Mournblade (band)

Lore & Background

Mournblade was formed in September 1982 by Dunken Francis Mullet and Richie Jones. With similar interest in science fiction writing and the music of bands like Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies and Motörhead, they quickly started writing music together and within a few months did their first gig at Ealing College student union hall. The early line-up included Derek Jasnock (keyboards), Richard Jones (guitar), Dunken Mullet (vocals), Nigel Tubb (drums) and Clive Baxter (bass). The band's early influences included the books of Michael Moorcock, from whom they reportedly obtained permission to use the name 'Mournblade'. Their early live shows featured elaborate props including a 2.5-metre wooden sword, a 1.5-metre high Victorian doll, and a devil suit with a 3.5-metre wingspan.

After signing with Flicknife Records, they released their f

Reader's Guide

Mournblade's significance lies in their dual identity: an early space rock act with theatrical, Moorcock-inspired shows, and a later incarnation as one of the last bands of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Their early work, with elaborate props and costume changes, connected science fiction literature to heavy metal performance, while their later stripped-down sound and relentless touring exemplified the NWOBHM ethos. Though they never achieved mainstream success, they built a dedicated fanbase and earned a Kerrang! feature dubbing them the 'Future of Heavy Metal'. Their 2012 reunion and subsequent releases, including a documentary, demonstrate enduring fan interest. The band's legacy is preserved through their albums, live recordings, and the documentary 'Mournblade – The Resurrection', which captures their return after a 24-year break.

Did You Know?

• The band is named after a sword from Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné stories, and Moorcock officially gave permission to use the name.
• The band performed over 400 gigs in a few years and played at the Stonehenge Festival in 1984 and 1985.
• After a 24-year break, Mournblade reformed in 2012 with only three days rehearsal and played a festival in the Netherlands.

Origins & Theatrical Identity

Mournblade was born in the autumn of 1982 in London, when Dunken Francis Mullet and Richie Jones, united by a shared passion for science-fiction literature and the sonic worlds of Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies, and Motörhead, began writing material together. Within months they had assembled a five-piece—adding Derek Jasnoch on keyboards, Nigel Tubb on drums, and Clive Baxter on bass—and took the stage at the Ealing College student union hall. The band's name carries literary weight: it references a sword from Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné cycle, and Moorcock himself formally granted permission to use it at a book-signing event. Their early live performances were as much theatre as music. Mullet would swap costumes fourteen times per show, wielding a two-and-a-half-metre wooden sword, a towering Victorian doll dubbed "Victoria," a rotting World War I soldier's mask, a devil suit with a three-and-a-half-metre wingspan, and a gold-sprayed motorcycle helmet fitted with LED lights and a small laser. This space-rock-inflected spectacle defined their first incarnation.

The Pivot: Space Rock to NWOBHM

When Richie Jones departed in 1987, the band's theatrical first chapter closed. The remaining members made a deliberate choice to shed the elaborate costumes and makeup, stripping the music down to something rawer and more direct. In this leaner four-piece configuration, the keyboard role was largely supplanted by Paul "Blacken" White's heavily distorted eight-string Rickenbacker bass, giving the sound a thicker, more aggressive edge. Critics and fans alike now place this second era among the final acts of the new wave of British heavy metal. The band released their second album, Live Fast Die Young, and embarked on a punishing touring circuit across the UK and continental Europe. One British run alone packed thirty-six shows into forty-three days, with all four members living and travelling together in a single bus. They headlined the London Hippodrome—a performance captured and broadcast by MTV—along with the Marquee Club, and shared stages with Motörhead, Doctor and The Medics, Zodiac Mindwarp, Hazel O'Connor, and The Enid. The relentless pace of that schedule ultimately wore the group down, and Mournblade split in late 1989.

Resurrection & Reimagining

After a twenty-four-year silence, Mournblade reassembled in 2012, driven largely by persistent fan demand. The reunion was far from easy: singer and co-founder Mullett had emigrated to New Zealand in 2005, and the group managed to rehearse for only three days before taking the stage at the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival in Hoorn, Netherlands. That show was documented in the film Mournblade – The Resurrection, directed by Henrieta Tornyai, and the band followed it with two releases—Live & Loud, drawn from rehearsal recordings, and Live in Holland, a double DVD pairing the documentary with the concert footage. The original "mk1" lineup also undertook a deeper creative project. Beginning in 2013 and continuing through 2014, they revisited every track from their 1985 debut Times Running Out, re-recording the six original songs and adding three previously cut pieces from Ein Heldentraum. New linking passages were composed to bind the material into a cohesive concept. The finished album, Time's Running Out 2015, appeared on CD in September 2015 via Non Nobis Productions, followed by a vinyl pressing—including a limited translucent edition—in June 2016.

The Grind: Building a Following

Mournblade's first official release, the mini-LP Times Running Out on Flicknife Records, launched a period of relentless live performance. Over the course of just a few years the band played more than four hundred gigs across the UK, becoming regular fixtures on the free-festival circuit, including appearances at the Stonehenge Festival in both 1984 and 1985. Their early connections to Hawkwind, however, proved a double-edged sword: the band struggled to convert Hawkwind's audience or attract a broader rock following, and that initial momentum gradually dissipated. What they did build, through sheer consistency, was a devoted regional following. In London they became a staple of the Marquee Club, the 100 Club, and Dingwalls, while also cultivating loyal fanbases in South Wales and the Midlands. That dedication did not go unnoticed in the press. Kerrang! magazine devoted a full-colour feature to the group, coining the frequently cited phrase "Future of Heavy Metal"—a plaudit that has stuck to the band's reputation ever since, a small but meaningful recognition for a crew that had spent years on the road with little else to show for it.