Biography
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Years Active
2011 – present (12 years)
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Founded In
Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona, United States
Judicator is a US Power Metal band formed by Tony C (Project: Roenwolfe) and John Yelland (Principium) in 2012 after the two met at a Blind Guardian concert. The debut album "King of Rome" was released on October 30th, 2012, showcasing their shared love of old school power metal and Blind Guardian vocal stylings. The album's concept followed the final days of Napoleon Bonaparte's last campaign, leading up to his eventual defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
After a number of affirming underground reviews and unexpected, humbling fan reaction, John and Tony decided the band would be more than just a one album 'fire and forget' project set on paying homage to their favorite bands, and quickly began working on the follow up "Sleepy Plessow" – this time focusing on developing more of their own heavy/power metal sound and incorporating a wider range of their influences. The album was released less than 7 months later in June of 2013. The sophomore effort showed a departure from the speed and riff obsessed nature of "King of Rome" and focused more heavily on atmosphere, melody, slower tempos, more complex vocal arrangements, and bigger overall narrative concept. The album also brought in numerous guest vocalist from friend's and underground bands alike in order to portray the various characters and soundscapes needed for the album. The story of Frederick the Great of Prussia showed the band progressing into a more mature and developed territory as a band, but Judicator still remained a homemade recording project.
Feeling that "Sleepy Plessow" had demonstrated the improvement they wanted over the first album, John and Tony decided it was time to begin work on a third, and change the nature of the band to reflect a more a traditional setup and help progress the band's material to a more professional level. The band added drummer Jordan Elcess in late 2013 and began work on the third album "At the Expense of Humanity". This album took the band to new heights and finally sealed Judicator as a legitimate band, leaving behind the days of home laptop recording projects. The band played their first two live appearances at the Deland Rock and Metal Festival in Fall 2014 leading up to the release of "At the Expense of Humanity" in March of 2015. The album showed an even further expansion of the band's sound, both musically and production wise. The album pushed the band in a more progressive and personal direction, as the concept revolved around John's retelling of the story of how he lost his brother to cancer when he was 18 years old. The album's tragic and personal concept was illustrated by a more diverse and progressive approach to power metal. The band was able to partner with Dirty Viking Audio (Shadowdance, Noble Beast, Helion Prime, etc) and Tower Studios (Ayreon, Noble Beast, etc) to have their first truly professionally produced album, and with the help of fan support, was able to crowd fund the production for the album. Additionally, "At the Expense of Humanity" saw the band partner with Divebomb Records, which Tony had previously worked with in Project: Roenwolfe, for a widespread release of the album and beyond. The album was met with enthusiastic underground/online critical praise, noting the professional and mature change of direction for the band, and that Judicator had finally come into their own. The band was able to also embark on their first small regional tours throughout the Southwest and West Coast of the United States in Spring 2015 and Summer 2016 in support of "At the Expense of Humanity".
Currently, the band is hard at work on their fourth full length album "The Last Emperor" which will see a return to the historical based and speed/power metal approach of the first two albums, and follow the tale of a historical fiction taking place during the second crusade. The album will be released via Divebomb Records some time in 2017 and be produced once more by Dirty Viking Audio and Tower Studio with plans for a midwest/east coast tour to follow in early 2018.
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