Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Angel Witch - Angel Witch (1980)
The debut from London's Angel Witch is full of high octane NWOBHM that has a clunky yet still kind of cool style about it. Whilst never to the point of truly grating Kevin Heybourne's vocals are clumsy at best. That withstanding there's absolute standout songs on here like the title track that will be stuck in your head for days with their simple repetition and catchy chants. But the real success of the album is the musicianship on display.
The band are tight as fuck on this release, creating super charged heavy metal tunes full of intense percussion and romping riffs and pulling no punches in the delivery department. Reminiscent of both Diamond Head and Iron Maiden's sound of the time (Angel Witch coming in December of the same year that the other two bands also dropped their debuts) the album celebrates all that was good about metal at this point in history. As the move away from rock and then punk started to gather momentum it is clear on this record where the draw came from for fans as they latched onto the pandemic energy of albums such as this.
I listen to the 30th Anniversary edition when spinning this record as it has two discs that showcase the full album, some BBC radio sessions as well as various demos and single A & B sides. This gives me more of a feel of insight into the band at the time and shows that they were skilled musicians capable of putting down a solid track whether live or recorded. All that brute force from the demos got transferred superbly into the record. Even the instrumental track, Devil's Tower is chocked full of pervasive intent to get you headbanging along to it.
The lead work sings on this record, oozing quality throughout and firmly stamping its authority over all ten tracks. You'll be hard pushed to find a record that holds up in conversations that mention Iron Maiden, Lightning to the Nations, Court in the Act or Wild Cat. But Angel Witch is rightly able to be classed alongside such classics from the same era.