Persian Risk - History

History

In late 1980, Deverill was headhunted by the Tygers of Pan Tang and replaced by Carl Sentance, a former band mate of Nick Hughes and Razz in Leading Star. New vocalist in place, Persian Risk issued the now highly collectible Calling For You b/w Chase the Dragon 7" in 1981 before sacking Dave Bell's replacement, Alex Lohfink, and soldiering on as a four-piece. The band made further headway by contributing the aforementioned Calling For You to the "Heavy Metal Heroes Vol.2" compilation (Heavy Metal Records, 1982) and a new cut, 50.000 Stallions, to the "60 Minutes Plus" cassette compilation (Neat Records, 1982), also issued on vinyl as "All Hell Let Loose" by Neat in conjunction with Italy's Base Records label in 1983. Adding to their tally, the band followed it up with the Ridin' High b/w Hurt You 7" single through Neat, which earned Risk their strongest reviews yet.

It would turn out to be the final recording with drummer Razz who was sacked in late 1983. He was briefly superseded by Dixie Lee (ex-Lone Star, Wild Horses) before a more permanent replacement was a found in Steve Hopgood (ex-Chinatown, Shy). The band also added a new second guitarist, Graham Bath (ex-Sphinx). Persian Risk were dealt a significant blow when founding member Phil Campbell successfully auditioned for Motörhead, who would tap his old band for the support slot on their 1984 UK tour. Campbell's successor was Phil Vokins (ex-Tyrant, Wrathchild). Risk also signed a new record deal with London-based Zebra Records and issued the Too Different 12" EP in 1984 which saw the band temper their raw approach in favor of a somewhat more polished sound.

That same year, Persian Risk made their one and only national UK TV appearance when the band performed three songs - Women In Rock, Rise Up, and Too Different - on Channel 4's ECT program. All three songs would later feature on their "Rise Up" LP which finally saw the light of day in 1986 on Metal Masters. By that time, the band had already disintegrated, the result of mounting frustration after years of hard work and failing to get that elusive big break. Nick Hughes exited to join Idol Rich, drummer Steve Hopgood co-founded Wild! (and later joined Paul DiAnno's Battlezone and Killers as well as an early version of Jagged Edge), while Carl Sentance stepped in with Tokyo Blade on their 1986 European tour; he was also brought in as a guest vocalist by fellow Welsh act Tredegar for their 1986 debut album. Graham Bath, too, would later serve a stint with the DiAnno fronted Battlezone and Killers.

In February 2012, vocalist Carl Sentance announced on his Facebook page that he had recorded seven new songs and re-cut four old Persian Risk tracks for inclusion on a new Persian Risk album, albeit without any of the original members involved. While a full list of players has not yet been revealed, the participation of Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey and former Thunder bassist Chris Childs was confirmed by Sentance.

In a July 29, 2012 posting on the Persian Risk Facebook page, an August release was announced for the new album, entitled Once A King. On it Sentance, Airey and Childs are joined by bassist Alex Meadows, drummer Tim Brown and the guitar duo of Danny Willson and Howie G. The above mentioned album was released in October 2012.