Warhorse-Red Sea (1972)

“Red Sea” was the second and final release from the British band Warhorse, one of the most promising progressive hard rock bands of the seventies, who had the misfortune of competing with contemporaries like Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, among many other bands of the era. Their leader, bassist Nick Simper, came from the latter, and was, predictably, expelled by Ritchie Blackmore. Even from their impressive debut, this band possessed all the elements for guaranteed success: the raw sound of Creedence Clearwater Revival, the feeling of the Allman Brothers, the magic of Led Zeppelin, and the virtuosity of ELP. Their continued success was a palpable demonstration that with different luck and a better vocalist, they could have gone much further. For this second album, the band still consisted of Ashley Holt on vocals, guitarist Peter Parks, keyboardist Frank Wilson, drummer Mac Poole, and the aforementioned Nick Simper on bass. At the time, there was much debate about why they never achieved the success they deserved. Perhaps part of it was the insufficient promotion by the record company Vertigo, which was more interested in promoting other bands on its roster. However, it's also true, considering the time of its release, that there were dozens of bands then that were competitive and incredibly creative enough to surpass or equal them with their interesting approach, without resorting to the same old clichés. Even so, Wilson's raw and gritty organ, Simper and Poole's firm and precise rhythm section, Parks' sweet guitar harmonies, and Holt's tense and vibrant screams carried the band through the series of high-quality songs that make up this album, as demonstrated by the hard rock tracks "Back In Time" and "Mouthpiece", both with that unmistakable Deep Purple style, the blues rock "Confident But Wrong", the laid-back "Feeling Better", the rhythmic "Sybilla", and the progressive "I (Who Have Nothing)". “Red Sea” would be the culmination of a band that in its early days showed itself to be one of the most precocious formations of the best hard rock, even almost on par with Deep Purple themselves, but for different reasons they did not get past the starting line and fell into complete oblivion, despite creating two fantastic albums that today are considered an essential part of the evolution of proto-hard rock.

Warhorse-Warhorse (1970)

In 1969, Deep Purple released their third album, and almost immediately two of its members, Nicky Simper and Rod Evans, left the band at the express invitation of Ritchie Blackmore. From then on, both musicians would go their separate ways. Evans founded the band Captain Beyond, and Simper did the same with Warhorse. While Captain Beyond focused its style on progressive sounds, Warhorse continued with a hard rock style similar to Deep Purple. To found Warhorse, Nick Simper joined forces with singer Ashley Holt, guitarist Ged Peck, keyboardist Frank Wilson, and drummer Mac Poole. In 1970, Warhorse released their self-titled album on the Vertigo label, an excellent hard rock record driven by Wilson's Hammond organ, Peck's powerful guitar riffs, and Holt's squeaky vocals, with a style quite similar to Vanilla Fudge but without abandoning the Deep Purple sound. They were soon criticized for a lack of originality and for not trying to create their own sound, relying instead on overly obvious Deep Purple influences. Even so, this debut album contains outstanding moments such as the dynamic opening track "Vulture Blood", the epic "No Chance", the powerful "Burning", the heavy "Ritual", and the progressive hard rock tracks "Solitude" and "Woman of the Devil". Two years later came Warhorse's second and final album, "Red Sea", a less balanced record, though with some very noteworthy tracks like the superb heavy prog "Back in Time", the progressive "Mouthpiece", and the hard rock title track, "Red Sea". Some time later, Warhorse disbanded due to their limited success and recognition, an unfair end for a group that certainly had the skills and talent to achieve great things. However, their constant comparisons to such an iconic band as Deep Purple took their toll, ultimately leading them to fade into obscurity.