Unknown Soldier

Overview
Angel Witch were one of the most notable bands of the NWOBHM and that notability was somewhat surprising considering that the band only ever released one studio album in the movement’s main period of the early 1980s and what an album it was as well! Angel Witch had already followed the much maligned path of a lot of newbie bands, in that its members were constantly shuffling about and they had also gone through several name changes of which Lucifer had been one such previous name of the band, before the delightful Angel Witch had been finally decided upon. In all this time though, the one central factor had always been frontman Kevin Heybourne who was the band’s guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, and as an artist he certainly excelled where it mattered and can now be seen as something of a highly talented songwriter. He was also way beyond many of his counterparts in terms of songwriting ability and was truly capable of dishing out memorable metallic melodies that few could match. Angel Witch as a band came across as a combination of Black Sabbath, largely due to the band’s gothic and somewhat darker influences and had grasped what melodic metal was all about, they were certainly influenced by the speed of Motorhead as well, but as said it was in the songwriting department that the band were well and truly a cut above the rest. The band first appeared on the previously mentioned Metal for Muthas compilation album which came out in the early part of 1980 and Angel Witch’s contribution to the album was “Baphomat” which was then followed up by the single “Sweet Danger” which also appeared on their debut set, before then label EMI gave up on the band. The band were quickly picked up by Bronze Records and soon went into the studio to release their debut album the eponymous Angel Witch. It should be noted, that Angel Witch by the time of their debut already had a sizeable following in both the UK and Europe, and were certainly seen as one of the better metal bands to come out of London, given the fact that the hotbed of the NWOBHM in terms of quality was the Midlands and the North-East. Unfortunately the band were not able to build on their classic debut album and very quickly the whole structure of the band came to a standstill, as both bassist Kevin Riddles and drummer Dave Hogg would join Tytan. Finally despite Kevin Heybourne’s attempts to keep the band together, the end finally came for Angel Witch when Kevin Heybourne himself threw the towel in and joined fellow NWOBHM band Deep Machine, a band who also had a strong local following, but like many bands of their ilk were unable to get a record deal. By 1982 though Kevin Heybourne would once again try to reform the band, but to no avail and it wouldn’t be until 1984 that another attempt at reforming took place, this time with Dave Tattum being brought in on vocals and drummer Dave Hogg also returning as well. The long-awaited sophomore set Screamin’ ‘n’ Bleedin’ which came out almost five years on from the debut, would fall far short of that classic debut album despite its lusty and juicy album cover!

Verdict
The Angel Witch debut was the classic example of an album that split opinions between critics on its release in March 1980, as certain critics regarded the album as an instant classic of the NWOBHM, thanks to its combined aggressive, melodic and sinister feel. Negative reviews criticized the album’s production and called it weedy sounding metal, similar types of adjectives that had been used to describe the Fist debut Turn the Hell On also in 1980 (a good album that didn’t make the top 20) Obviously most reviewers, fans and myself regard the Angel Witch debut as a classic of the NWOBHM and in any other year it would’ve made a top 3 position, but given the fact that 1980 was such a stellar year the best ever so far, even position no.7 still seems a lofty height for any album being reviewed here! The opening track and the title track “Angel Witch” quickly demonstrates the dominant technical riffs that the band were associated with and these riffs are aptly joined by Kevin Heybourne’s somewhat punk inspired vocals. The energy of the album is quickly maintained on “Atlantis” which very much exemplifies the Angel Witch sound and the again the song hints at the band’s proto-thrash approach. The album’s third track “White Witch” is a bona-fide band classic and goes through a couple of stylistic changes and demonstrates how Kevin Heybourne was able to churn out quality material with relative ease. The same could also be said for the album’s other classics such as “Sorcerers” and “Gorgon” tracks beyond the capabilities of a lot of other metal bands and then of course there is the proto-thrash of the Slayer like “Angel of Death” and another highlight is the short but menacing outro “Devil’s Tower”. The album was something of anomaly at the time of its release and was labelled by some critics as ‘weedy metal’ which may sound strange in hindsight given the albums’ reputation, but remember this was an age where powerful, macho and sexually-alluring sounding vocalists graced both hard rock and heavy metal and Kevin Heybourne hardly fell into these parameters. But over previous years vocalists like Burke Shelley of Budgie and Geddy Lee of Rush (a band followed by heavy rockers) showed that when the music was good, so-called weedy vocals were just as good as the real mcCoy! In many ways Kevin Heybourne’s vocals are one of the real charms when listening to Angel Witch, but sadly he never really felt that comfortable as a vocalist and for this reason he recruited other vocalists like Roger Marsden (who didn’t appear on an album) and Dave Tattum who appeared on Screamin’ ‘n’ Bleedin’. Musically Kevin Heybourne was recognized as one of the best guitarists of the NWOBHM and as a songwriter he had a talent far beyond most of his rivals. Overall Angel Witch much like their similar counterparts Diamond Head, suffered from a combination of bad luck, bad decisions and bad management which literally doomed them from the word go. By the time of their second album Screamin’ ‘n’ Bleedin’ five years later, the metal scene had moved on so much that the album was largely irrelevant and resigned the band to the metal locker, a shame really as Kevin Heybourne had more talent than most when it came to dishing out potent melodic metal and kick-ass riffs with a sinister tinge, in fact few could match the Angel Witch debut.

Kevin Heybourne- Guitar/Vocals
Kevin Riddles- Bass/Keyboards
Dave Hogg- Drums

Production- Martin Smith

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

They actually released a new album last year, and from a cursory look at some online reviews it was actually good. I'd say I need to listen to it, but God knows when I'll ever get around to it. Still..."YOU'RE AN ANGEL WITCH! YOU'RE AN ANGEL WITCH!"

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Urban Hat€monger ?

The main thing I'm getting from your NWOBHM round up is that good graphic designers & cover artists were in very short supply in the early 80s.

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Unknown Soldier

No idea what it's like, but saw that it had an average rating.

Don't know what you're talking about, the covers are great

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

The opinions contained in this thread do not necessarily reflect the views of the rest of the Music Banter forum.

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Unknown Soldier

For anybody reading I've been away for most of the week, entry 6 will be up in the next couple of days.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
On their previous Bomber album, Motorhead had written the excellent “All the Aces” track and their follow-up to Bomber would be the Ace of Spades, which was their ‘ace in hole’ as far as critics, fans and commercial success for band were concerned. The Ace of Spades is usually considered as one of the best heavy metal albums ever produced and one of the most important in influencing the forthcoming thrash movement just a few years off. Motorhead were of course known for their breakneck speed, fuck off demeanour and just go out and do it attitude, and 1979 had been an unbelievable year for them, with their two breakthrough albums Overkill and Bomber (both reviewed in 1979) and the band had ridden the crest of the wave as far as all things heavy metal and hard rock were concerned. If Judas Priest were providing the know-how, AC/DC the balls then Motorhead were certainly supplying the raw energy for the NWOBHM around the 1979 and 1980 period, and for most observers the band would reach their pinnacle in 1980 with their Ace of Spades album. The set up for the Ace of Spades album is much the same as their previous two albums, with Lemmy very much the beast’s engine with his propulsive bass screaming away and Fast ‘Eddie’ Clarke and Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ both complementing him to equal effect. But it’s in the production department where Jimmy Millar now gives way to British producer Vic Maile and this is a noticeable change which would reflect on the recording of the album. The actual album would be recorded at Vic Maile’s recording studio in Hertfordshire and offered the band a very different production experience. The album would reach the lofty heights of no.4 in the UK album charts and its lead single and title track would also break the top 20 UK singles chart as well. This was no real surprise given the amount of exposure that NWOBHM and NWOBHM related bands like Motorhead were getting at this time on the radio, the music press and also on the UK’s most important music show at the time ‘Top of the Pops’. The album also has such an iconic cover with our mean badass ‘tres hombres’ all looking the part as three leather clad brigands, set out of place in a western movie, such a pity though that the actual shot was taken in a sandpit in Barnet! Also for anybody reading this, they’ll surely be aware of what a legendary character Lemmy was and still is, but I can still remember the first time I ever saw him which was in 1980 and there he was in his dark shades, mutton-chop sideburns and cowboy boots, along with his distinctive neck-stretched pose upto the mike and he certainly looked the part! Finally it’s probably no surprise that the band reached their peak so quickly as well, given that the breakneck speed of most of their music, which was very much a like a blazing comet burning up on its approaches to terra firma.

Verdict
In just a few short years Motorhead had already dished out several blistering anthem tracks, but the title track of the Ace of Spades would be the anthem mother of them all. Not only is it the band’s best known song, but it’s also the song that probably symbolizes everything great about the band. The “Ace of Spades” is the album’s lead-off track and at just 2 and a half minutes it blazes away as Lemmy sings memorable lines like “You win some, lose some, it’s all the same to me” “and “you know I’m born to lose and gambling is for fools, but that’s the way I like it baby”. The album is also blessed with some great song names like the clingy sounding “Love Me Like a Reptile” and the western themed “Shoot You in the Back”. But it’s the raw meat of great tracks like the almost garage rock cum-metal sounding “Live to Win” and the filthy themed “Fast and Loose” with its catchy riff that provide the heart and soul of the album. The second side keeps the momentum going with the slightly melodic “(We Are) the Road Crew” followed by the mental sounding “Fire, Fire”. The album though does lose some marks for some of its later tracks like “Jailbait” “Dance” “Bite the Bullet” and “The Hammer” which take the sameness of the album just a step too far. But luckily the end of the album is saved with the kick-ass sounding “The Chase Is Better Than the Catch” which is my favourite all-time Motorhead song! On a lot of the album, I can also detect an almost Iggy and the Stooges proto-punk/garage rock influence, I’ve never actually read that anywhere and it’s just an observation of mine. The Ace of Spades is usually regarded as being the pinnacle of the band’s three classic albums, then followed by the groundbreaking Overkill and then followed by the so-called lesser classic Bomber. I’ve also read how all three albums literally sound the same, with very little evolution being offered by the band. On these points though, I actually disagree with both of them to a degree. Firstly tackling point one, track for track the Ace of Spades is probably the best album of the three and Overkill is the most groundbreaking, but personally I still prefer Bomber as listen from the three albums. Secondly tackling point two, it needs to be observed that producer Vic Maile offered the band a very different approach to that of Jimmy Millar. Jimmy Millar was very much about letting the band express themselves as they wanted to and then harnessing the raw energy of the band in the studio. This though is in contrast to the production of Vic Maile, which is much more hands-on a la Todd Rundgren and he gets the band to release an album that is both vocally, musically and sonically deeper overall than the band were used to. Vic Maile achieved this approach without ever sacrificing the aggressiveness and energy of the band and he crucially still lets the band fuel themselves. Overall if both Overkill and Bomber are two rough around the edges and even uglier on the inside albums. Then the Ace of Spades is a bit tidier on the outside but just as downright ugly on its inside!

Lemmy- Bass/Vocals
Fast ‘Eddie’ Clarke- Guitar
Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor

Production- Vic Maile

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

Heresy! Some of the later songs might not be the best but "The Hammer" is probably my favorite track on that album. The energy of that riff is just infectious. Great review otherwise.

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Trollheart

**** I forgot about "The Hammer"! Must rack up album ... now!!!!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

William_the_Bloody

Ace of Spades didn't beat out Iron Maiden's first album??? **** me! I think I'll just keep my mouth zipped for this countdown.