Angel Witch
Scorned by critics but ultimately revered in NWOBHM history, the London-formed metallers are back…
During the 1980s, Angel Witch were ridiculed by the critics – Sounds dismissed their self-titled debut as “40 minutes of undiluted torture… the aural equivalent of a Blackburn refuse tip” – but set attendance records at London’s ‘old’ Marquee Club, and that same debut is now recognised as a trash, doom and death metal touchstone. Guitarist/ vocalist Kevin Heybourne, the band’s last remaining original, sets the scene for their fifth studio album, Angel Of Light.
Despite the vitriol it received, your debut remains a defining record of the NWOBHM. He who laughs last laughs best? I’m proud that all these years later it’s become better accepted. We were pariahs back then, but that line-up was a very different band to what we have now. I wanted us to be dark so I got the arsehole when Kevin [Riddles, bass] made us like a pub band [with his onstage comedy antics].
Geoff Barton called Baphomet, your track on the Metal For Muthas compilation, “the first Black Sabbath album played through a cement mixer”. I loved that comment from Geoff, but I tried not to read any negativity written about the band. It was hard because there was a lot of it [laughs].
The one fact that most rock fans know about Angel Witch is that the Guinness Book Of Records once listed you as the “least successful chart act of all time”. [Guffaws]Oh look, the fucking thing [the single] Sweet Danger got in there at number seventy-five and dropped out again [in 1980]. That’s more than many bands achieve in their entire careers. Dave Mustaine and Tom G Warrior are fans of Angel Witch. And let’s not forget Lars Ulrich. Yeah, Lars put Extermination Day on his compilation album [New Wave Of British Heavy Metal ’79 Revisited, released in 1990], which was nice. He was a big fan of ours.
The association with those thrash bands caused you to relocate to the States during the 90s and form a US line-up with members of Exodus, Lååz Rockit and Heathen, only to be sent home for immigration issues. Yeah. The band had become stagnant and I wanted new horizons. But it wasn’t really Angel Witch for me; we became a thrash band.
Angel Of Light is an extremely strong Angel Witch album, retaining the band’s signature sound. Thanks. It’s no secret that I wasn’t happy with the production of the first album. James Atkinson [of Gentlemans Pistols] did a great job for us this time and we now have the best line-up that I can remember.
At this stage is it likely to win any new fans or silence the naysayers? It would be nice if it did. That’s really down to us getting out there and playing, which is being finalised as we speak.
Five years separated the first album and the second, another year with the third. It took 26 more for As Above, So Below, now a further seven years with Angel Of Light. What else fills your life outside of Angel Witch? [Cackles with laughter] I do a lot of gardening. But I keep on going back to Angel Witch because I’m addicted.
“I keep on going back to Angel Witch because I'm addicted.”
Angel Of Light is released by Metal Blade Records on November 1.