Satan

Satan is a heavy metal band from Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, England, United Kingdom, that was formed in 1979. The band had temporary changed its name twice, in 1984 to Blind Fury and in 1988 to Pariah. The name Satan was used from 1979 to 1984, from 1985 to 1988, in 2004 and since 2011. The band was part of the NWOBHM movement.

The band was formed in 1979 by guitarists Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins. They are considered part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. After several line up changes, the band (including Ramsey, Tippins, bassist Graeme English, drummer Sean Taylor, and vocalist Brian Ross) recorded the band's first LP, 1983's "Court in the Act". Following the release of the record, and finding themselves disagreeing over the direction of the band, Satan parted ways with Ross and replaced him with Lou Taylor, who had briefly been part of Satan in 1982. Feeling the name Satan was limiting the band and not wanting be associated with the connotations that came with it, the band adopted the name of the act that Lou Taylor had been previously working with, Blind Fury. Blind Fury released one LP in 1985. The rest of the band parted ways with Lou Taylor following the release, replacing him with vocalist Michael Jackson and reverting to the Satan moniker. This version of Satan released the LP "Suspended Sentence" in 1987. In 1988, they rebranded as Pariah, retaining the same line up and releasing two albums before splitting in 1990. Ramsey, Tippins, and English relaunched Pariah in 1997 with a new drummer (Ian McCormack, who had been Sean Taylor's predecessor in Satan) and vocalist. They released one album but broke up in 1998. In 2004, Ramsey, Tippins, English, and Brian Ross regrouped for an appearance at the Wacken Open Air Festival (Sean Taylor was suffering an injury and unable to perform). The full "Court in the Act" line up permanently reunited in 2011 to tour and record.