Salem (UK band)

1979 – 1983

Salem was founded in late 1979 by two members of Ethel The Frog, Paul Tognola (singer/guitar) and Paul Conyers (drums), with Adrian Jenkinson (bass) and Paul Macnamara (lead guitar). The first band met up on 2 January 1980 in The Red Lion pub in Anlaby, East Riding of Yorkshire. After a period of song writing and rehearsal, Salem gigged regularly and built a solid following in the Hull area. They recorded their first demo at Fairview Studios, Willerby in January 1981.

Soon after this first demo,Tognola left the band to be replaced by Simon Saxby as the new singer and later in the year by Mark Allison as the second guitarist. With this new line-up, Salem released its double A-side single, "Cold As Steel"/"Reach To Eternity", recorded again at Fairview on 4 April 1982; this considered to be one of the notable recordings from Fairview. Following the interview with Macnamara in the May 1982 Kerrang! (No. 15), the single appeared in the 'local chart' section of the magazine and singles were sold globally. According to the NWOBHM Encyclopaedia, the single is now, "a highly collectable and valuable rarity", and is also listed in Record Collector's "Rare Record Price Guide".

Salem continued with a new drummer Paul Mendham to perform in the North and North East of England and recorded another demo in September 1982, at Adda Studios in East Hull. Then as a result of their winning a Battle of bands competition at Huddersfield Polytechnic, Salem recorded the final demo at September Sound, Huddersfield, in March 1983.

Salem played their final gig on 31 May 1983, when the members left to follow different projects.

In The Beginning ...

In 2009, Macnamara was approached to release all of the band's 1980s recordings. After getting back in touch with all Salem band members, the double album compilation In The Beginning ... was released in June 2010 on High Roller Records (LP) and Pure Steel Records (CD).

Salem reformed with the same 1983 line-up and played their first performance in 27 years in hometown Hull at The Adelphi on 20 November 2010, the story attracting interest in the press.

In 2011, the band produced the limited edition, 'pre-release' "New Tricks" EP featuring three new tracks, "Retribution", "This Heart Is Mine" and "High Stakes." and a played another gig in Hull.

In July 2012, Ricky Squires, formerly of the dEAd End KIdS and the Heavy Metal Kids joined on drums to play festivals and gigs with Salem in Europe, including the Heavy Metal Night V in Martinsicuro, Italy, Negosonic in Aalst and Ages of Metal IV in Oostrozebeke, Belgium, and the Metieval Winterfest back in Hull.

The band, as with Mendham again, continued to record further music and released their limited edition "X Rated" EP for the BROFEST#1 in Newcastle on 2 March 2013, including a bonus new recording of "Reach To Eternity". Further gigs in 2013 included shows in Netherlands, Germany, and back home in the UK at The Fleece in Bristol with Jaguar and at Fruit in Hull.

In July 2015, a new re-mastered version of the In The Beginning ... album was released by High Roller Records. The songs have been re-arranged into the original chronological order.

Forgotten Dreams

Salem signed with Pure Steel Records again to release a new album "Forgotten Dreams" on 6 December 2013. The album, recorded at Hairy Monster Studios, has received critical acclaim as an "expertly crafted" "masterpiece".

In 2014, the band shot a short film at Fort Paull and in the crypt of Holy Trinity in Hull for "Forgotten Dreams" on YouTube, and the following year, the band filmed a second videos of the song "The Answer" on YouTube at sites in Barton-upon-Humber and Beverley.

Salem also played numerous festivals and gigs in UK, Europe and beyond, including Play It Loud in Italy, Very 'Eavy Festival in Netherlands, Headbangers Open Air in Germany, and Rock You To Hell in Greece. The final 2014 gig was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with deputy drummer, Oli Davis.

Salem played gigs in Belgium and England in 2015, and at festivals including Wildfire, Scotland, BÄÄÄM in Germany, Power & Glory II and headlining RockWich in UK, then in October, Salem was invited to play at British Steel festival in Fismes, France in place of Oliver/Dawson Saxon who had to cancel.

The band also contributed the track "Forgotten Dreams" to the RockWich 2015 commemorative CD, with all the other bands from the festival; all profits from the sale of the CD go to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Dark Days

The band recorded the new album "Dark Days" at Hairy Monster Studios again. Macnamara revealed in an interview with PlanetMosh that Salem had work on a collaboration with Manny Charlton for the new album. Dark Days was released on 29 April 2016 and has been described as, "simply flawless from start to finish" and considered one to the top albums of the year.

Salem has played a series of gigs and festivals in 2016 including Muskelrock in Sweden, a return to Headbangers Open Air, at Heavy Metal Maniacs in Netherlands, and gigs in Belgium and in UK with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head, Witchfynde and Spartan Warrior.

Events in 2017 already include gigs in Barcelona Spain, UK, Belgium and France.

Salem has been cited, along with Iron Maiden, Saxon and Tygers of Pan Tang, as one of the "top 10 NWOBHM bands that are better than ever!", and with the growing interest in the band, it has been suggested that their, “... Time Has Finally Come!”.

Discography