JUDICATOR - USA

King Of Rome - 2012 - Masters Of Metal
Sleepy Plessow - 2013 - Masters Of Metal
At the Expense Of Humanity - 2015 - Masters Of Metal
The Last Emperor - 2018 - Alone
Let There Be Nothing - 2020 - Prosthetic
The Majesty Of Decay - 2022 - Prosthetic
Concord - 2025 - Black Lion

Judicator image
  
 
Members
Vocals
Disforia, Shadowseer, Principium, Dire Peril>>JOHN YELLAND>>Disforia, Shadowseer, Principium, Dire Peril

Guitar
Xoteric, Grimaced, Apophenia, Atresia, Bubonic Wrath, Vermiform, Sedulity, Solo, Project: Roenwolfe>>T.C./Tony C./T. Cordisco [Alicia Cordisco]>>Vermiform, Sedulity, Solo, Project: Roenwolfe, Transgressive, Justicar, Wraithstorm - Solo, Transgressive, Justicar, Wraithstorm>>ALICIA CORDISCO>>Solo, Transgressive, Justicar, Wraithstorm

Bass
Vermiform, Solo, Project: Roenwolfe>>T.C./Tony C./T. Cordisco [Alicia Cordisco]>>Vermiform, Solo, Project: Roenwolfe, Transgressive, Wraithstorm

Drums





History & Biography
Judicator is less a band and a collection of project members, side-hustlers, flakes and temp workers who come, go, are in and are then out. The interchangeable characters coalesced and ebb around the transgender Alicia Cordisco (a.k.a. T.C or Tony Cordisco who is also in an act called Transgressive among others) for a while and Utah-based singer John Yelland. The story goes that John Yelland and Cordisco met when showing up early at a Blind Guardian concert on the Sacred Worlds And Songs Divine tour in 2010 and founded Judicator together in 2012. The two had collaborated on a cover version of Helloween’s Ride The Sky before forming a band. Cordisco would leave the band in 2020 where he/she had sung, played guitar and bass and programmed a machine to mimic drums. Simultaneously, the main members themselves would be in side-projects.

The act’s first release was called King Of Rome. It referred to the Napoleonic Empire and was a concept album. It was released by Masters Of Metal Productions, which was comprised of members of the forum of the same name, in late 2012. Cordisco ran the online forum. The act covered The Tommyknockers by Blind Guardian. The follow-up, entitled Sleepy Plessow, retrained its focus on the defunct kingdom of Prussia. A couple of self-cover versions formed the basis of the 2014 EP, Coping Mechanism. There were six members in the act here. The band claimed to be metal, but featured a keyboard gal too. Most of these members did not stay long. The fun project was a full-fledged endeavour now with members all over the USA. At The Expense Of Humanity was crowdfunded. The band changed the album’s cover artwork and so two cover arts exist. Judicator's fourth album The Last Emperor was recorded independently, but rereleased by someone called Alone Records. Masters of Metal Productions had ceased to operate. Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian leant his vocals to a song. The album focused on a Roman emperor. Yelland had also worked with Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kürsch with his other band, Disforia.

Let There Be Nothing was on Prosthetic Records, but the last with Cordisco who had written all the music thus far. It again focused on the Roman empire. The Majesty Of Decay was John and collaborators and was supported by a couple of videos.

The band claimed to be metal, but the US-based act Judicator released a cover version of Barry Manilow’s pop ditty Mandy in 2023. It was recorded during the session for The Majesty Of Decay album (Prosthetic Records) and was also a send-off for guitarist Balmore Lemus and drummer Jordy Elcess who were featured in the music video, yet had since departed the band. This was a Patreon exclusive initially. The group was booked for Canada’s Hyperspace festival in 2023. The band separately uploaded The Curse Of Feanor, which was another Blind Guardian cover version. It came with a visualizer video and was from the I Am The Void demo. The Concord demo of 2025 was available on March 28th. There were music videos for the title track and the song Miracle Of Life. Beside John Yelland, the band was guitarists Chad Anderson (Helion Prime) and Dayton Anderson, bassist John Dolan, drummer Mike Lofgreen and a keyboardist (Francisco Pérez) too. The act was booked for the Loud As Hell Open Air Festival in 2025. The band also signed with Black Lion Records and handed Concord to the company for a rerelease. Bassist John Dolan left the act with regret in the middle of 2026. He cited the distance from the other members, as the sole member outside of Salt Lake City, and a lack of income from the band as the reasons. Immediately thereafter, guitarist Alicia Cordisco, who was a co-founder, rejoined Judicator. The band announced a three-song demo called The Elector. It was a trend to release pop cover versions (Iron Savior, Mystic Prophecy, In Eclipse, Merrimack, Exit Eden, etc.) and so there was a cover version of Abba here too.

Judicator is the name of an imperial destroyer from Star Wars. John is a practising Orthodox Christian. John Yelland had organised something called Grillfest up until 2013 pairing meat with metal and rock. This was while he was in Disforia. The event was brought back in 2025 and Judicator was also booked to play.


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