History & Biography Seattle-based heavy metallers Heir Apparent was formed in 1983. The band Sapien was formed after local soundman and guitarist Terry Gorle met manager and record store owner Kim Harris who at that time was working with Queensrÿche. Harris would prompt the formation of a band after wondering of a solo Gorle album could be made. Gorle would sing at first as well. Sapien would soon change its monicker to Nemesis and feature Helms Deep singer Cory Rivers. This man had also played, as a guitarist, with Geoff Tate in Babylon. When Rivers left the business, Gorle recruited an old singer from a covers’ band he knew. The band was now Davidson, Gorle, Peace and drummer Jim Kovach.
When Kim Harris backed out, focusing on the successful Queensrÿche, the band entered Triad Studios on July 1, 1984 on its own. Jim Kovach would soon leave and be replaced by Ramond Black.
Gorle would remember years later that he had to borrow $3,000 from his parents and subsequently $5,000 from friends and investors.
The band received interest from France's Black Dragon Records after sending out multitudes of tapes. The result was Graceful Inheritance, for which the label had ponied up $5,000 and the band contributed another $5,000. The album was released to acclaim, but the band is less than happy after not getting the cover artwork it had commissioned. The band would remark that the label never paid them royalties. That was the end of that.
A European tour with Savage Grace followed, but the results were not good. Apparently, most of Europe was more interested in the World Cup. The tour does bear fruit though. Peace decamped to Los Angeles and Savage Grace - although he would soon return. The band's new bassist was Duane Bakke. This man would be replaced by Randy Nelson. Heir Apparent recruited a keyboardist in 1987. The band had gained Michael Jackson, but would soon lose Davidson to his addiction. The band signed a short-lived agreement with BeNeLux distributor Semaphore, which would not eventually be met. Gorle would later assert that an actual contract was not signed. According to Gorle, “when time came for them to invest $5000 as a condition of signing (which would have provided them with a live concert CD/DVD for which I’d already paid production costs), they backed out.” The singer would be replaced by Steve Benito.
This line-up recorded One Small Voice and managed to get it released by Metal Blade after an ex-girlfriend contacted the California label on behalf of the band. Nevertheless, Gorle had a falling out with the rest of the members and was replaced by a German guitarist named Klaus Derendorf. Gorle was fired by the band’s manager and, as the owner of the ‘Heir Apparent’ trademark he saw it as a coup. This line-up toured with Crimson Glory. It was now Black's turn to depart. He was replaced by McCormick. The comings-and-goings and a lawsuit launched and won by Gorle took its toll and the band split up. Black and Peace later formed a grunge band called Dr. Unknown.
The band was gone, but still retained a respectable fan base. Needless to say, Heir Apparent reformed in 1998 now featuring bassist Jay Wegener of Heteradox. Jay would later be seen and heard in Reverend and Byfist. The line-up came to naught. Instead, the band played at the Wacken Festival in 2000 with vocalist Michael Flatters, as well as Black and Peace. All three would soon leave. Gorle, now firmly in charge and owner of the band's name and copyright, convinced Davidson to come back into the group. In the meanwhile, the band had signed to Germany's Hellion Records and looking to play live. Hagan would later contact Metallian to inform that he was the subject of much verbal abuse from Gorle during his brief tenure. Hagan would die in May of 2012. Gorle would contact Metallian in early 2014 to dispute the “abuse” and state that Hagan had later apologized for his assertions. Gorle would assert that he had wanted Hagan to be better prepared, rehearsed and to cease smoking. Next in and out was singer Mike Blair formerly of Etheria. Peter Orullian formerly of Inner Resonance replaced him in the summer of 2003. The band's line-up was Peter Orullian - vocals, Terry Gorle - guitar, Bobby Ferkovich - bass, Clint Clark - drums and Op Sakiya - keyboards. This line-up was threatening to record an album promised since 1998. An independent live/demo album had been issued however. Triad's material stemmed from January 17, 1988. Members Peter Orullian (vocals), Bobby Ferkovich (bass), Op Sakiya (keyboards) and Jeffrey McCormack (drums) abandoned the group in early 2006. A new line-up played in Greece in 2006. McCormack ended up singing in Screams Of Angels. Craig Child of Bloodgood was also in the band. In 2009, the group was selling CD copies of its 1984 demo, Inception Day, through its website http://www.heirapparent.com/. The band released a DVD called Live At The Riviera - 1988 in 2010. The rare footage featured Steve Benito on vocals. Benito had replaced Paul Davidson who was losing his voice. The Greek Arkeyn Steel Records would reissue One Small Voice, the 1989 album of Heir Apparent, in a limited edition of 2,000 copies as a CD/DVD package in 2010. It came with bonus songs and a live DVD, Live At The Riviera - 1988. Former Heir Apparent drummer Jeffrey McCormack joined Fifth Angel in February of 2010. Peter Orullian, Heir Apparent’s singer during its 2006 reunion tour in Europe, sang for Fifth Angel at the Keep It True XIII festival in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany on April 24th, 2010. Orullian replaced Tim Branom who was not able to attend or sing due to reported throat issues. Heir Apparent, with a line-up of Paul Davidson (vocals), Terry Gorle (guitar), Derek Peace (bass) and Ray Schwartz, reformed again in late 2011 and was to perform its 1986 Graceful Inheritance album in its entirety at the Metal Assault II festival in Würzburg, Germany on January 14th, 2012. Davidson had left too and Gorle had drafted singer Bryan Hagan to play Metal Assault II and a couple of shows in Greece. Needless to say, he would not last the week (actually a few months). The band was planning more shows in Europe as well. Foundations was the name of a 2016 compilation, which included demo material. No Remorse issued only the band’s third studio record in 2018. Will Shaw promptly left. This forced the band to cancel its appearance at the Up The Hammers Festival in March 2020. The festival replaced Heir Apparent with Riot Act. Derek Peace and Op Sakiya also left again. Gorle was left alone. He had been in the line-up around seven years this time. Foundations II was a 2021 compilation, which was issued by Vic Records. The band had three albums and three compilation at this point.
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