Blade Runner

I know Witchfinder just got this record, and some of you including Unc know of them. They were one of the artists that Ebony Records (Grim Reaper, Nightmare, Chateaux) screwed over. There were only two LP's released on vinyl (no tape or CD), most notably "Hunted." From what I've read around the net the album gets unfair criticism for being "indistinguishable." IMO I think it's quite catchy and energetic with memorable, melodic hooks. The vinyl has a high availability on ebay and such (I was able to find a digi copy through more unconventional means). Any other fans here? More importantly...what the hell happened to them? I know guitarist Gary Jones went on to found a band called Phantasm (no known releases), but I'd love to track them down or any interviews related to the whole ordeal. Too bad they never went further.

It's a shame that the vocals are weak and the song a bit blah because i quite like the guitars and general vibe.

Phantasm didn't go anywhere, apparently there were a couple of good demos but I can't find them which is a shame as it was the two guitarists from this band plus ex Angel Witch drummer Dave Dufort (who is also big bro to Girlschool drummer Denise)

After that a couple of them had a covers band called Trooper.

I didn't know Dave Dufort was in Phantasm, or the connection to Girlschool. Cool.

Yeah the vocals and songwriting tend to get a lot of flak but for some reason it gels well with me. I find it all unique, I suppose.

Great band!  Their bassist Mick Cooper went on to work with Paul Gaskin and that material became Gaskin's 2000 album Stand Or Fall.

Trivia - The Hunted album cover was originally intended for Savage's second album, but Savage bolted Ebony Records and the cover was re-used on this album with a giant black bar on the top to cover up the Savage logo.  The cover was done by none other than Gary Sharpe-Young who went on to do that lengthy Rockdetector series of books.  

Their second album Warriors Of Rock is also worth a listen.  Vinyl rips of it are easily located online.

If you dig Blade Runner also check out Samurai.  They were another Ebony Records band and played in a similar style.

You win post of the year!  Seems like Savage made a wise decision; it seems Ebony was half-ass with their artists. That's interesting about the cover art.

So did Cooper leave before Gaskin's studio work? All the lineups I see for that album and others are different bassists.

I found WOR but haven't listened to it yet except for a couple clips on youtube. Sounds just as good.

That Samurai is awesome!

A bit of a Tokyo Blade rip-off, but most UK metal had this sound and production [which I, personally, LOVE!]. This is the stuff that we would seek out on obscure German Komp Kassettes and play the shit out of all day long while getting high underneath the overpass. The metal that memories are made of.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

A bit of a Tokyo Blade rip-off, but most UK metal had this sound and production [which I, personally, LOVE!].  This is the stuff that we would seek out on obscure German Komp Kassettes and play the shit out of all day long while getting high underneath the overpass.  The metal that memories are made of.

It's a great sound, in your face and upfront with every instrument given equal weight, mids aren't neglected like in today's metal...I could go on.

corplhicks wrote:

You win post of the year!  Seems like Savage made a wise decision; it seems Ebony was half-ass with their artists. That's interesting about the cover art.

So did Cooper leave before Gaskin's studio work? All the lineups I see for that album and others are different bassists.

I found WOR but haven't listened to it yet except for a couple clips on youtube. Sounds just as good.

That Samurai is awesome!

Cooper worked with Paul Gaskin in the early 90s and that material Paul Gaskin used years later. Thus Cooper wasn't ever on an official Gaskin release.

I am a big fan of the stuff on Ebony Records. I hope to get it all on vinyl someday. It might not have been that revolutionary, but it's usually has that straight down the middle, tough as nails sound that really appeals to me.

Witchfinder wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

You win post of the year!  Seems like Savage made a wise decision; it seems Ebony was half-ass with their artists. That's interesting about the cover art.

So did Cooper leave before Gaskin's studio work? All the lineups I see for that album and others are different bassists.

I found WOR but haven't listened to it yet except for a couple clips on youtube. Sounds just as good.

That Samurai is awesome!

Cooper worked with Paul Gaskin in the early 90s and that material Paul Gaskin used years later.  Thus Cooper wasn't ever on an official Gaskin release.

I am a big fan of the stuff on Ebony Records.  I hope to get it all on vinyl someday.  It might not have been that revolutionary, but it's usually has that straight down the middle, tough as nails sound that really appeals to me.

I found Paul on facebook and sent him a quick message if he stayed in contact with Mick. It's a long shot, but may as well try.

Ebony had a great roster despite their reputation, but I've always wondered if they were just facing the heat in later years with the evolving music scene and couldn't keep up so a lot of artists abandoned ship. It seems to me that Blade Runner was a later runner in the NWOBHM era. Just taking stabs based on observation, though; no empirical evidence to cite.

Good band. Have the two vinyls and a 7"single by them. SAMURAI were a good band too, i agree. Most of those EBONY records were good. Sometimes the production was not perfect but the songs yes.

Paul got back to me but he says he hasn't seen Cooper since his other bassist's (Baggy) funeral. In other news, he's trying to regroup Gaskin for a festival in Holland.

They were a great band, very much in the vein of Tokyo Blade. I actually like their 2nd album "Warriors of Rock" a bit better as their sound was more refined. Unfortunately, by the time they were putting albums out metal had moved on in style, so they got lost in the shuffle.

One of my favorite songs by them. They really tear it up on this one.

Run From the Night is awesome, so much energy. Warriors of Rock is more refined and less cliche but there's something so endearing about Hunted for me.

corplhicks wrote:

Run From the Night is awesome, so much energy. Warriors of Rock is more refined and less cliche but there's something so endearing about Hunted for me.

Hunted is a GREAT album. It has that real edgy NWOBHM feel to it, as well as incorporating alot of different aspects of the genre into it. For example some of the more melodic methods employed by Def Leppard. While still having a hell of alot of awesome blues based licks.