Valhalla

Not to be mistaken for the symphonic rockers of a decade earlier, the '80s Valhalla played melodic hard rock and left only a handful of recordings to document their passage, which, because of their association with Neat Records, has erroneously lumped them in with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Comprised of vocalist Dave Howard, guitarists Kevin Hunter and Ian Glenister, bassist Kevin Kershaw, drummer Mick Simkins, and keyboard player Ian Parsons, the band released its debut single, "Coming Home" b/w "Through with You" (part Def Leppard, part Journey, part Gary Numan!) in 1982. Then, after some personnel shifts that saw Glenister ousted and Kershaw replaced by bassist David Warminger, Valhalla tried again a couple of years later, via second single "Still in Love with You" (b/w "Jack," as in "the Ripper"). A small but loyal local following obviously kept Valhalla going in the interim, but although vocalist Howard distinguished himself with powerful pipes and great technique, Valhalla's glossy hard rock style simply begged for a bigger recording and marketing budget if they were going to compete with their major-label counterparts. This would never come to pass, though, and so the bandmembers decided to go their separate ways a short time later, without any further releases to the group's name. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia