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One of those bands that miss the boat to stardom during their active lifetime, Canadian hard rockers Warpig would experience a zombie-
likeafterlife following their demise, when they joined other cult acts like Sir Lord Baltimore, Leaf Hound, and Captain Beyond in haunting theminds
of hard rock and heavy metal collectors. Vocalist/guitarist Rick Donmoyer, keyboard player/vocalist Dana Snitch, bassist Terry Brett,and
drummer Terry Hook had all accumulated ample wood-shedding experience with an assortment of amateur bands (including theKingbees, the
Wot, and Mass Destruction) before comin ...read more
One of those bands that miss the boat to stardom during their active lifetime, Canadian hard rockers Warpig would experience a zombie-
likeafterlife following their demise, when they joined other cult acts like Sir Lord Baltimore, Leaf Hound, and Captain Beyond in haunting theminds
of hard rock and heavy metal collectors. Vocalist/guitarist Rick Donmoyer, keyboard player/vocalist Dana Snitch, bassist Terry Brett,and
drummer Terry Hook had all accumulated ample wood-shedding experience with an assortment of amateur bands (including theKingbees, the
Wot, and Mass Destruction) before coming together as Warpig in 1968. Smitten with recent, revolutionary albums by the likesof Cream and the
Jimi Hendrix Experience -- seedling examples of what would come to be described as "hard rock" and, later, heavy metal --the members of
Warpig began defining their own style around these new, more powerful sonic parameters from their base of Woodstock,Ontario (just an hour
outside Toronto). They weren't alone, of course, as 1968 was the year that spawned debut albums from seminal proto-metal acts like Blue
Cheer, Iron Butterfly, and Canadian compatriots Steppenwolf, among others, and the last two, in particular, borenumerous similarities to Warpig's
organ-heavy hard rock sound. By the following year, the quartet was building quite a fan followingthroughout the Ontario club circuit and had
signed a contract with local independent Fonthill Records, completing work on their eponymousdebut album in late 1970 and proceeding to
perform with several visiting luminaries, such as Mahogany Rush, Wishbone Ash, Manfred Mann,and Savoy Brown. But poor distribution and
promotion on the part of their indie label meant that Warpig remained largely unknown outside ofCanada, and there was little progress made
until 1973, when London Records offered to re-release the album with different cover art and twocompletely re-recorded tracks cut with future
Rush producer Terry Brown. Unfortunately, time and changing trends had conspired to seriouslydate Warpig's once cutting-edge sound, and even
though the Deep Purple-esque single "Rock Star" actually scraped into the Canadian chartsand convinced London to commission a second album,
the band would fall apart following the mid-session departure of Terry Hook and, soonafter, Dana Snitch. Rick Donmoyer went on to play with
Ash Mountain, but both Warpig and their lone, overlooked album quickly faded intoforgetfulness -- until the new millennium, that is, when rare
original copies started fetching outrageous prices online. This may have been oneof the factors behind Donmoyer and Snitch's reconciliation after
30 years of silence, leading to discussions of a full-blown Warpig reunion,and the re-release of their debut album on CD for the first time, via
Relapse Records. « hide |
Similar Bands: Budgie, May Blitz, Dust, Sir Lord Baltimore, Rush Contributors: rockandmetaljunkie, manosg,
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