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Demon is an English heavy metal band, formed in 1979 by vocalist Dave Hill and guitarist Mal Spooner, both hailing from
Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214. It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire ...
. The band is considered important to the
new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...
movement.


History


Early years

The original lineup was completed by former Hunter members Les Hunt (
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
), Chris Ellis (bass), and John Wright (drums). The band were signed by Mike Stone's Clay Records in 1980 and licensed to Carrere Records to join their stable of
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
bands. Their debut album, ''Night of the Demon'', was released in 1981. After their 1982 follow-up album, ''The Unexpected Guest'', the band experimented beyond the NWOBHM sound and moved the band in a more melodic direction whilst still retaining the more traditional heavy metal black magic lyrical style. In 1983, Demon took a change in direction. ''The Plague'' marked a swing towards a more progressive sound, adding the keyboards of session musician
Andy Richards Andrew John Richards (born 26 October 1952) is an English pianist, Film score, composer, music producer and keyboardist. Richards has played with artists including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, George Michael, Propaganda (band), Propaganda, Grace ...
to the album's sound. Lyrically the band also changed direction, switching to a more overtly political style that was to characterise their albums for the rest of their career. The following album,
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
influenced ''British Standard Approved'' (1984), released on the small independent Clay label, was not a huge commercial success, and with the death of Mal Spooner later that year, it appeared that the band would soon fold. At this point, the band had recruited a permanent keyboard player and co-songwriter in Steven Watts.


1985–1992

The following release ''Heart of Our Time'' (1985) showed that the remaining members of the band were determined to continue, and it was the start of a new songwriting partnership between Hill and Watts. Although the album is regarded as the weakest of the band's releases, it paved the way for the critically acclaimed ''Breakout'' (1987) and its follow-up ''Taking the World by Storm'' (1989). Demon released two more albums in the 1990s: 1991's ''Hold On to the Dream'' and 1992's ''Blow Out'', before splitting up in 1992 which, according to singer and founding member Dave Hill, was because of fatigue.


Reunion (2001–present)

Demon at the Rock Hard festival in Germany, 2017 Hill reunited the band with new members in 2001, and released a new album called ''Spaced Out Monkey''. The band has since gone onto release a further three albums: ''Better the Devil You Know'' (2005), ''Unbroken'' (2012) and their latest release ''Cemetery Junction'', which was released on 28 October 2016. All of the band's post-reunion releases have received positive reviews from the press, leading the band to go on and play many festivals across Europe - including the
Bang Your Head!!! Bang Your Head!!! was a heavy metal and hard rock festival held annually in Germany. First held in 1996 as a one-day indoor event in the Stefan-Hartmann-Halle in Tübingen with a crowd of 600 people, Bang Your Head!!! has since moved to Balin ...
festival and
Sweden Rock Festival Sweden Rock Festival is a rock festival outside the town of Sölvesborg in Blekinge in southern Sweden. The festival offers the best possible mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues and related genres. The first version of the festival, k ...
- but to rarely embark upon full tours. The band toured with Magnum singer
Bob Catley Robert Adrian Catley (born 11 September 1947) is an English singer. He is the lead singer of the hard rock band Magnum and is also active as a solo artist. Biography Early years (1947–1972) Born in Aldershot on 11 September 1947, Catl ...
in 2005, and in 2018 celebrated the 35th anniversary of ''The Unexpected Guest'' by touring the UK, playing all of the songs from the album, plus some other classics. On 26 March 2024, the band announced a new album: ''Invincible'', which was released on 17 May, again receiving favourable reviews.


Members


Current

*Dave Hill – lead vocals (1979–1992, 1997–present) *Karl Waye – keyboards (2001, 2012–present) *Neil Ogden – drums, percussion (2002–present) *David Cotterill – guitars (2007–present) *Paul 'Fasker' Johnson – bass (2011–2012, 2022–present) *Paul Hume – guitars (2012–present)


Former

*Paul Riley – bass (1979–1980) *John Wright – drums, percussion (1979–1987) *Clive Cook – guitars (1979–1980) *Mal Spooner – guitars (1979–1984; died in 1984) *Les Hunt – guitars (1981–1983), bass (1981) *Chris Ellis – bass (1982–1983; died in 2022) *Gavin Sutherland – bass (1984–1985) *Steve Watts – keyboards (1984–1991) *John Waterhouse – guitars (1985–1992) *Andy Dale – bass (1987–1988, 1997–2011) *Nick Bushell – bass (1988–1991) *Scott Crawford – drums (1988–1991) *Steve Brookes – guitars (1988–1992, 1997–2001) *Mike Thomas – bass (1992) *Paul Rosscrow – drums, percussion (1992) *Ray Walmsley – guitars (1997–2011), bass (2012–2022) *John Cotterill – drums, percussion (1997–2001) *Duncan Hansell – keyboards (1997–2001) *Paul Farrington – keyboards (2002–2012) *Karl Finney – guitars (2003–2005) *Tim Read – guitars (2005–2007)


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums

*''Night of the Demon'' (1981) *''The Unexpected Guest'' (1982) – UK No. 47 *''The Plague'' (1983) – UK No. 73 *''British Standard Approved'' (1985) *''Heart of Our Time'' (1985) *''Breakout'' (1987) *''Taking the World By Storm'' (1989) *''Hold On to the Dream'' (1991) *''Blow-out'' (1992) *''Spaced out Monkey'' (2001) *''Better the Devil You Know'' (2005) *''Unbroken'' (2012) *''Cemetery Junction'' (2016) *''Invincible'' (2024)


EP

* ''Wonderland'' (1984) * ''Demon'' (1986)


Live albums / compilations

*''One Helluva Night - Live in Germany'' (1990) *''Anthology'' (1991) *''The Best of Demon: Volume One'' (1999) *''The Time Has Come – Best of Demon'' (2006)


Videos

*''Live In Hamburg'' (VHS only) (1993) *''The Unexpected Guest Tour – Live at Tiffany's 1982'' (2008) *''Up Close and Personal! Live in Germany 2006'' (2009)


Dave Hill solo album

*''Welcome To The Real World'' (1994)


See also

*
List of new wave of British heavy metal bands The mid-late 1970s–early 1980s period in the United Kingdom introduced a movement of young musicians, generally identified as the new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM). The movement spawned more than a thousand hard rock ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Demon English heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 Rock music groups from Staffordshire Carrere Records artists New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups