Early history Diamond Head were formed in 1976 in
Stourbridge by schoolfriends Brian Tatler and Duncan Scott. In June 1976 they found singer Sean Harris, who was in the same year, and went through three bass players before settling on Collin Kimberley in Feb 1978. The band recorded two self-financed demo tapes in 1979. They were recorded within six hours on a four-track, one of which was sent to
Geoff Barton at
Sounds. The timing was perfect with the emergence of the
new wave of British heavy metal. In 1979/80, Diamond Head were managed by budding local managers Dave Morris and Ian Frazier. Morris put some money into the band and tried to get the band a record deal; Frazier took to driving the band around the UK when on tour. Sean Harris's mother (Linda Harris) persuaded her boss and boyfriend (Reg Fellows) to see the band with a view to investing in them. Diamond Head's demos and live reputation gained enough attention for the band to get two support dates with
AC/DC and one with
Iron Maiden at
The Lyceum, London. Although several record companies expressed interest in signing the band, and their managers secured a couple of offers, none were deemed worthy by Fellows and Linda Harris, who were now beginning to advise Sean Harris as he still lived at home with his mother. Internal professional disputes regarding Diamond Head's representation led to the departure of managers Morris and Frazier, leaving Reg Fellows and Linda Harris in sole control. Consequently, while contemporary New Wave of British Heavy Metal acts secured major label contracts and began entering the U.S. market, Diamond Head remained independent. Guitarist Brian Tatler attributes this to the managers' unrealistic expectations regarding contract terms; when no suitable offer materialized, Fellows opted to record an album rapidly at the local 24-track studio where the band had tracked their debut single, "
Shoot Out the Lights." In a transaction involving no upfront payment, studio owner Muff Murfin provided one week of recording time in exchange for 50 percent of the band's publishing rights for fifteen years. Despite the master tapes being circulated to various labels, the debut album,
Lightning to the Nations, failed to attract a recording contract. Their management subsequently coordinated a release of 1,000 copies through Happy Face Records, an independent label owned by Murfin. To minimize production costs, the album was issued in a plain white sleeve without a title or track listing, intended by management to be perceived as a "demo" recording; 250 of these copies were signed by the band members. These initial pressings were sold for £3.50 at live performances and via mail-order through a six-week advertisement in
Sounds. However, because the band's management failed to pay for the media placement, the publication ultimately pursued legal action against them. The original stereo master tapes were lost after they were sent to the German record company, Woolfe Records, who released a vinyl version of the album with a new sleeve. The tapes were not returned until they were eventually tracked down by
Lars Ulrich and Phonogram Germany for inclusion on the 1990 compilation album, ''
New Wave of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited''. In 1980,
Pete Winkelman from Wolverhampton got involved and tried to sign Diamond Head to his new label, Media Records. Winkelman had been a record plugger and he advised the band to change management but this advice was not heeded. In the end, Diamond Head only agreed to make one single for Winkelman, a re-recorded version of "
Sweet & Innocent" b/w "Streets of Gold", which came out around October 1980. In January 1981, Diamond Head successfully opened for
April Wine on their UK tour. An ambitious UK tour was planned for the summer as a way of being perceived as being more popular than they actually were. An EP called
Diamond Lights was recorded quickly in three days to help pay towards the expenses. They also hired the Wolverhampton chapter of Hells Angels to perform security duties on the whole tour. They bypassed promoters and booked the venues with a local agent to avoid paying a percentage, but with little promotion for the tour, it lost money. The only A&R man who was determined to sign the band was Charlie Eyre, who quit his job at A&M and joined MCA in order to sign Diamond Head and Musical Youth. Discussions went on for around six months until the band finally signed a five-album deal on 1 January 1982.
Borrowed Time First on the agenda was to record and release the
Four Cuts EP, which contained two early era songs, "
Shoot Out the Lights" and "Dead Reckoning", and the band did a whistle-stop UK tour of the clubs to promote it. A link-up with agent Neil Warnock at The Agency secured Diamond Head a Friday night slot on the Reading Festival bill in 1982, albeit as late and unadvertised replacements for
Manowar. Their set was recorded by the
BBC and later released in 1992 through Raw Fruit Records as the
Friday Rock Show Sessions. Their first MCA album,
Borrowed Time, The band were able to perform a full-scale UK tour at premier venues such as London's
Hammersmith Odeon. To support the album, Diamond Head's released their sixth single, "In the Heat of the Night", backed with live versions of "
Play It Loud" and "
Sweet and Innocent" recorded at the Zig-Zag club, and an interview with
DJ Tommy Vance (although the latter was not available on the 12").
Canterbury Once the two-week UK tour was over, they were told to start writing the next album. The band tried a more experimental sounding follow-up to
Borrowed Time, tentatively titled
Making Music which was re-named
Canterbury in 1983. and it was noted that the album cost more to make but sold less. Diamond Head were invited to open that year's
Monsters of Rock festival and, for the first time, toured Europe as special guests of
Black Sabbath. On 1 January 1984, MCA did not pick up the option for a third album.
1984 to 2000 In early 1984, Diamond Head did an 18-date UK tour which lost money. Harris and Tatler continued to write together, and in October/November, Diamond Head re-convened in a purpose-built studio in Stambermill, West Midlands, to record their next album. It was never finished, and the band fell apart in early 1985. Diamond Head headlined a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the NWOBHM at the
London Astoria, supported by
Witchfynde,
Bronz,
Praying Mantis, and
Jaguar. This concert was later released as a live CD titled ''It's Electric'' and also the band's first DVD,
To the Devil His Due, in 2006. The band's rhythm guitarist Adrian Mills left the band and was replaced with Andy 'Abbz' Abberley, previously in Cannock band Chase with drummer Karl Wilcox. In 2007 Diamond Head released ''
What's in Your Head?'' produced by Dave (Shirt) Nichols. In 2008, Nick announced that he and his family were going to emigrate to Brisbane. The band continued to tour but now has the extra expense of flying the singer backward and forwards from Australia. Diamond Head toured the US (twice) plus Japan and Europe, including two dates opening for the Big 4. Nick's last show with Diamond Head was 4 October 2013.
Rasmus Bom Andersen era and hiatus (2014–present) After recruiting new vocalist Rasmus Bom Andersen (a Danish-born singer living in London) in 2014, Diamond Head toured the UK and began work on their self-titled album
Diamond Head, released in 2016. The band took part in the
70000 Tons of Metal cruise around the Caribbean and toured the Canada, Europe and the US. Work began on their eighth studio album,
The Coffin Train, in mid-2016, and it was released in May 2019. By this time, Diamond Head had signed to Silver Lining Records and is now managed by Siren Management. The album entered the
UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart at number 5, ten places higher than the band's self-titled album. In 2018 Diamond Head did a UK and European tour and then opened for Black Star Riders across Europe in 2019. On 1 September 2022 in an interview with TotalRock, guitarist Brian Tatler talked about an upcoming follow-up to their previous 2019 release. "We haven't had the chance to record the drums yet, but as soon as we can, that's the next thing. We've pretty much got the material ready to go as demos. We've done rehearsals where we record the rehearsals and we've done home demos and things. But the next step will be get in the studio and get the drums down and then we can build on top of the drums." Work had been delayed on the forthcoming record due in part to Tatler replacing
Saxon guitarist Paul Quinn. On 16 June 2025, Tatler announced the band was on hiatus due to his commitments with
Saxon. ==Musical style and influences==