The legendary Vardis are back with a new album which isn’t really a new album.
They’ve been a big favourite of mine since they came to the fore in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal days and I saw them supporting Hawkwind on the Levitation tour all the way back in 1980.
It’s been a decade or so since their last studio album – Red Eye – and moments ago an email popped in announcing the upcoming release of 100 M.P.H ‘79 Revisited.
The email blurb describes it as: a brand new archive album bringing together unreleased 70s studio sessions and earliest self-released records reissued for the first time. Recorded from 1977-80, these sessions capture Vardis at full throttle during their transformative period fusing hard boogie and heavy rock into the birth of the band’s NWOBHM sound.
The blurb goes on to have this to say about it with the background:
Recorded live at the Electric Ballroom in London and issued on Logo Records in 1980, Vardis’ debut album 100 M.P.H. is considered to be one of the milestones of the glorious New Wave Of British Heavy Metal period.
However, the roots of Vardis go way back to 1977, when they formed in Wakefield under the name of Quo Vadis.
The trio quickly started to record demos and in 1979, their debut 4-track 7” EP »100 M.P.H.«, consisting of raw, fast, almost punkish versions of “100 M.P.H.”, “Blue Rock”, “Destiny” and “The World’s Insane”, saw the light of day via Redball Records (today a precious collector’s item). Along with five other songs, 100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited compiles nine of the earliest Vardis studio recordings.
100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited« has been mastered (including additional audio restoration) by Patrick W. Engel at his Temple Of Disharmony in September 2025, ensuring the best possible audio quality, and includes new liner notes by bassist Alan Selway, who says about 100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited: “This album represents our journey.
From hopefuls to recording artists, plotting a course of licking stamps, building speaker boxes, wielding spanners and screwdrivers in greasy hands and endless late nights in motorway services after triumphant performances in all manner of venues, from grotty pubs with their sticky carpets to tour date rock clubs filled with denim, leather and shaking heads. I
t represents a friendship forged in a common goal: to progress and ultimately succeed. From a boy to a man, I grew up with this band, with these comrades, these songs.”
The CD version of 100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited contains three exclusive bonus recordings of Blue Rock, Dirty Money and The World’s Insane, recorded at Ohm Studios in July 1978.
Bassist Alan Selway remembers: “With some inventive overdubbing of acoustic guitar, tambourine and double-tracked vocals plus my harmony vocals on the first recorded version of ‘Blue Rock’, we were beginning to explore arrangements and expand the band’s capabilities beyond our usual live loud straight- down-the-line three-piece boogie.”
The release will be available on CD & LP via High Roller Records and on digital via Hoplite Records on 24th April 2026.
Pre-orders are available now from High Roller – the bad news being that according to High Roller’s web site, there is a 160 Euro minimum order for postage to the UK. Yes – 160 Euro minimum.
High Roller Records: https://www.hrrecords.de/search/?qs=vardis
At time of posting (13th February 2026), High Roller appears to be the only option for physical versions. I’d be surprised if other outlets are not available in due course prior to release. So keep an eye out.
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