Attacker

NEW ALBUM:
"ARMOR OF THE GODS"
While already writing songs for their 7th full-length, the US metal veterans from New Jersey decided to first offer their fans an EP featuring 4 brand new studio and 2 live tracks. The live ones are from their amazing show at the Up the Hammers festival in Athens in 2017 and show perfectly that ATTACKER are a force to be reckoned with live as well. The studio tracks are their typical US power/heavy metal sonic attacks with masterful guitar work, pounding drums, pummeling bass and air raid siren style vocals of the one and only Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas. All vital ingredients for a classic metal release are on board here, as it's always the case with the Lords of Thunder. The legendary producer and engineer Alex Perialas helped to make sure the songs sound top notch. So grab this EP clocking in at 35 minutes while waiting for their next full-length attack! Do it especially if you claim to be a US Metal fanatic and if bands like HELSTAR, LIEGE LORD, DESTINY'S END, VICIOUS RUMORS, SEVEN WITCHES, OVERLORDE, JAG PANZER (and obviously IRON MAIDEN) make your heart pump faster!
RELEASE DATE:
September 2018
BIOGRAPHY:
1983 - Band forms as Warloc by guitarists Pat Marinelli and Dominic Spina along with drummer Mike Sabatini. They are soon joined by Bob Mitchell on vocals and John Joseph on bass. The group starts out playing covers with an original song or two thrown in for good measure. Dominic Spina leaves a few months later and is replaced by Jim Mooney.
1984 - The band changes its name to Attacker and records its first demo. The demo garners rave reviews from fanzines and magazines around the world. These reviews lead to a spot on the Metal Blade Records compilation album "Metal Massacre 5". Attacker then parts company with bassist John Joseph. Jimmy Schulman replaces him. The group, having been offered a full record deal on the strength of the Metal Massacre reviews, enters the studio and records their debut album, "Battle at Helm's Deep". Not happy with Schulman's bass tracks, he is let go and replaced by Lou Ciarlo from Hades. Bass tracks are re-recorded for the album.
1985 - "Battle at Helm's Deep" is released to favorable reviews. Attacker, in their infinite wisdom, decide that Metal Blade has not done enough for the band and turn down an offer to do a second record for Metal Blade. In hindsight, the band views this as a major lapse in judgement as it hindered their progress in the long run.
1986 - "Best of Metal Blade Vol. 1" is released with the Attacker song "Disciple". This song was later removed after the group ceased working with Metal Blade. Bob Mitchell, no longer in the band due to personal and musical differences, is replaced by John Leone on vocals. In need of a record deal, Attacker records its second demo. This demo gets them a spot on the "L'Amour Rocks" compilation album on Mercenary Records. The album is named after the legendary rock club in Brooklyn, NY. Before its release, Jim Mooney leaves the band and is replaced by Tom D'Amico.
1987 - "L'Amour Rocks" is released. As with their first compilation experience, Attacker are once again offered a full album deal, this time with New York's Mercenary Records. The band records their new album, "The Second Coming" with noted metal producer Alex Peralais at Pyramid Sound in Ithaca, NY.
1988 - "The Second Coming" is released. The album is hailed as Attacker's best work to date, but lack of label support, proper distribution and a changing music scene (thrash was all the rage) sends the band in a downward spiral.
1989 - Attacker calls it quits. The band is over.
1994 - The metal world loses a great vocalist: former Attacker vocalist John Leone passes away.
1999 - The group's two albums, "Battle at Helm's Deep" and "The Second Coming" are re-released on Sentinel Steel Records, featuring bonus demo and unreleased tracks as well as a history booklet with photos and more.
2000 - Another loss in the Attacker family: former guitarist Jim Mooney passes away, leaving the remaining members with no choice but to write and record a third album to be dedicated to Jim and, of course, John Leone.
2001 - Writing and rehearsing begins, along with the search for a new singer. Bob Mitchell is not involved due to personal differences with the band. Mike Benetatos is added as a second guitarist. The group moves forward on a limited basis due to the band members' various other commitments.
2002 - Still no singer, but a complete album's worth of material is written with more coming a little at a time. Attacker continues to forge ahead. Felix Torres replaces Lou Ciarlo on bass due to Lou's busy schedule.
2003 - Bob Mitchell rejoins the ranks. The band goes into the studio and records Attacker's third release, "Soul Taker" slated for a January 2004 release.
2004 - "Soul Taker" is released on Germany's Iron Glory Records in late January. In April, Attacker plays its first ever show on European soil, the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Koenigshofen, Germany. The band also performed at Chicago's Classic Metal Fest and New Jersey's March Metal Meltdown festival. They return in October to Europe, but this time to the Heavy Metal Maniacs festival in Hoorn, Holland. A great comeback year for the band.
2005 - Writing for the 4th album commences while making appearances at the Milwaukee Metal Fest, Classic Metal Fest once again and finally a return to Germany for the Headbangers Open Air and the Thrash 'Til Death fest, highlight the year. Upon returning from Europe, Lou Ciarlo rejoins the band on bass replacing Felix Torres. Recording of "The Unknown" album is wrapped up in the fall and ready for a 2006 release date.
2006 - "The Unknown" is released in April on Sentinel Steel Records, followed by a killer CD release show with some help from the band's friends in Hallows Eve, Icarus Witch and Ravensthorn, who all came in just for this show. September saw Attacker undertake a small but amazing 4 country tour with stops in Greece, Italy, Holland with their friends Vortex, and Germany for the Swordbrothers Festival.
2007 - A best of CD entitled "Standing the Test of Time" is released on Chavis Records as the band takes much of the year off, regrouping for 2008.
2008 - In April Attacker returns to Keep It True for the second time in celebration of the 10th edition of the fest and perform the entire "Battle at Helm's Deep" album to a sold out audience. Especially for this occasion the band releases a limited to 100 copies single "Condemned", which gets sold out at the festival. Immediately after the show, Bob Mitchell is let go due to many differences. Attacker then recruited a young talented vocalist by the name of Walter Figueroa, but the partnership lasted only one show and signaled a long period of down time for the band.
2009 to 2011 - The band is pretty much on hiatus. Things are going very slow as the search for the new vocalist continues. Anthony Cross (Fischel's Beast) joined the band for a few rehearsals, but the co-operation was short-lived.
2 more losses to the Attacker family: the band's 1st bassist John Joseph passed away and the news came that "Second Coming" guitarist Tom D'Amico had passed away back in 2001 unbeknownst to the band.
2012 - At the urging of a close friend, Attacker begins to reform in early March. New vocalist Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas (Overlorde, Morbid Sin, ex-Seven Witches) joined the fold shortly after. Lou Ciarlo decides to leave the band to pursue other musical avenues and is replaced by Jon Hanemann. Writing for the next album begins and continues up until recording sessions in early September. The album is mastered by the renown engineer Alan Douches at West West Side Music. Meanwhile the band is contacted by Jowita Kaminska-Peruzzi (who is also the artist that painted the covers for their last 2 releases) and soon a record deal with her label Metal on Metal Records is signed. The album entitled "Giants of Canaan" is scheduled for February 2013 release and contains pure classic heavy/power metal Attacker has been known for since years.
2013 - "Giants of Canaan" is released through Metal on Metal Records on February 2nd, which coincides with Attacker's appearance at the Metal Assault III festival in Germany (with Manilla Road, Brocas Helm, Raven, Skelator, Jutta Weinhold Band and others), followed by the headlining show at the Screaming for Metal festival in Madrid, Spain the next night. The band played more shows in the USA, including Childhood Heroes festival in March in New York (with Heretic, Helstar, Viking and Wrath), Warriors of Metal VI festival in June in Ohio (with Flotsam and Jetsam, Steel Assassin, Twisted Tower Dire and many others), and returned to Europe in September for Rock Hard Italy festival (where they shared the stage with Sodom, Tankard, Asphyx), Heavy Metal Night festival in Italy (with Cloven Hoof, Battleaxe, Crying Steel, Doomraiser, Battle Ram and others), one show in the Netherlands and Ages of Metal festival in Belgium (with Manilla Road, Diamond Head, Tygers of Pan Tang, Avenger, Desolation Angels, Spartan Warrior, Darkness, Martyr and others).
2014 - In April Jon Hanemann decides to leave the group to pursue other musical interests. That opened the door for the entrance of Brian Smith, who was recommended by a friend of the band. The band kept a low profile in 2014.
2015 - This year saw Attacker return to the stage at the Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalypse Fest in Chicago alongside Liege Lord, The Rods, Nuclear Assault and others. A few local shows were done that included Sacred Oath and another one with fellow Jersey boys Whiplash. New songs started to take form this year as well.
2016 - The long time guitarist Pat Marinelli decides to step down prior to the start of the new album's recording. Pat still contributed a few solos to the new songs though. Most of the year is spent writing, rehearsing and recording the follow-up to the critically acclaimed "Giants of Canaan". In July a new guitarist, Jon Hasselbrink joins the band, recommended by Bobby Lucas who had previously played together with him in MORBID SIN. And in November the band's 6th full-length album titled "Sins of the World", mastered again by Alan Douches, is released by Metal on Metal Records.
2017 - Attacker returned to Europe for several festivals, including Pounding Metal fest in Madrid, Up the Hammers in Athens in May and Headbangers Open Air in the north of Germany in July, as well as many shows at home in the USA.
2018 - The band spent the early part of the year working on material for the EP "Armor of the Gods" which contains 4 new tracks as well as 2 live tracks recorded at the 2017 Up the Hammers festival in Athens, Greece. The new tunes were recorded with veteran and legendary producer, Alex Perialas up at his famed Pyramid Sound Studio in Ithaca, NY. Perialas had helmed "The Second Coming" album 30 years earlier.
The band was part of the Rage of Armageddon fest in Brooklyn, NY in April along with Thrust, Tyrant, Blood Feast and a host of others.
September saw the "Armor of the Gods" EP released by Metal on Metal Records. The same month Attacker visited France for the very first time as part of the Pyrenean Warriors Open Air festival, where they shared the stage with Grim Reaper, Oz and Medieval Steel, among others, and performed "The Second Coming" in its entirety.
In October the band visited California for their first ever appearance on the West Coast at the Frost and Fire fest, where they played together with Cirith Ungol, Satan, Cloven Hoof, Vicious Rumors, Slough Feg, Destructor, Midnight, Night Demon, Thrust, Warbringer, Ashbury, Visigoth, Eternal Champion and a few others.
What lies ahead? ...Time will reveal!
GENRE:
US Power / Heavy Metal
ORIGIN:
USA (Weehawken, NJ), 1983
CURRENT LINE-UP:
Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas (vocals)
Mike Benetatos (guitars)
Jon Hasselbrink (guitars)
Brian Smith (bass)
Michael Sabatini (drums)
LINKS:
Attacker website
Attacker @ Facebook
Attacker @ YouTube
Attacker YouTube playlist
PREVIOUS ALBUMS:
"SINS OF THE WORLD" (CD)

RELEASE DATE:
November 2016
"GIANTS OF CANAAN" (CD)

RELEASE DATE:
February 2013
DISCOGRAPHY:
• "Demo '84" (1984)
Demo, self-released
• "Battle at Helm's Deep" (1985)
Full-length, Metal Blade
• "Demo '85" (1986)
Demo, self-released
• "The Second Coming" (1988)
Full-length, Mercenary
• "Soul Taker" (2004)
Full-length, Iron Glory
• "Demo" (2005)
Demo, self-released
• "The Unknown" (2006)
Full-length, Sentinel Steel
• "Standing the Test of Time" (2007)
Compilation, Chavis
• "Condemned" (2008)
Single, self-released
• "Giants of Canaan" (2013)
Full-length, Metal On Metal Records
• "Sins of the World" (2016)
Full-length, Metal On Metal Records
• "Armor of the Gods" (2018)
EP, Metal On Metal Records