Valkyrie are another amazing band I came across when I first
moved to the States. And to say it was love at first sight is a huge
understatement. After all, how can you not love the vocal harmonies and the
truly amazing twin-axe attack from brothers, Jake and Pete Adams? And don't
forget the fantastic songs they write? That they aren't a worldwide phenomenon
is beyond me. However, those who love Valkyrie knows what I'm talking about.
Seeing the light of day in Virginia in 2002 when Jake Adams
joined forces with bassist Eric Seaman and drummer Luke Shafer, Valkyrie took
about a year to get some songs together but once the ball got rolling the aptly
titled 'Demo 1' was released in 2003. 'Demo 2' followed in 2004but with a change. Jake’s brother, Pete, had
joined on guitars and vocals, making the band a quartet and the two siblings
have worked side by side ever since. However, this was also the end of the road
for Luke Shafer who was replaced by Michael Hoke who appeared on the untitled
promo, also unleashed in 2004. It was reshuffling time already in November 2004
as Eric as well as Mike departed and it took the Adams
brothers until January 2005 to find replacements in the shape of Nick Crabill,
bass guitar, and Nic McInturff, drums. Despite only lasting 13 months this
lineup released ‘Sunlight Shines’, the ‘Withered Tree’ split single with VOG
and the excellent self-titled full-length debut. However, by February 2006,
both Nicks were gone and Mark 5 of Valkyrie appeared.
Will Barry-Rec was the new 4-stringer and Gary Isom banged
the skins. Strangely though, this is the only formation of the band which never
recorded anything. Well, never released anything at least. And I don’t know if
there’s any material from this era hidden somewhere. Isom left 15 months later
and was replaced by the affable Warren Hawkins in July 2007 and he is still in
the band. Album number two, the fantastic ‘Man Of Two Visions’ and the ‘False
Dreams’ split single with Bible Of The Devil were created and unleashed by Mark
6 before the last change, so far, occurred. During all this Pete joined
Baroness in 2008 and doubled with them until he left in 2017. Will left in 2011
and Alan Fary from Earthling, a band Jake was briefly in, took over his spot
and this formation is, at the time of writing, what makes Valkyrie. Stability
at last which is visible in the recorded output. Two wonderful full-lengths,
‘Shadows’ and ‘Fear’ as well as the single ‘Mountain Stomp’, a split with
Earthling, has been amassed so far and like anything they’ve done prior show
the enormous talent this band has. Even though some time can lapse between the
releases, Valkyrie always evolve. The changes aren’t necessarily huge but
always noticeable while retaining the foundation they built the band on. And
that’s a fantastic trait for a band. And more importantly, this is a band full
of so much talent which they all know how to use.
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