Acclaimed metal vocalist Wade Black made his way to the international metal scene from a local start.

“I grew up in Dunedin. I went to Dunedin Elementary, Dunedin Middle School. I grew up all in Dunedin,” Black, who has fronted metal icon Crimson Glory twice, said before a recent Black Reign show at Bourbon Street in New Port Richey.

In addition to his work as singer for Crimson Glory, Black fronted his first band, Leash Law with Emo Mowery, Crimson Glory's Rick Renstrom, Iced Earth's Richard Christy, and worked as lead vocalist for California triple-guitarred legends, Leatherwolf, before putting together his new band, Black Reign. To date he has worked on four internationally released albums and has spent a lot of his time touring the world.

“I’ve spent so much time in Europe,” he said, “I feel almost like a European artist.”

“I have been fortunate enough to travel the world bringing metal to the masses," Black wrote in a statement he issued when he started Black Reign, "The best thing to come out of my metal career has been traveling the globe and meeting the heart of metal - the fans - and giving everything I have to give on the stage.... I have absolutely been able to live the dream.”

Having spent so much time in Europe, Black has an expert insight into its distinct style of metal. “People there (Germany, Europe), they love that style of music. We’ve been back and forth there for the past five years and we pick up on that.” he said in an interview when he started Leash Law. “We pick up on the European Style, the particular music that’s coming around, you know, so we picked that up on our influences. So maybe when we did (Dogface), you hear all these European influences. Cause we listen to these bands there all the time.”

“The way the guitar is played, the phrasings, the way they write the keyboard interludes. A lot of these bands like, for instance, Stratovarius, they use the keyboards and stuff in there. Which, I think, gives them that European accent.”

Black started singing locally with Lucian Blaque. He first joined Crimson Glory in 1999. He sang on the 1999 Crimson Glory album, Astronomica, the band’s first release since Strange and Beautiful in 1992.

Crimson Glory, formed in Sarasota in the 1980’s, first started playing in metallic silver full-face masks to set them apart from the typical hair band crowd of the time. The band went through several shapes and incarnations, signed with Atlantic Records, and took a five-year hiatus to Arizona, where they appeared locally under two different names. Crimson Glory’s Jon Drenning first saw Wade Black sing when Lucian Blaque opened for one of their CG side projects, Crush. “He really intrigued us with his aggressive vocal style as well as his strong stage presence.,” Drenning said at the time. “I remember telling Jeff at that very moment I first saw him, ‘We could make kick ass records with this guy.’ So we asked Wade for his telephone number after the show. As time passed, Jeff and I would bring him up during our conversations while driving or whatever, and we would imagine what it would sound like with him singing our songs. We really used to get pumped up just thinking about the possibilities. We had a clear vision of what we wanted for the band and we were very pleased with the results from the very first song Wade recorded for us. It confirmed he was indeed the perfect singer for us. I always knew Wade was the man for us from the very beginning. To be perfectly honest, I think he fits our new sound much better than Midnite would.”

Black joined Crimson Glory then, but Drenning decided to take a differnt direction with the band shortly after, reuniting the original members of Crimson Glory, including original vocalist, Midnite. Wade Black would meet up with them again later.

Moving on from Crimson Glory, Wade Black formed, Leash Law with Rick Renstrom from Crimson Glory, on guitar, Emo Mowery and Richard Christy, from Iced Earth on bass. Renstrom and Black wrote the majority of songs for their album, Dogface, with Mowery contributing the title track and Richard Christy adding “Paving the Way.” All members took part in engineering and production with the group functioning as a self-contained unit aside from their record labels, Black Lotus Records in Europe and End records in the U.S.

“I’m sitting here with my third international album that’s coming up,” Black said at the time, “With the line up that we have, this is really incredible. I pinch myself sometimes.” In the same interview, Black tried to move away from the characterization of his work as power metal, saying, “I just call it good music. It just really sucks to be Wade Black, the Power Metal vocalist. Putting labels on things is part of the politics culture.”

Leash Law broke up in 2005. Black was next recruited as Lead Singer for Leatherwolf with guitarists Geoff Gayer and Carey Howe, Dean Roberts on drums and Pete Perez on bass.

“Wade came to our attention via his work on Crimson Glory’s Astronomica, which is stellar to say the least,” Dean Roberts said in a statement announcing Black’s addition to the band. Wade Black sang on the Leatherwolf album World of Asylum and is featured in the two videos on the band's web site.

Black cut his tour of duty with the California crew short, to spend more time with his family, “Like many other musicians in my genre, I have a career outside of music that is necessary to provide a reasonable lifestyle for my family. If I have to miss work to fly out to do recording sessions, rehearsals or tours, I don’t’ get paid,” he said at the time of his departure from group. There are no studio tricks or outtakes to gloss over the missed opportunities to be there for your family. My wife and children have been very patient and supportive of me and they deserve to be the highest priority in my life. You only have one chance in life to be the best parent you can be," he wrote in a statement he issued announcing his departure,"While I have enjoyed giving a new voice to Leatherwolf and supporting the new album, the harsh economic reality of my current musical situation is that the compensation for the studio and live work I’ve done hasn’t even offset the lost wages I’ve missed while supporting Leatherwolf in the studio and on the road.”

At the same time he announced his departure from Leatherwolf, Black also announced the start of his new band, Black Reign, which would be locally based and play a selection of material from his four internationally released albums along with their own original material and some classic metal covers. Highly respected metal guitarist Pete Blakk, formerly with King Diamond, played with the band at their late-September Bourbon Street Show. Shortly after that show, Wade Black announced the formation of a new project permanently including Pete Blakk -- Disasterpeace.

 

By Frances Brennan