QUARTZ: New Album And Compilation In The Works

July 2, 2014

Birmingham heavy metal band QUARTZ is writing material for a new album, tentatively due in 2015. In addition, the group is putting the finishing touches on a compilation featuring previously unreleased studio material from the '80s, to be released later this year via Skol Records.

QUARTZ came out of the British hard rock hotbed of Birmingham to join the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement in the late '70s. With a lineup that included John Bonham associate Mike Hopkins and future BLACK SABBATH keyboardist Geoff Nichols, they were actually founded under the name BANDYLEGS but changed when Jet Records showed interest in the band. They signed a contract with the label and toured with both AC/DC and BLACK SABBATH before beginning work on their first album. The tour with BLACK SABBATH turned out to be quite fruitful, as they gained a tour manager (Albert Chapman) and a big fan in SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi. Iommi took over the production duties on their eponymous debut, drafting QUEEN's Brian May into the sessions to play some guitar. The album was important to the emerging scene, and they joined DIAMOND HEAD and DEF LEPPARD in being one of the first bands to make heavy metal faster and less plodding.

QUARTZ stayed relevant to the genre for their short time together, but by 1983 their irreconcilable differences split the band apart. Time has eroded how important the band was to the genre at the time, but fans of that period in heavy metal history know QUARTZ's place in the scheme of things.

QUARTZ was among one of Birmingham's greatest rock bands and all NWOBHM fans still holds tracks like "Satan's Serenade", "Wildfire" and "Street Fighting Lady" close to their hearts.

Over their career QUARTZ toured heavily — playing the Reading Festival three times ('76, ''77 and '80) — and touring as support to the likes of UFO, IRON MAIDEN, SAXON, GILLAN and RUSH. The band released four albums.

QUARTZ recently teamed up with Gabriel Management (which represents such acts as CRYSTAL VIPER, SACRED STEEL and SATAN'S HOST) in order to help the band improve and increase its presence and status.

Sanctuary Records released an anthology double-CD set from QUARTZ in 2004.

Find more on Quartz

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).