Raven (band)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raven
Raven at Headbangers Open Air 2017
Raven at Headbangers Open Air 2017
General information
Genre (s) NWoBHM , Heavy Metal , Speed ​​Metal
founding 1974
Website www.ravenlunatics.com
Founding members
John Gallagher
Mark Gallagher
Drums
 Rob "Wacko" Hunter (until 1987)
Current occupation
Vocals, electric bass
 John Gallagher
Electric guitar
 Mark Gallagher
Joe Hasselvander (from 1988)

Raven is a British heavy metal band from Newcastle , which has been based in New York since 1984 . It is assigned to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal .

history

The band was founded in Newcastle in 1974 by the brothers John ( vocals , electric bass ) and Mark Gallagher ( electric guitar ). Until 1979, the band remained active with constantly changing drummers (including Sean Taylor from Satan and Blitzkrieg ), although initially rather unsuccessful commercially. Then Rob "Wacko" Hunter joined the band and serious work began on new material, which was released in 1981 as Rock Until You Drop . The band's debut, which at least reached position 63 in the UK charts, was released on the underground label Neat Records , at that time one of the most important record labels of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal . After the follow-up albums Wiped Out and All for One (already released on the new label Megaforce Records from New York), the band toured the USA for the first time. She was supported by the then largely unknown bands Metallica and Anthrax , both of which were also under contract with Megaforce Records. On this tour, the first live album in the band's history Live at the Inferno was recorded. A short time later the band switched to the major label Atlantic Records . However, the following albums Stay Hard (including the hit single On and On ) and The Pack Is Back showed a clear approximation of the mainstream sound of the 80s. After the '87 long player Life's a Bitch , Rob "Wacko" Hunter left the band for family reasons. His place was taken by former Pentagram drummer Joe Hasselvander.

This line-up should ultimately remain unchanged until 2017. Without being able to build on their earlier successes, the band released eight albums and one live album by 2001. In 2001, Mark Gallagher suffered severe injuries after an accident while pulling up a house wall on his property when it fell over and buried him under itself. His recovery took several years, so that Mark was not fully available until the spring of 2006. The band went to the studio a short time later to work on another studio album.

Most recently, the band's longtime drummer, Joe Hasselvander (member since 1988) left the band for health reasons. The main cause for this was a heart attack in May 2017. Several drummers temporarily took his place for the shows of the US tour, which were coming up at short notice at the time. For example, former Fear Factory and malignancy drummer Mike Heller played most of the US tour . The shows of the 2017 European tour were played by Dave Chedrick ( Kill Manic ). In 2018 the band completed an extensive tour through Europe, where, in addition to a few individual headlining shows, they mainly appeared in the opening act for Saxon and Y&T , as well as supporting Dirkschneider . In 2019 the band released the live album Screaming Murder Death from Above: Live in Aalborg ; a new studio album is in preparation.

It is currently unknown if and when Joe Hasselvander will return to the band. Raven's current drummer is Mike Heller.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Rock Until You Drop
  UK 63 10/17/1981 (3 weeks)
  • 1981 - Rock Until You Drop
  • 1982 - Wiped Out
  • 1983 - All for One
  • 1984 - Live at the Inferno (Live)
  • 1985 - Stay Hard
  • 1986 - The Pack Is Back
  • 1987 - Life's a Bitch
  • 1989 - Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
  • 1991 - Architect of Fear
  • 1995 - Glow
  • 1996 - Destroy All Monster
  • 1997 - Everything Louder
  • 1999 - Raw Tracks
  • 2000 - One for All
  • 2002 - All Systems Go! - The Neat Anthology (compilation)
  • 2009 - Walk Through Fire
  • 2015 - ExtermiNation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ RAVEN: New Studio Album 'In The Can'. In: Blabbermouth.net. October 1, 2018, accessed October 17, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Chart sources: UK