Lordian Guard

by Eduardo RivadaviaLordian Guard were a Christian heavy metal project founded by onetime Warlord guitarist Bill Tsamis in 1995. Having also taken up keyboards and bass for this semi-solo pursuit, Tsamis recruited vocalist Vidonne Sayre-Riemenschneider and drummer Michael Cerularius the following year and recorded Lordian Guard's eponymous debut using several songs originally written as Warlord demos. The debut and its 1997 successor, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, reflected not only Tsamis' religious views (though not in an overt, preachy fashion) but also his increasing preference for keyboards over guitars, thereby distancing the group from its original, heavy metal constituents. Nevertheless, Lordian Guard soon got busy with the sessions for their planned third album, reportedly entitled The Holy Empire, but broke up before its release, leaving only one track, "Invaders," to surface on Hellion Records' subsequent Warzone XIV: Epic Metal Storm compilation.