Editing Valhalla

''Valhalla'' were a heavy metal band formed at Hillcrest High School, which gained some notoriety, featuring [[Glyn Morgan]] (lead guitar and vocals), [[James Campkin]] (lead vocals, drums), [[Chris Baillie]] (lead guitar, vocals) and [[Gareth Pemberton]] (bass, vocals). Originally called [[Septic Death]], with [[Bill Wallnutt]] on bass, they settled on Valhalla just before the 1990 [[Rockquest]] in Rotorua where Glyn, Bill and James had to play without a drummer; [[Ben Pere]] wasn't allowed to attend and James was playing guitar and vocals at the time. Their car broke down on the way also and they had to hitchhike to the gig with guitars at the age of 14.  

In 1992 the band played briefly as a three piece after Chris moved on before recruiting [[Ben Thomas]] to join as front-man. <br>

Initially a Thrash Metal band, playing originals and covers of Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and Sepultura, the band evolved towards Death Metal with heavy influences from Obituary, Morbid Angel, Carcass and Death.  

After placing second at the Waikato Smokefree [[Rockquest]] in 1991, they came fourth in the national competition (gaining some television exposure). Three tracks were recorded, ''The Sun'', ''The Real Me'', and ''Tommyknockers'', all of which received airplay on [[Contact 89FM]]. They went on to win the 1992 Regional Rockquest.

Valhalla played extensively around the North Island and recorded multiple EPs. ''All'' was the opening track on the [[Atrocities One]] compilation put out by [[Dave Whitehead]] and [[Dave Lowndes]].

[[Chris Baillie]] went on to join the [[Tim Armstrong band]] for a brief time, and has been a solo artist since 1995. ''Gareth Pemberton'' now records as [[Terrorball]]. Glyn and James joined up with [[Bill Wallnutt]] to form [[Dirty Spider]]. James, Bill and Gareth then teamed up to create [[Leithe]] with [[Campbell Elliott]].