Night Demon is an American heavy metal band from

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

. Performing as a

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quartet ...

, the band is among several bands participating in the resurgence of traditional, old-school heavy metal in the 2010s. Night Demon has released two studio albums on independent record labels plus a live concert album and regularly performs at heavy metal festivals worldwide.

History

Beginnings and ''Night Demon'' EP (2011–2014)

Night Demon was formed by vocalist/bassist Jarvis Leatherby and guitarist Brent Woodward in May 2011. The Night Demon EP was released on June 18, 2013, in 7" vinyl format (500 copies) via Reinig Records. Two months later, Shadow Kingdom Records issued a CD edition of the EP. The Night Demon EP was well received by the underground heavy metal press; According to a

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in October ...

review, the tracks would appeal to existing fans of vintage headbanger music and also attract some new listeners to the genre. In September 2013, Night Demon retained Pennsylvania transplant Dusty Squires (formerly of the band New Liberty) as drummer. A month later, the band performed three shows in Santa Ana, Los Angeles and Las Vegas with NWOBHM bands

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

and Diamond Head. In April 2014, Night Demon made their first festival appearance at the Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalypse in Chicago, Illinois. On April 23, 2014, the band embarked on a six-week, 31-show European tour, starting in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany and including appearances at Keep It True Festival (Germany), Pounding Metal Festival (Spain), and Muskelrock Festival (Sweden). Night Demon was the guest band on

's seven-week "ExtermiNation America Tour 2014" in October and November 2014. During this time, the band's live shows included nightly appearances by the band's mascot "Rocky", the hooded skeletal goblet-wielding figure from the cover of the Night Demon EP; since then Rocky's appearance onstage during "The Chalice" has become a regular event during Night Demon performances.

''Curse of the Damned'' (2015–2016)

Night Demon's full-length debut album, ''Curse of the Damned'', was released in January 2015 on SPV in Europe and on

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

in the rest of the world. The album garnered many favorable reviews, and was voted the #1 album of 2015 by listeners of the

WJCU WJCU (88.7 FM) – branded WJCU 88.7 FM – is a non-commercial educational college/variety radio station licensed to University Heights, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. The station is owned by John Carroll University, which operates ...

Metal on Metal radio show. Guitarist Brent Woodward parted ways with Night Demon in January 2016. His replacement, Armand John Anthony, had served as a studio engineer on both the Curse of the Damned album and the debut EP. He had previously played with Night Demon drummer Dusty Squires in New Liberty and he had played drums for Night Demon as a last-minute fill-in for a show at the Old Towne Pub in Pasadena, California in 2013. The new Night Demon lineup continued touring internationally in support of ''Curse of the Damned''. They performed about 100 shows in 2016 and early 2017, including "Final Curse" tours of the United States with Utah band Visigoth. concerts in Europe in which they performed Curse of the Damned in its entirety, a slot on the Carcass /

Crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

/ Ghoul tour of the US in summer 2016, appearances at Germany's

Bang Your Head!!! Bang Your Head!!! is a heavy metal and hard rock festival held annually in Germany. First held in 1996 as a one-day indoor event in the Stefan-Hartmann-Halle in Tübingen with a crowd of 600 people, Bang Your Head!!! has since moved to Balingen ...

Festival, a second appearance at their hometown Frost & Fire Festival, and a 19-show South American tour.

''Darkness Remains'' (2017–2018)

Night Demon's second album, Darkness Remains, was released in April 2017 on SPV in Europe and on

in the rest of the world. The album was preceded by the singles "Welcome to the Night" (with an accompanying music video) and "Hallowed Ground." A 7" vinyl single for "Black Widow" was also issued, backed with a cover version of Black Sabbath's "Turn Up the Night". Darkness Remains was released to positive reviews from the worldwide heavy metal press, including monthly soundcheck rankings of #1 in ''Deaf Forever'' magazine and #3 in ''

Hard Rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

''. The German ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' magazine praised ''Darkness Remains'' and recommended the album to fans of early music by

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, and Tygers of Pan Tang. Night Demon played more than 100 shows around the world in 2017 in support of Darkness Remains. Highlights included a spring US tour supporting

Anvil An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked"). Anvils are as massive as practical, because the higher th ...

, a spring European tour dubbed "Darkness Over Europe", a November tour of the UK and Ireland ''(Darkness over U.K.&Ireland)'', and appearances at festivals in Europe and the US, including Ozzfest (California),

Rock Hard Festival Rock Hard Festival is a heavy metal festival organized and sponsored by the ''Rock Hard'' magazine. First established in Lichtenfels, Bavaria, Germany, in 1990 on an irregular basis, mostly for magazine anniversaries, it is held annually in Gelsen ...

(Germany),

Summer Breeze Open Air Summer Breeze Open Air is an annual German heavy metal music festival. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. The festival draws around 40,00 ...

(Germany), Party San (Germany), Keep It True (Germany), Very 'Eavy (Netherlands), Pounding Metal (Spain), Up the Hammers (Greece), Muskelrock (Sweden), Headbangers Open Air (Germany), Chaos Descends (Germany), Defenders of the Old (New York), Days of Darkness (Maryland), and Frost & Fire (California). Night Demon closed out the year with a headlining appearance at the Cleveland Metal Holiday Food Drive in Cleveland, Ohio in December. The show was recorded in front of a large crowd at The Beachland Ballroom and was released as a triple-live album, ''Live Darkness'', in August 2018 via

/Shadow Kingdom Records in the US, and SPV in Europe. In September 2017, the German ''Metal Hammer'' magazine presented Night Demon with an award for best "Up & Coming" band. The Metal Hammer awards show received substantial international media coverage. Darkness Remains was named album of the year in magazines such as ''Deaf Forever'' and ''Rocks!'', and Night Demon again earned the top spot in the

Metal on Metal Listeners Poll for 2017. In 2018, Night Demon toured Europe for five weeks in January and February 2018 as part of

Accept Accept may refer to: * Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc. * Accept (band), a German heavy metal band ** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979 * ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970 * ACCEPT (or ...

's "The Rise of Chaos" tour. That summer they went on the European festival circuit, including return engagements at the

and the

Festival in Germany, and Muskelrock in Sweden, as well as their debut appearance at the

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

Festival, the largest heavy metal festival in the world.

''Live Darkness'' (2018–2020)

Following the release of the ''Live Darkness'' album in summer 2018, Night Demon embarked on extensive tours of the United States and Europe, then played a series of one-off shows in both North America and Europe. On November 30, 2018, the band performed at the '' Decibel Magazine'' festival pre-party at the legendary

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

nightclub in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

supporting

Armored Saint Armored Saint is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. Since 1990, the band has consisted of John Bush on lead vocals, Joey Vera on bass, Jeff Duncan (musician), Jeff Duncan on rhythm guitar and the Sandoval ...

. On December 21, 2018, Night Demon played the "Another Death Angel Xmas" show with Bay Area thrash veterans

Death Angel Death Angel is an American thrash metal band from Daly City, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released nine studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and three live albums. The band has gone ...

at the famed Slim's venue in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. On February 2–3, 2019, Night Demon played a pair of shows aboard the

Independence of the Seas ''Independence of the Seas'' is a operated by Royal Caribbean International. The 15-deck ship was built in the Aker Finnyards Turku Shipyard, Finland. At 154,407 GT, she joined ''Freedom of the Seas'' and ''Liberty of the Seas'' as the larges ...

cruise ship as part of the

70000 Tons of Metal 70000 Tons of Metal (officially stylized as 70000TONS OF METAL) is an annual heavy metal music festival that takes place on board a cruise ship. The event is a five-day festival, including one shore day at a select Caribbean destination. H ...

Festival traveling between Ft. Lauderdale and Haiti. On March 2, 2019, the band headlined the Hell Over Hammaburg festival at the

Markthalle Hamburg Markthalle Hamburg is a convention center located at Klosterwall, Hammerbrook in the city of Hamburg, Germany. It was designed by the architect Fritz Schumacher and built in 1913. The main hall can hold up to 1,000 people. Many notable artists ...

in the city of

Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. At this special show, former Scorpions guitarist

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Aca ...

joined Night Demon on stage for an encore consisting of "In Trance" and "Top of the Bill" from the Scorpions' 1975 ''

In Trance IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

'' album. In November and December 2019, Night Demon conducted a five-week tour of Europe as direct support for Arizona

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Sacred Reich Sacred Reich is an American thrash metal band based in Phoenix, Arizona, that was formed in 1985. The band split in 2000, but reunited in 2006. Sacred Reich has been credited, along with Testament, Destruction, Death Angel and Dark Angel, for ...

. In spring 2020, Night Demon released their first new music in three years. On April 3, 2020, the band released a new single called "Empires Fall", featuring a cover of "Fast Bikes" by obscure NWOBHM band Le Griffe as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. On May 8, 2020, Night Demon released a second single entitled "Kill the Pain", with the B-side being a cover of

Cirith Ungol In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and ...

song "100 mph". During the spring and summer of 2020, three more strictly limited 7" singles followed: "Are You Out There" (b/w Thin Lizzy cover "The Sun Goes Down") released on June 5, 2020; "Vysteria" (b/w

cover "Wasted Years") released on July 3, 2020; and "In Trance" ( Scorpions cover b/w "Top of the Bill" both recorded live with

) released on August 7, 2020.

''Year of the Demon'' (2022)

All five of the 2020 7" singles sold out almost instantly. Many diehard fans were unable to obtain physical copies. And none of the B-sides of these singles were ever released on digital/streaming platforms. To bring these songs to a wider audience, Night Demon will release a special compilation album entitled ''Year of the Demon'' via

worldwide on March 25, 2022, in various physical and digital formats."Night Demon to Release Year of the Demon Single Compilation Album in March" (https://bravewords.com/news/night-demon-to-release-year-of-the-demon-single-compilation-album-in-march). ''BraveWords''. Retrieved February 25, 2022. ''Year of the Demon'' collects all 10 songs from the 2020 standalone singles in a comprehensive repository, and adds stunning new artwork to the package. Following the release of this album, Night Demon is touring extensively worldwide for the remainder of 2022. Plans call for a brand-new studio album to see the light of day in early 2023.

Band members

Current * Jarvis Leatherby – lead vocals, bass (2011–present) * Dusty Squires – drums, backing vocals (2013–present) * Armand John Anthony – guitars, backing vocals (2016–present) Former * Brent Woodward – guitars (2011–2016) * Patrick Bailey – drums (2011–2012) * John Crerar – drums (2012–2013)

Discography

* ''Night Demon'' EP (Shadow Kingdom Records) – 2013, re-released in various formats on a number of labels in 2014–2018 * ''Curse of the Damned'' (

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

/US, Steamhammer/Europe) – January 2015 * ''Darkness Remains'' (Century Media/US, Steamhammer/Europe) – April 2017 * ''Live Darkness'' (Century Media and Shadow Kingdom/US, Steamhammer/Europe) – August 2018 * ''Year of the Demon'' (Century Media) - March 2022 Singles * "Empires Fall" (Century Media) – 2020 * "Kill the Pain" (Century Media) – 2020 * "Are You Out There" (Century Media) - 2020 * "Vysteria" (Century Media) - 2020 * "In Trance" (Century Media) - 2020 * "The Last Day" (Decibel Flexi Series) - 2022

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups from Ventura County, California 2011 establishments in California