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Sunday Old School: Crimson Glory

Believe it or not, Slipknot, Mushroomhead and Ghost were not the first hard rock and metal bands to wear masks as part of their image. It’s been a staple of metal music for some time, with a few of these hidden faces becoming quite successful. One of these bands would help to pioneer a genre many follow today and brought a greater attention to progressive metal. They went, and indeed still do go, by the name of Crimson Glory.

Crimson Glory began life as Pierced Arrow in 1979, after a group of musicians which consisted of Tony Wise on vocals, Bernardo Hernandez and Ben Jackson on guitars, Glen Barnhardt on Bass later, and Dana Burnell on drums, formed a band in Sarasota, Florida. Not long after, Chris Campbell and John Colemorgan were brought in on bass and drums respectively by 1982, though a year later, they would go through another transformation when Jeff Lords, who had previously replaced Barnhardt, returned to the group, as well as bringing in a new singer who went by the moniker, Midnight. It was after these changes that the group would change their name to the now familiar alias of Crimson Glory.

They continued to write, rehearse and perform before they were snapped up by Par Records, who released their self-titled debut album in 1986. It received very strong reviews and was notable for the song, "Queen of the Masquerade," which would later appear in the Tim Schaffer video game, "Brutal Legend." It not only earned them praise from critics and head bangers alike, but also the attention of bigger record labels, with Dutch label Roadracer, now known as Roadrunner of course, eventually winning the race to sign the group.

After touring Europe with Celtic Frost and Anthrax, the band returned to the studio to get to work on their first record for their new label, which surfaced in 1988 under the title, "Transcendence." It continued their string of excellent reviews, with many fans and critics citing the album as their best work as well citing it as one of the best albums in the history of progressive metal. It also brought them commercial success with the single, "Lonely," which was made into their first music video. The success granted them greater opportunities on the road, touring with the likes of Metallica, Queensryche and U.D.O. as well as appearing at a show in Dortmund in front of twenty thousand people.

Despite the success, drummer Dana Burnell and guitarist Ben Jackson decided to leave the band after the heavy touring finished, with Burnell being replaced by Ravi Jakhotia, who brought a more worldly vibe to the drum sound, while Jackson’s spot was left alone, with Crimson Glory opting to continue as a quartet. Their first album with this lineup, "Strange and Beautiful" was released in 1991 through Atlantic Records, to a mixed to negative response. Those who heard it were unimpressed with the shift towards hard rock music and not long after touring began, Midnight left the group, disenfranchised by the music industry. He was replaced by David van Landing, who performed with them throughout the rest of the tour, which included treks with Ozzy Osbourne, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden.

The band decided to call it a day after the departure of their vocalist, with the four members forming a new band named Erotic Liquid Culture, which continued writing music in the vein of "Strange and Beautiful" and released one album. In 1995, Drenning and Lords decided that they wanted to bring back Crimson Glory, but were unable to coax Midnight into returning, with the singer claiming among other reasons that he was not in the right physical condition to perform regularly. Instead, they recruited vocalist Wade Black and Steve Wacholz, best known for his time with Savatage, with former member Ben Jackson returning to the fold soon after.

This reunited and reinvigorated incarnation of the band then wrote, recorded and released a new album, "Astronomica," in 1999, although Wacholz was unable to take part in the recording and a drum machine was used instead. The record sold relatively well in Europe but during the touring for the album, the group once again split up, with several members going to different projects. In 2005 however, the original members reconvened with the intention of making a new album, which was first entitled, "Metatron, Lucifer and Divine Chaos," before being shortned to "Divine Chaos," which they confirmed Midnight would sing on, as well as plans for Midnight to re-record the vocals for "Astronomica."

Sadly these plans were not to come to fruition, as Midnight was fired from the band in 2007 after being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Two years later, Midnight died in hospital surrounded by friends and family after suffering from a stomach aneurysm. In tribute, Crimson Glory performed a show with several guest vocalists, before deciding to bring the group back once more, eventually hiring singer Todd La Torre. Two years after joining, La Torre would join fellow progressive metal favourites Queensryche, initially intending to continue with both bands, though he would eventually leave Crimson Glory. Since then, the group has continued to work on new material, with a rough demo named, "Garden of Shadows," being released in 2013, though no further music or confirmation of a new vocalist as yet been confirmed. Though Crimson Glory may not be a household name, progressive metal fans will immediately be able to point to them as pioneers of the genre and acknowledge the debt they owe to them.

Crimson Glory - "Queen of the Masquerade"

Crimson Glory - "Valhalla"

Crimson Glory - "Red Sharks"

Crimson Glory - "Lonely"

Crimson Glory - "The Chant"

Crimson Glory - "Strange and Beautiful"

Crimson Glory - "Astronomica"

Crimson Glory - "Touch the Sun"