Triarchy were a cult new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) band from Kent / South London. Triarchy’s first two singles, Save the Khan (1979) and Metal Messiah (1981), in their original vinyl format, are amongst the most sought-after and collectable releases from the early NWOBHM period in the UK. Although very happy to be identified as part of the NWOBHM genre, Triarchy were never a ‘straight down the line’ metal band, and drew influences not only from classic heavy and progressive rock, but also from punk and from artists as far apart musically as early Ultravox! and Cream. The High Roller Tapes collects together nearly all of Triarchy's main recorded output (see note below).

The first recording line-up (as featured on Save the Khan, Juliet’s Tomb and Wheel of Samsara on The High Roller Tapes) was Graham Legg (guitar), Mark Newbold (drums) and Mike Wheeler (bass, keyboards, vocals). Soon after the release of Save the Khan, Graham Legg left the band and the guitar duties were taken up by Brian Galibardy (Metal Messiah, Sweel Alcohol). Brian Galibardy then left to be replaced briefly by a guitarist called Justin (second name lost in the mists of time, but he plays on Rock Child). When Mark Newbold gave up drumming for other things (notably photography), a later line-up of the band featuring Mark Annal (drums), Pete More (guitar) and Eddie Webb (guitar), alongside Mike Wheeler, gigged for a while but never recorded.

After Triarchy finally folded in 1982, Mike Wheeler played with Mark Dawson (guitar; previously a member of NWOBHM band Legend, now in Purple Zeppelin) and Paul Gunn (drums; ex-Squeeze) in a recording-only project. Three tracks from that project (Ghost of an Emotion, Marionette, Before your very Eyes) are incorporated as part of the Triarchy material released here.

In 1994, in response to a surge in interest in the band, some of Triarchy’s recorded material was released in album form as Before your very Ears (Vinyl Tap Records, 1994, CD). Mike Wheeler, Mark Newbold (now on percussion) and Brian Galibardy, ably assisted by Alan Tracy (ex-Legend) on drums, reformed the band to record one of Triarchy’s all-time stage favourites, Hiroshima, for inclusion on the album. Hiroshima is the final song included on The High Roller Tapes. Further album-length collections of Triarchy material were released in 2007 as Live to Fight Again (High Roller Records, vinyl) and in 2015 as Save the Khan (High Roller Records, vinyl, CD). Triarchy are extremely grateful to High Roller Records for permitting the masters from the Save the Khan album to be used as the basis for the Spotify release, and to the aforementioned Mark Dawson (Golddust Studios) for some remastering that made the tracks suitable for streaming.

Mike Wheeler now writes and performs as a solo artist. His recorded material is also available on Bandcamp.

NOTE: this album has also been released on other digital platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon. On those platforms, the album includes an extra track, Hellhound on my Trail, which is Triarchy's reimagining of an old Robert Johnson blues classic. We apologise that this track had to be removed from the Bandcamp version, because of a difference in the copyright rules.