Angel Witch are a band I have to admit I haven’t given the proper time or attention to. Angel Witch Angel Witch is their debut album from 1980 and generally speaking they are considered part of the NWOBHM scene.
Angel Witch sit somewhere near Iron Maiden in terms of heaviness but their guitar tone is much closer to the typical thrash metal tone. This works really well with their sound and really sets them apart from their peers at the time. I think I saw somewhere Dave Mustaine was influenced by this band and I can really see it in their sound. This song is the perfect way to start the album and the chorus gets you drawn into the band rather well.
As the album progresses there are a multitude of great riffs, bordering on thrash and shred but not quite there. Still rather ahead of the times for what their peers were doing. Some of the vocals are a little inconsistent and sound out of key at times. This is a small complaint as generally this dude wails big time and the vocals are something quite unique for this kind of music. Especially for 1980.
The album opens with with a ripping guitar solo, and straight into the title track “Angel Witch”. The band are very progressive and very skilled musicians and the vocalist sits on top of proceedings with a very accessible voice. Strangely accessible. For those going back in time and listening to this from a modern perspective it takes a little to get used to but once your ears tune in it works oh so well.
“Burn the White Witch” (Can you see a bit of a theme developing here?) is another catchy little number. There’s some more traditional stuff that reminds me of Accept or something with “Confused”. “Sorcerers” up next has some almost neo-classical stuff in there that maybe sounds like Rainbow but too early to have been influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen so again it’s another great point of singularity for this band being able to mix so many styles into their art.
As the album progress “Sweet Danger” has some Maiden-esque sounding bits and the next song, “Free Man” has some trippy Sabbath, Pink Floyd sounding bits. I have to say I can’t think of any bands off the top of my head that can combine so many differing styles of music into one neat package. Next up the song “Angel of Death” sounds like a precursor to Celtic Frost style riffing. This is where I’m starting to kick myself for not getting into these dudes earlier.
Over all this is a really cool release and definitely worth your time in checking out.
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