War Cry

American heavy metal band founded 1982 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1983, the band released their first demo, "Trilogy of Terror" which featured the songs; The Executioner, Wicked Warlock, and Forbidden Evil which also appeared on Metal Blade Records compilation Metal Massacre 4. The version of Forbidden Evil that appeared on MM4 was a new version recorded at Pierce Arrow Recorders in Chicago, Illinois. After the release bassist, Paul Speckmann left the band to pursue his interest in starting a thrash band. Before the genre "Death Metal" it was just considered very heavy. Paul Speckmann was one of the founders of what is now considered Death Metal, and his entity is "Master!" War Cry replaced Speckmann's position with the bands guitarist, Marty Fitzgerald's twin brother, Vince. Soon after, Marty Fitzgerald started writing more commercially accessible songs, which were a far cry from the earlier material that had given the band a reputation of one of the heavier bands in the underground. The band recorded a second demo that mirrored that change. Soon after the release, Singer/songwriter, Rich Rozek left after losing interest in the new direction. Bassist Vince Fitzgerald took over vocals. The band then dropped the name War Cry and changed their moniker to TommiGunn. The band moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. Former vocalist Rich Rozek started a band called Battalion. Years later, after hearing about TommiGunn was recording songs under Kelly's Heroes, TommiGunn, and even War Cry at least once to allow them to release several songs under the War Cry name on MySpace. The songs were so far from what War Cry had been that the heavy metal forums called it garbage. Rich Rozek heard about this in 2004, and he decided to take up the War Cry (US) name and promptly released a full-length CD called "Forbidden Evil." The release received high praise for bringing the War Cry songs and style back, but when Rich was ready to start pushing the release, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Ten-years later, Rich Rozek's War Cry has returned to metal. They just played their first concert at Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalypse in Chicago on May 6, 2016 to rave revues. They were said to bring down the house! Now, they are in the studio recording their next release, "REGRESSION!" Rich is the only original member. Rounding out the group are ex-Tyrant's Reign members including guitarist Michael Giordano, bassist Phil Fouch, and Guitarist Karl Miller.