Battleaxe are <!-- Per WP:ENGVAR, bands that originate from Great Britain are treated plural. Do not change "are" to "is". --> an English heavy metal band from Sunderland. They were part of the new wave of British heavy metal scene
History
The band started as Warrior, changing to Battleaxe in early 1981. The band consisted of Dave King (vocals), Brian Smith (bass), Steve Hardy (guitar), and Ian Thompson (drums).
2014 saw the departure of drummer Paul AT Kinson following the Keep It True Festival (Germany). Kinson had worked with the band on various demos and small shows since the early 1990s. He also helped to relaunch the band along with Dave King between 2007 and 2014, and was the producer of two official videos for the band during that period, as well as the main producer and co-writer the 2014 album Heavy Metal Sanctuary.
Ricky Squires (ex Heavy Metal Kids etc.) joined Battleaxe, replacing Kinson on drums, in May 2014, prior to their debut show at Bloodstock Open Air Festival. However, the distance between Squires (living in Ayrshire) and the band in Newcastle upon Tyne made it difficult to continue.
Battleaxe is using stand-in session drummer Steve Rix who played regularly with the late Chris Tsangarides (the band had planned to use Tsangarides to produce their new album in 2017/2018).
Gary Young (Avenger) stood in on drums for Battleaxe at metal festival BroFest (UK).
As of 2022, the band is working on a new album at White Wolf Recording Studios in County Durham. They hope to go back on tour in the future.