre II” in 1982. They subsequently released an EP, a single and a full-length album. But they never were a touring band. With no gigs and no stable line-up, Warlord soon disappeared. But the band’s music lived on with a dedicated following of loyal fans. Since then, a few albums have been released. A few performances have been performed by different line-ups. Notably, one short-lived line-up that performed at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany was fronted by HammerFall vocalist Joacim Cans.
The band’s co-founder, drummer Mark Zonder, has now assembled a great line-up to have a proper go at being a real band. Bill Tsamis, Warlord’s original guitarist and songwriter, wrote a bunch of great new songs before he passed away in 2021. Zonder and his bandmates recorded them and released them as “Free Spirit Soar” in 2024. They also started to tour. In the new multinational version of the band, Mark Zonder (who spent many years in Fates Warning) is backed up by bassist Philip Bynoe (from Steve Vai’s band), who joined in 2013. From Alcatrazz, vocalist Giles Lavery and keyboardist Jimmy Waldo joined Warlord in 2023. Giles has a history with Warlord as he did some shows as the band’s lead singer in 2013 (documented on the live release “Live in Athens 2013”). The current line-up is completed by guitarists Eric Juris (ex-Crystal Viper) and Diego Pires (Auro Control, ex-Nomin).
Rubicon Music, the Japanese record label that released the latest Warlord album in Japan, brought the band to Japan for two much-anticipated gigs in Tokyo. The musical legacy of Bill Tsamis and Mark Zonder brought out Japan’s metalheads to the Warlord live gigs in Tokyo. I think many of the attendees at the two shows were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the current version of the band. Now the question is: Will this fab band start creating new music and include that in future shows? Let’s hope so.
Hearing the classic Warlords songs live was a treat. The setlist was a dream come true with a dive into the excellent Warlord back catalogue. The band performed “Lucifer’s Hammer”, “Invaders”, “Battle of the Living Dead”, “Kill Zone”, “City Walls of Troy”, “Winds of Thor”, “Lost and Lonely Days”, “Aliens”, “Mrs Victoria”, “Penny for a Poor Man”, “War in Heaven”, “Black Mass”, “70,000 Sorrows”, “Winter Tears”, “Achilles Revenge”, “Deliver Us from Evil” and “Child of the Damned”. What a great evening this was. It was both a celebration of the past and a validation that this band and its music are relevant here and now. Let’s hope that Warlord will live on with this current line-up and that they dare to gamble on creating new music.
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