Warlord
Deliver Us (ep)

THE REVIEW

Any metal enthusiast knows that one of the crucial years for the development of this beautiful genre was 1983.

In that year, some of the milestone albums for genres like thrash (Kill 'em All by Metallica), NWOBHM (The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden), power/black (Melissa by Mercyful Fate) were released. Even in the epic field, that year saw the release of a masterpiece: the indispensable debut EP by the glorious Warlord.

While bands like Manowar represented the barbaric soul of epic, or Cirith Ungol the decadent and dark side, Warlord were the heroes of the most lyrical and romantic metal. Drawing inspiration from bands like Rainbow, the composer, soul of the band, and guitarist Tsamis fused medieval-like melodies, power, and an incredible atmosphere in a work that would inspire all the power metal of the following decade (an example above all, Rhapsody).
A timeless guitar arpeggio opens the cult-song of the album "Deliver Us from Evil", and, after the sounds of a storm, the warlike drums of Zonder introduce us to the main guitar theme and the singing of Jack "Damien King" Rucker, in whose lyrics Tsamis highlights his faith:
"One by one, to the swords to the guns, two by two, and away we go, father and son, hear the words we pray, deliver us from evil this day, deliver us from evil we pray".

Even "Winter Tears" is opened by an acoustic arpeggio, but the song is much sweeter and more romantic than the previous one, also thanks to the singer's falsetto voice. In contrast, "Child of the Damned" evokes a more canonical, fast, and powerful American metal sound, but always executed with the usual class. "Penny for a Poor Man" also makes use of the synth, which continuously accompanies both the acoustic guitar of the verses and the electric ones of the chorus; here too the lyrics are very peculiar, centered on the story of an old poor man without friends, who is alone in the cold on freezing winter nights, followed by the beautiful lines:
"Now you say you are a rich man, well show us what you have! If your heart holds any riches, lend a helping hand".
"Black Mass" is the darkest and most obscure song, and in the central instrumental part, Tsamis is the protagonist with his guitar, amidst riffs and solos. With the last song, we return to bellicosity: "Lucifer's Hammer", although it is the shortest on the EP, turns out to be one of the high points of the work, and also for this reason, it is one of the group's most famous tracks.

Every song in this masterpiece has become a milestone of metal, if we really have to find a flaw, it's definitely the limited duration (less than 30 minutes), but the emotions you'll receive from listening will reward you completely.