Shadow Warriors (band)
Encyclopedia
Shadow Warriors was formed by guitarist
Sam Totman
of DragonForce
in late 2000 as a side project.
songs in late 2000 around the same time DragonHeart, later renamed DragonForce
, recorded and uploaded their Valley of the Damned
demo songs to MP3.com
.
In late 2001, Shadow Warriors made their demo CD Power of the Ninja Sword available for purchase through MP3.com, but via an artist page error, the demo CD was not able to be purchased. By the time the error was fixed, it was decided to leave the demo up for download only and not make it available to purchase through MP3.com. A few demo CDs were burned to CD-R
with the full album cover and tray inserts in early 2002, and were handed out to a few people as collector's items by Sam Totman, whose performing name is Akimo.
In early 2002, Master Samurai created a website for Shadow Warriors on Angelfire
, and like the demos, this website was created in one day.
Later, the Shadow Warriors' presence and interest waned, but picked up once again. As the popularity of the Shadow Warriors grew, so did the demand for more Shadow Warriors material. It was at this time that there was talk about reviving Shadow Warriors amongst Totman and two colleagues, Knightrider of Doom and Samurai Sweetie. In early 2003, the website was redone, alongside the artist page on MP3.com. The website offered more information and material related to the band. Among the additional material made available on the website was guitar tablature
, MIDI songs, Winamp
skins, wallpapers, lyrics for the demo songs, and a Yahoo group. At this time, the original demo songs were remastered and made available for download from the website, along with the original low quality demos from mp3.com.
The band had one real member in the line-up at this time, that being Sam Totman. Naoki, aka ZP Theart, was a guest vocalist for the project as he was for Power Quest
on their demo CD, but he was never a permanent member of the band.
Later on, Knightrider of Doom and Samurai Sweetie were recruited by Totman for the band. A demo song was written but never recorded, which was based on lyrics from an earlier demo that was never finished. Due to the three Shadow Warriors living far apart from each other and having to deal with personal problems, conflicting lifestyles, and the growing popularity of Sam's main band DragonForce, Shadow Warriors reduced activity.
In early 2005, the Shadow Warriors re-emerged with a MySpace
account. Through MySpace, Shadow Warriors gained more exposure, getting the band offers for record deals, gigs, and endorsements. The offers had to be declined for the time being due to conflicting schedules.
In late 2006, activity from the Shadow Warriors once again became dormant and in the summer of 2007, the Power of the Ninja Sword and Feel the Fire demos could not be downloaded from the Shadow Warriors MySpace due to a computer error. The original 128kbps demos were later unavailable to be downloaded from the website due to hot-linking restrictions from the original AngelFire webhost where the MP3s were hosted.
In February 2008, Shadow Warriors posted a blog on their myspace announcing that someone had hacked their myspace account and that they were dormant for longer than they should have been.
In August 2008, the DragonForce album Ultra Beatdown
was released, containing, as a bonus track, a re-recording of "Feel the Fire" under the changed title of "Strike of the Ninja".
In September 2008, due to pressure from DragonForce
's management and record labels, the Shadow Warriors' MySpace was forcefully deleted and the website was shut down. Currently, the band is indefinitely broken up.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Sam Totman
Sam Totman
Ian Samuel "Sam" Totman is a guitarist and main songwriter for the power metal band DragonForce. Totman was born in England, but moved to New Zealand at an early age...
of DragonForce
DragonForce
DragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...
in late 2000 as a side project.
History
Shadow Warriors recorded demoDemo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
songs in late 2000 around the same time DragonHeart, later renamed DragonForce
DragonForce
DragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...
, recorded and uploaded their Valley of the Damned
Valley of the Damned
-Track listing:-Demo track listing:Note: The Japanese edition of the demo included a remastered recording of "Where Dragons Rule" as a bonus track. The original demo version of the song is extremely rare, much like the original versions of "Black Fire" which was never released...
demo songs to MP3.com
MP3.com
MP3.com is a web site operated by CNET Networks providing information about digital music and artists, songs, services, community, and technologies. It is probably better known for its original incarnation, as a legal, free music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting...
.
In late 2001, Shadow Warriors made their demo CD Power of the Ninja Sword available for purchase through MP3.com, but via an artist page error, the demo CD was not able to be purchased. By the time the error was fixed, it was decided to leave the demo up for download only and not make it available to purchase through MP3.com. A few demo CDs were burned to CD-R
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
with the full album cover and tray inserts in early 2002, and were handed out to a few people as collector's items by Sam Totman, whose performing name is Akimo.
In early 2002, Master Samurai created a website for Shadow Warriors on Angelfire
Angelfire
Angelfire is an Internet service offering free space for web sites. It was founded in 1996 and was originally a combination web site building and medical transcription service. Eventually the site dropped the transcription service and focused solely on web site hosting, offering both free and...
, and like the demos, this website was created in one day.
Later, the Shadow Warriors' presence and interest waned, but picked up once again. As the popularity of the Shadow Warriors grew, so did the demand for more Shadow Warriors material. It was at this time that there was talk about reviving Shadow Warriors amongst Totman and two colleagues, Knightrider of Doom and Samurai Sweetie. In early 2003, the website was redone, alongside the artist page on MP3.com. The website offered more information and material related to the band. Among the additional material made available on the website was guitar tablature
Tablature
Tablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
, MIDI songs, Winamp
Winamp
Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...
skins, wallpapers, lyrics for the demo songs, and a Yahoo group. At this time, the original demo songs were remastered and made available for download from the website, along with the original low quality demos from mp3.com.
The band had one real member in the line-up at this time, that being Sam Totman. Naoki, aka ZP Theart, was a guest vocalist for the project as he was for Power Quest
Power Quest
Power Quest is a power metal band based in the United Kingdom.-The Power Quest Demo and Wings of Forever :Power Quest was conceived in March 2001 by keyboardist Steve Williams, who had recently departed London power metal band DragonHeart...
on their demo CD, but he was never a permanent member of the band.
Later on, Knightrider of Doom and Samurai Sweetie were recruited by Totman for the band. A demo song was written but never recorded, which was based on lyrics from an earlier demo that was never finished. Due to the three Shadow Warriors living far apart from each other and having to deal with personal problems, conflicting lifestyles, and the growing popularity of Sam's main band DragonForce, Shadow Warriors reduced activity.
In early 2005, the Shadow Warriors re-emerged with a MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account. Through MySpace, Shadow Warriors gained more exposure, getting the band offers for record deals, gigs, and endorsements. The offers had to be declined for the time being due to conflicting schedules.
In late 2006, activity from the Shadow Warriors once again became dormant and in the summer of 2007, the Power of the Ninja Sword and Feel the Fire demos could not be downloaded from the Shadow Warriors MySpace due to a computer error. The original 128kbps demos were later unavailable to be downloaded from the website due to hot-linking restrictions from the original AngelFire webhost where the MP3s were hosted.
In February 2008, Shadow Warriors posted a blog on their myspace announcing that someone had hacked their myspace account and that they were dormant for longer than they should have been.
In August 2008, the DragonForce album Ultra Beatdown
Ultra Beatdown
Ultra Beatdown is the fourth studio album by English power metal band DragonForce, released on 20 August 2008 in Japan through JVC and on 26 August 2008 worldwide through Roadrunner Records and Universal Music. Ultra Beatdown is the last studio album to feature ZP Theart on vocals...
was released, containing, as a bonus track, a re-recording of "Feel the Fire" under the changed title of "Strike of the Ninja".
In September 2008, due to pressure from DragonForce
DragonForce
DragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...
's management and record labels, the Shadow Warriors' MySpace was forcefully deleted and the website was shut down. Currently, the band is indefinitely broken up.
Members
- Naoki – vocals
- AkimoSam TotmanIan Samuel "Sam" Totman is a guitarist and main songwriter for the power metal band DragonForce. Totman was born in England, but moved to New Zealand at an early age...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Kazuma – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Jyuohki – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
External links
- Shadow Warriors (official website)