Warhorse – WARHORSE***

Vulture Blood/No Chance/Burning/St Louis/Ritual/Solitude/Woman Of The Devil

Self titled debut album form the British heavy rock band Warhorse. They have been compared to Deep Purple as founder Nick Simper was once a member of that band. Famed keyboardist Rick Wakeman was also briefly a member.

“Vulture Blood and Burning are proto-metallic trips into hard rock. No Chance and Solitude are power ballads with a rare vulnerability to their lyrics seen only rarely in their style. Ritual and St. Louis are more concise blues rockers, and Woman Of The Devil is a stone's throw away from Sabbath with early doom, livened up by the end with a more conventional hard rock injection.”

“Warhorse's debut is a pretty awesome hard rock record filled with clear progressive rock elements all over the place. A strong guitar and a powerful organ dominate the sound of the record. The songs are quite lengthy with some really killer solos which are a big plus. If you enjoy the early 1970s prog influenced hard rock then Warhorse is definitely worth giving a try.”

“The Brits truly were in a league of their own when it came to crafting the heaviest metal of the early 70s, and this group is no exception. They may have sounded a lot like Nick Simper’s previous band Deep Purple, but with an album this awesome that becomes a very minor issue.”

“This is a great early 70s hard rock album with progressive leanings. Nearly all the songs are well put together and tasteful guitar and keyboard solos abound.”

“When Deep Purple's original bassist Nick Simper was fired in 1969 he was left at a loose end. He had a short and unsuccessful stint with another band but when it collapsed he obtained the services of the fantastic vocalist Ashley Hunt and keyboardist extraordinaire Rick Wakeman and formed the powerful heavy rock band Warhorse. This album, their debut, is an amazing slice of English proto-metal.”

“It is, at times, fairly ordinary rock and the real problem I have is a lack of imagination in the writing department. The presence of the Hammond does elevate the music significantly, preventing them from sounding like dozens of other similar hard rock acts of the time. There is some good soloing from both organist and guitarist and the vocals are very strong, even powerful.”