Customer Reviews

Angel Witch

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Silly me,this isn't merely ANOTHER pressing of the 'Resurrection' import CD(see my review)that I assumed it was JUST BECAUSE it features the very same cover.Turns out that it's a reissue of the stunning 1980 self-titled debut from the beloved underdogs of the NWOBHM movement.You get the lp's original ten scorchers,plus ten(10)...count them,bonus cuts extra that are of alternative versions,rare b-sides,etc.Very good.An absolute must-have.

It's too bad Angel Witch never got as much publicity as Motorhead, Venom, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Diamond Head, Saxon and Def Leppard. They're one of the best! When I hear bands like Megadeth, Metallica, and Testament--especialy Testament--they sound like a mere reflection of Angel Witch. The melodies, solos, clean tone, and much more makes these guys an important bedrock to be contended with. This album is certainly a gem for anyone interested in thrash and its development. You can't understand thrash without knowing who Angel Witch. Believe me--just ask Dave Mustaine!

Yes, Iron Maiden ended up eclipsing Angel Witch by leaps and bounds commercially speaking and the s/t Maiden debut surely is a landmark album. BUT, as far as the NWOBHM era goes, short-lived EMI label mates Angel Witch did them one better on their Bronze debut.

This album is absolute PERFECTION (and thus utterly essential) conjuring up the darkest and heaviest of Black Sabbath combined with excellent musicianship (particularly the unique guitar playing of mainman Kevin Heybourne whose anguished vocals are a perfect match for the music) and fueled by a similar, seemingly punk inspired youthful NRG that made the early Maiden albums so undeniable. 'Angel Witch' with its signature opening guitar lick is an anthem for the ages, 'Atlantis' a canvas of sinister chromatic dissonance, the haunting 'Sorcerers' the epitome of sheer black majesty, and 'Angel of Death' blessed with a riff so inherently evil it would scare the pants off even Iommi! Is it any wonder this album became hugely influential on many future metal trailblazers and has been cited by everyone from Celtic Frost's Tom Warrior and doom gods Trouble and Candlemass, to the late, great Chuck Schuldiner who practically laid out the blueprint for death metal with his band Death.

Now comes this 25th Anniversary edition that makes all the previous AW re-issues obsolete. Any Angel Witch fan has to be in heavy metal heaven (or hell if you like) seeing that this 20-song anthology not only adds the 3 songs from the somewhat commercial 'Loser' 7" EP but, more importantly, early compilation-only gems 'Baphomet' (from the legendary 'Metal For Muthas') and 'Extermination Day' off 'Metal Explosion' (plus 3 more cuts from those same BBC sessions), and a pair of rare B-sides 'Hades Paradise' and 'Flight Nineteen' (originally from the 'Sweet Danger' 12") A few very early demo tracks aside this is the definite documentation of Angel Witch as we have come to know and worship them.

And worship you shall. The Witch is dead - long live the Witch!

It's sad how many metal fans have never and will never hear this album. This is full-forearm spike band metal from the 80s that just bleeds style and class. Unfortunately this band never achieved much fame and subsequent albums are not of the same caliber. For those with ears to hear...

This was one of the first ten albums I ever bought. I believe I purchased it back in 1982. I still have that original, beautiful piece of vinyl Justice! I purchased it again on CD a few years ago, and now I have to purchase it again to get these bonus tracks. I will do so willingly because it will definitely be worth it. This is one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time! Their later work wasn't as good, but is still important to own. I liked the live album that came out in the early 90's too!

Actually, this is one of the best albums of all time in ANY genre. Where do I even begin...

Angel Witch... this is the British metal band's 1980 debut, with the original lineup up of three - Kevin Heybourne on guitar and vocals, Kevin Riddles on bass, and Dave Hogg on drums. However, this lineup wouldn't last long, and Kevin Heybourne, the leader as well as the true HEART and SOUL of Angel Witch, went through a great struggle to keep his band from disintigrating as the 1980s progressed. He managed to find replacements as needed (his bandmates kept bailing) and a couple more Angel Witch albums were released in the 80s. They were excellent as well, but the greatest treasure is this debut.

These songs are EVIL to the CORE. They are irrisistably ominous and menacing, and there is a tremendous amount of passion in them. A big factor here is Kevin Heybourne's singing, which matches this type of music PERFECTLY. His voice conveys astonishing despair, agony, and doom. It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to this album. And he also plays guitar here! How he managed to play the intricate metal guitar lines he does AND sing at the same time when they played live back in the day is beyond me, but I DO know that it takes a massive amount of talent to do that. Heybourne's riffs and solos are laced with just as much creativity and style as his singing. His solos just PULSATE with feeling, and feed directly off of the creepy, evil atmospheres that ths band is so gifted at creating. Speaking of atmospheres...

Angel Witch creates INCREDIBLE atmospheres in their music. Every song on here is utterly HAUNTING, and in each's own unique way at that. Sometimes there will be subtle synths in the background, or an organ, but it's never overpowering. The surging guitar is always in control here, as it should be in metal. You can hear great examples of these keyboard touches near the end of the title track, as well as in "Sorcerers." Another subtle touch is the way Heybourne uses guitar effects. He'll sometimes use clean (rather than distorted) intros with atmospheric echo effects to lead into a heavier section, like in "Gorgon," and "Devil's Tower." In "Free Man," a slower track, and in the beginning of "Sorcerers," he uses what sounds like a flanger with the clean sound. "Devil's Tower" also has a nice chorus effect in it, which, together with the echo, makes you feel like you've been transported to some distant mystical world. "Devil's Tower" is the last track on here. It's an incredible and dynamic instrumental song that switches from 4/4 time to 7/4 in the middle and culminates in another eruptive solo from Heybourne. I feel that "Gorgon" is another standout track here, and it happens to also have a time change - from 3/4 in the subtle but ominous, clean-toned beginning to 4/4 as the song suddenly bludgeons the listener with chaotic, snarling distorted guitar.

A great bonus is that this album has now been released as a 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition with what amounts to almost an entire additional album's worth of rare Angel Witch songs that are just as good as the original ten tracks of the album! In fact, songs like "Loser," "Suffer" (which has a really cool shuffle feel), and the instrumental "Dr. Phibes" are arguably some of the best tracks of all on this CD! Those three songs in particular have everything I described above, but are even MORE potent! This album also includes fantastic liner notes that detail Angel Witch's journey in their early days.

Well, I think that just about covers it. The reason I wrote this long review is that I feel there is something truly unique and special about this band, ESPECIALLY on this album. I've listened to a lot of great metal, but there is something different about this Angel Witch debut. It creates downright magical atmospheres, and is filled to the brim with intensely passionate singing and musicianship. If only things had worked out better for Kevin and his band... they could have been as big as Iron Maiden. At least we still have this brilliant debut which I will unflinchingly call one of the best metal albums of all time.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal sure produced some absolute gems from both an album and song standpoint and most of the more successful singles came from bands who basically took their one shot at glory and faded into obscurity. For every Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, there was a band such as Angel Witch who released their self-titled debut at the very height of the movement and then broke up within six months. Though they have reformed several times since 1981, the momentum as it were never was recaptured and while Angel Witch did not set the world on fire in their original incarnation, the `Angel Witch' has been considered one of THE historically important LPs of the NWOBHM and would have significant influence on the American thrash movement. Although not a favorite, this record is still a shining example of why the movement was so strong and why its influence has carried on up to the present day. The title track and "Angel of Death" are cited most as the songs being among the best if not the best ones the band produced but I also really like "White Witch", "Sorcerors" and "Gorgon". "Sweet Danger" is also very good but it was probably not the best choice for the album's single. Kevin Heybourne would remain the sole original member throughtout the band's extremely disjointed history and it is his guitar playing and haunting lead vocals that will be Angel Witch's legacy along with this stellar Dec. 1980 release. Man what an awesome time for metal!

The 1980 self-titled debut album by Angel Witch is without a doubt one of the most important albums of the legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement. It's also just an outstanding heavy metal album, especially when you consider the era from which it emerged. Aside from Black Sabbath, Rainbow and the still-developing Judas Priest, there really wasn't a defined heavy metal sound. Then seemingly from out of nowhere, and amidst a sea of disco and punk, come bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon and of course Angel Witch that added a punk-like sense of aggression and malice to the Deep Purple/Led Zeppelin/Uriah Heep hard rock sound. The NWOBHM scene in 1980 was heavy metal's baptism by fire, and it totally changed the course of music for decades to come.

Even if you remove the historical context, Angel Witch is still a terrific metal album. It's at once very similar and very different from the Iron Maiden debut. The hard charging yet still melodic sound is similar to Maiden, but Angel Witch was far more aggressive and speed-oriented. The band's overall heaviness and occult-inspired lyrics owe a lot to those early Sabbath albums (see "Sorcerers" and "Angel of Death"), but they definitely took a page from the punk scene as well (as evidenced by the raw energy of "Confused" and the title track). The whole album is just a raw, vital combination of speed, melody, heaviness, aggression, power and evil - basically everything a good metal album should have.

Angel Witch is a virtual blueprint of things to come. You can totally see how the speedy riffs would inspire the bands that went on to introduce thrash metal (Metallica's love of this band is well documented), and how their melodies and darker subject matter would spawn a wave of American power metal bands. My guess is that Angel Witch's doomy Sabbath-style heaviness and pseudo-satanic lyrics played a larger role in the creation of the doom and black metal sounds than most would give them credit for.

If you make any claim at all to being a NWOBHM fan, there's no way around this one; you absolutely must have a copy of Angel Witch in your British metal collection. I also highly recommend it to any serious metal fan that is interested in how the heavy metal sound has evolved and developed over time (or if you just want to hear a kick-arse heavy metal album).

NOTE: Castle/Sanctuary reissued Angel Witch in 1999. This reissue featured digitally remastered sound and six bonus tracks. The bonus tracks consisted of the complete Loser single ("Loser", "Suffer" and "Dr. Phibes"), the b-sides to the Sweet Danger single ("Flight Nineteen" and "Hades Paradise") and the song "Baphomet" from the first Metal for Muthas compilation.

NOTE 2: If the 1999 reissue wasn't sweet enough, Castle reissued Angel Witch yet again in 2005, adding BBC Friday Rock Show Sessions of "Sweet Danger", "Angel of Death", Extermination Day" and "Angel Witch" for a grand total of 20 tracks. I'm amazed they all fit on a single CD. The liner notes for this 25th Anniversary Edition have been expanded as well. I had the '99 reissue of Angel Witch and didn't think twice before upgrading to this definitive version of the album.

I found this band via amazon recommendation and was so impressed with the sample tracks, that I went out and bought it the same day at a local record store. I did pay a little more, but it was worth it, a definate plus to the evergrowing music library. Powerful oldschool heavy metal that will bring back memories of those thrilling days and especially nights of yesteryear!

I gave this album 3 stars because musically I thought that it was very good, but because of the cheesiness of the lyrics I had to rate it lower. While listening I could definitley hear their influence on one Bay Area Thrash band in particular. That would be Testament. It is what it is though.