As of right now, you can stream the title-track from Here Comes Hell, the four-song debut EP from London three-piece Warpstormer, and think of it as a barely-early heads up for Bandcamp Friday. At least, I think it’s Bandcamp Friday this week. If not, think of it as a barely-early heads up for Regular Friday, and maybe that’s payday anyhow, or maybe you just buy a thing without it being like a special occasion or whatever because Bandcamp’s gotta eat too, man. Any way you go, just keep an eye or ear out for Warpstormer, which came together following the dissolution of Oak at the behest of Richard J. Morgan, who aligned himself with Scott Black (also Green Lung) on guitar and Matthew Folley on drums for the initial go.

I say “initial” because you’ll note in the PR wire info below that Morgan will look for other players to join a live incarnation of Warpstormer as the band moves forward. I don’t know if that means Black is too busy in Green Lung or if they’ll be more than a trio, but in any case, it seems like the Here Comes Hell lineup for Warpstormer isn’t necessarily the settled version of the group that will persist from here.

The future’s uncertain and the end is something something.

Track’s at the bottom of the post. Art’s right here, with info underneath:

WARPSTORMER announces debut EP Here Comes Hell

What do you do when your band falls victim to the ravages of COVID-19 in the middle of recording a debut album? In the case of Richard J Morgan of WARPSTORMER, you take matters into your own hands and forge on regardless, rising from the ashes to let loose one of the most essential opening salvos to hit the London metal scene in years.

Morgan has been a stalwart of the London scene for over a decade, first as frontman and guitarist in cult thrashers The Quarry and then as bassist in stoner barbarians Oak. When Oak fell apart recording between lockdowns, Morgan was left with a clutch of demos that seemed destined to be mothballed forever. But in spring 2021, with every possible sign and auspice pointing to ‘don’t start a new band’, he started fashioning them into new shapes, stepping up to the mic and dusting off his guitar to form a new project, WARPSTORMER.

By summer 2021, the songs were fleshed out enough to record with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse Studio in London (Green Lung, Beggar, The Brothers Keg). Morgan recruited former Quarry bandmates Scott Black (now guitarist in Green Lung) and Matt Folley to lay down guitar and drum parts respectively, both playing with a zeal that belies their session-man status.

While the genesis of these songs may have been Morgan’s time in Oak, they have grown into something gnarlier and more sonically ambitious, combining the ferocious thrash-meets-stoner offensive of High On Fire with the guitar heroics of The Sword, and conjuring an overall aesthetic that brings to mind grimdark British tabletop fantasy more than American Robert E Howard pulp.

Lyrically, there are plenty of clues that this is a project begun in lockdown – opener ‘Here Comes Hell’ brims with apocalyptic visions and references to Revelations, while ‘Ride the Bomb’ is the metal equivalent of Major Kong whipping his Stetson around as he rides to his thermonuclear fate in Dr Strangelove. But it’s not all pedal to the metal – closer ‘Devourer’ features dynamics and textures that suggest there’s more to this band than battle-tank bombardment.

With Here Comes Hell Morgan aims to single-handedly plant WARPSTORMER on the UK metal map. Next challenge? Recruiting some road warriors to help take the project out of the studio and onto the stage. Morgan has already proved his mettle in the very fact of this EP’s existence – you’d bet on his survival in the smouldering wasteland of the UK’s live scene…

Here Comes Hell releases 4th March, 2022 with cover art by Nerdgore.

In the grim darkness of the 3rd millennium, there is only WARPSTORMER. Hailing from South London, this stoner-thrash juggernaut, forged in the time of plague, releases its debut EP Here Comes Hell on 4th March, 2022.

Warpstormer:
Richard J Morgan: bass, vocals
Scott Black: guitar
Matthew Folley: drums

https://www.facebook.com/Warpstormer
https://www.instagram.com/warpstormer/
https://twitter.com/warpstormer
https://warpstormer.bandcamp.com/

Tags: Here Comes Hell, London, UK, Unsigned bands, Warpstormer, Warpstormer Here Comes Hell

This entry was posted on Monday, February 28th, 2022 at 6:56 am and is filed under audiObelisk, Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.