Cloven Hoof - Sultan's Ransom (Vinyl) (US Import)

Heavy Metal band from Wolverhampton, West Midlands (England).
Cloven Hoof was part of the N.W.O.B.H.M. movement.

The band was active from 1979 to 1990, and again from around 2000 onwards.
The band were associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, alongside bands such as Motörhead, Iron Maiden,Diamond Head and the likes. Enduring many line-up changes through their career, only founding bassist Lee Payne has existed as an ever-present member.

Biography

1979-1987

Cloven Hoof went through a few early line-up changes, including a brief spell with vocalist Steve Sammon, before settling on a steady line-up that would last their first few recordings. Theatrical from the beginning, the four band members took up pseudonyms after the four elements - David "Water" Potter, Steve "Fire" Rounds, Lee "Air" Payne and Kevin "Earth" Poutney. This line-up recorded the band's successful demo tape from 1982, along with The Opening Ritual EP, and Cloven Hoof.

Following the release of their self-titled debut, David Potter left the band to be replaced by Rob Kendrick, who took up the "Water" pseudonym. This line-up only managed to record the live album Fighting Back, before splitting up completely soon after the release of the album. Lee Payne was the only member left, and soldiered on through the years.

1988-1990

Lee Payne started the band again in 1988, hiring vocalist Russ North and guitarist Andy Wood from the split up band Tredegar along with drummer Jon Brown.

With a whole new set of musicians in place, the band dropped the stage names and went on to record two more albums - 1988's Dominator and 1989's A Sultan's Ransom. Former member of Sweet Andy Scott was brought to the band for the role of second guitarist soon after the release of these two albums, but contractual difficulties caused the band to split up in 1990.

2001-2007

In the summer of 2001, Lee Payne began putting a new line-up together for the next reincarnation of Cloven Hoof when Andy Wood had phoned him about the contractual difficulties that had utlimately caused the band to split up for a whole decade.

After a few years work and failure to entice back any previous Hoof members, Eye of the Sun was recorded and released in 2006 with the help of studio musicians Matt Moreton on vocals, Andy Shortland on guitars, and Lynch Radinsky on drums. According to Payne, it was the first Cloven Hoof album to have been produced without any obstacles that plagued them in the 1980s, but even though he was proud of the album's successful production, he still wanted Russ North to provide his own vocals for it instead of Moreton's.

Following the successful comeback release, the three hired musicians by Payne left once Russ North returned to the fold after finally taking care of the obstacles that prevented him from rejoining a few years earlier.

Source: Discogs