Angel Witch (album)
| Angel witch | ||||
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| Angel Witch's studio album | ||||
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Publication |
1980 |
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| Label (s) | Bronze Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP |
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running time |
38:20 |
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| occupation |
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Martin Smith (Wax-a-hottie) |
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Studio (s) |
Roundhouse studio |
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Angel Witch is the debut album by the band of the same name Angel Witch . It was released in 1980 through Bronze Records . The album was barely successful commercially, but the band became a protagonist of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal .
Emergence
After their first single Sweet Danger was only able to stay at number 25 in the British charts for a week "and thus became the most unsuccessful single at least this year, EMI dropped the group like a hot potato". After that, the band was signed by Bronze Records , where their debut album was released. This was recorded in the Roundhouse Studio and produced by Martin Smith (Wax-a-hottie); as engineers Mark (The Knife) Dearnley, Ashley Howe and John Gall were involved, Jools Cooper and Nick Rogers assizierende engineers. The keyboard was programmed by Sev Lewkowicz.
Track list
All pieces were written by Kevin Heybourne.
- Angel Witch - 3:25
- Atlantis - 3:42
- White Witch - 4:48
- Confused - 2:52
- Sorceress - 4:16
- Gorgon - 4:06
- Sweet Danger - 3:07
- Free Man - 4:44
- Angel of Death - 4:52
- Devil's Tower - 2:28
Music style and lyrics
Songs like White Witch , Sorceress and Angel of Death are, according to Alex Henderson from Allmusic, in the tradition of Judas Priest , Rainbow and Black Sabbath . According to Matthias Mader, "Kevin Heybourne (g, v), Kevin Riddles (b) and Dave Dufort (d) gave the Doom-Rock sound of Iommi and Co. with their frenzied guitar runs and accentuated tempo changes a real rejuvenation".
The appearance of the band was also located in the tradition of Black Sabbath. The songs deal with mythological and esoteric themes such as Gorgons , Atlantis , magic and witches ; Regarding the band's association with occultism , Heybourne said he was "interested in it too, but I don't dance naked around the fire".
layout
The record cover depicts the oil painting The Fallen Angels Entering Pandemonium , formerly attributed to John Martin and depicting a scene from John Milton's Paradise Lost . On the back there is Éliphas Lévis hermaphroditic Baphomet depiction from Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie and a picture of the musicians.
meaning
Angel Witch was by the British press savaged the band but made one of the protagonists of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal , and is considered a classic of this movement. Steve Harris of Iron Maiden , according to the band would have to achieve a better manager the breakthrough. Henderson called songs like White Witch , Sorceress and Angel of Death as classics; American headbangers who had not experienced the joys of Angel Witch owed it to themselves to hear this metal classic. Mike Stagno from Sputnikmusic described the lyrics as simple and cheesy, but memorable and, thanks to Heybourne's voice, entertaining to hear; The band is also fantastic musically. He also praised the audible bass, as Riddles was a good bass player. However, the album is not perfect; he criticized the inconsistent production of the guitar and the weaker middle section of the album compared to the beginning and end of the same. The band deserved more success, however, and the album is rightly considered an NWoBHM classic. According to About.com's Chad Bowar, what can be heard from the album is that the band was young when it was recorded; Heybourne's screams are scratchy in places, and his clear singing on Free Man lacks any melody or power. This would be enough to ruin any other album, but it gives Angel Witch its charm and its eccentric guitar playing compensates for its vocal deficits. The album deserves as much recognition as Iron Maiden's debut album or Diamond Head's Lightning to the Nations as a pioneer for Thrash Metal . Mader described Angel Witch as a "first-class debut" and counted the album as one of his favorites:
"If I were faced with the decision to take three HM albums with me to a desert island, then Angel Witch's [sic!] Debut would be my first choice without hesitation."
Through the design of the album and songs on subjects such as Atlantis, magic and witches, the band was associated with occultism and black metal ; Heybourne emphasized, however, that he is interested "in it too, but I do not dance naked around the fire". Black metal pioneers like Cronos from Venom and Tom Angelripper from Sodom were "spotted often in Angel Witch t-shirts," and German rock-hard magazine listed the album as a milestone for black metal Venom's second album from 1982) on; In contrast to Venom's second album Black Metal , Mercyful Fates Don't Break the Oath , Hellhammers Apocalyptic Raids , Morbid Angels Altars of Madness and Sodom's Obsessed by Cruelty , however, it was listed in pure list form without explanation along with nineteen other publications.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Matthias Mader: Angel Witch . In: Matthias Mader, Otger Jeske, Manfred Kerschke: NWOBHM: New Wave of British Heavy Metal . The Glory Days . Berlin: Iron Pages 1995, p. 16.
- ↑ a b Alex Henderson: Angel Witch - Angel Witch , accessed February 24, 2013.
- ↑ 'The Fallen Angels Entering Pandemonium, from' Paradise Lost ', Book 1', formerly attributed to John Martin , accessed February 24, 2013.
- ^ Matthias Mader: Angel Witch . In: Matthias Mader, Otger Jeske, Manfred Kerschke: NWOBHM: New Wave of British Heavy Metal . The Glory Days . Berlin: Iron Pages 1995, p. 17.
- ↑ a b Thomas Kupfer: Angel Witch . Doesn't do anything . In: Rock Hard , No. 309, February 2013, p. 21.
- ↑ a b Mike Stagno: Angel Witch - Angel Witch , August 29, 2006, accessed February 24, 2013.
- ↑ Chad Bowar: Retro Recommendation: Angel Witch - Angel Witch ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , September 10, 2013, accessed February 24, 2013.
- ↑ The most important pioneers of Black Metal . In: Rock Hard , No. 269, October 2009, p. 71.
