The legendary London band, ANGEL WITCH, came out of the NEW WAVE of BRITISH HEAVY METAL era and generated a cult following among head-bangers, both in Europe and on the American West Coast. They gained their reputation from the occult overtones and contrasting speed and heaviness of their original 1981 album. Later the band found admiration amongst the Doom crowd for the acknowledged BLACK SABBATH influences included on their debut album.

Ultimately ANGEL WITCH were the ultimate bad luck bunch. Unfortunate business decisions, innumerable line-up changes and lengthy periods of both voluntary and unintentional retirement, all contributed to a great potential remaining largely (certainly commercially) unfulfilled. And yet initially it had started off ever so promising. ANGEL WITCH emerged in the late 1970s, rising from the ashes of the burned out LUCIFER. Fronted by virtuoso guitarist KEVIN HEYBOURNE, they soon became one of the leading exponents of the NWOBHM and later, a foremost influence on dark metal throughout the 1980s and into 1990s. They were contemporaries of such bands as IRON MAIDEN, SAXON and DEF LEPPARD. With their melodic but gloomy approach to metal, they were designated the natural successors to BLACK SABBATH.

The frequently changing line-up stabilized for some time around 1979 with: KEVIN HEYBOURNE on lead guitar and vocals, DAVE HOGG on drums and SKIDS on bass, keyboards and backing vocals. ANGEL WITCH was at its most active at this time, appearing on the important Friday Rock Show in 1979, from which the track "Baphomet" would be included on the now celebrated compilation "Metal For Muthas". Peculiarly enough the cut on the BBC's Friday Rock Show compilation long player was culled from an earlier demo tape and not from the actual BBC recording sessions. ANGEL WITCH was promptly signed by EMI, the label that had also released “Muthas”, and dropped from the label just as rapidly when their first single “Sweet Danger” failed to make much of an impression on the charts, dropping out after but a one-week presence at #75. Notwithstanding this, ANGEL WITCH secured a spot on the Heavy Metal Mayhem Barn Dance with contemporaries SAXON, MOTORHEAD, GIRLSCHOOL and VARDIS. The performance led to a new recording agreement, this time with BRONZE RECORDS, and the release of the “Sweet Danger” extended play, the single “Gorgon” and their first eponymous album. ANGEL WITCH’S self-titled debut album remains a classic to this day, and an essential exponent of the NWOBHM genre, containing such tracks as the crowd favourite “Angel Witch” and the downright brilliant “Angel Of Death” - undeniably, this great record inspired modern doom bands such as CANDLEMASS. Following the tour in support of the debut album, DAVE HOGG quit the band. DAVE DUFORT, brother of GIRLSCHOOL drummer DENISE, succeeded him. This ill-fated line-up only recorded one EP, perhaps appropriately entitled "Loser", before packing it in. Towards the end of 1981, ANGEL WITCH had disbanded, with SKIDS and DUFORT forming the TYTAN and HEYBOURNE hooking up with DEEP MACHINE.

Sometime in 1982 KEVIN HEYBOURNE felt the urge to resuscitate ANGEL WITCH, and he convinced his band mates vocalist ROGER MARSDEN, bassist GERRY CUNNINGHAM, and drummer RICKY BRUCE to equally depart from DEEP MACHINE and to reform ANGEL WITCH with him. ROGERS voice was however soon deemed inappropriate, and he was sacked. MARSDEN subsequently joined the Swedish band E.F. BAND, and recorded one album for MAUSOLEUM REDFORDS, before, in 1984 forging a union with another ex-ANGEL WITCH and E.F. BAND refugee, drummer DAVE DUFORT, to create NEVADDA FOXX.

KEVIN decided to sing lead-vocal again himself, and as a trio the band recorded one glorious live album, called "'82 Revisited - Live At The East Anglia Rock Festival ". We’ve re-titled the re-released version: DEATH ANGEL – ANGEL WITCH LIVE AT THE EAST ANGLIA ROCK FESTIVAL. PAUL SAMSON produced this live set, plus the three bonus studio tracks.

Later that year KEVIN HEYBOURNE once again decided to disband ANGEL WITCH, and shortly afterwards he, and singer LOU TAYLOR, with MARQUIS DE SADE bassist PETER GORDLIER and drummer STEVE COLEMAN, joined forces to form BLIND FURY, a soft rock band. That however didn’t last long either, and in 1984, HEYBOURNE reformed his beloved ANGEL WITCH yet again, taking GORDELIER with him and recalling DAVE HOGG back into the fold. That particular year KEVIN probably didn’t feel like singing so he enlisted DAVE TATTUM a lead-vocalist. This line-up recorded the album "Screamin' N' Bleedin'". Soon after the release of the record, DAVE HOGG took off again, and was succeeded by SPENCER HOLLMAN. The renewed line-up again bequeathed just one album, "Frontal Assault", upon its fans. Also these last two albums were seen as a departure from the ANGEL WITCH of old, and KEVIN HEYBOURNE himself later disowned them by stating: “The albums were a total mistake...I was trying to get into more melodic stuff, but it didn't work..." DAVE TATTUM probably shared that opinion, because he was the next in line to quit the group and left the band to trudge on for the next two or so years as a trio. In 1987 ANGEL WITCH played at the Dynamo, in Holland, once more generating a much heavier sound.

In 1989, JEFF WELLER enrolled ANGEL WITCH to support his charges LAAZ ROCKIT on a tour through California. GRANT DENNISON came in on rhythm guitar, and ANGEL WITCH recorded a live record during this tour, inventively called…"Live". METAL BLADE released the album. HEYBOURNE then decided to relocate ANGEL WITCH to the USA on a permanent basis. The rest of the band had other designs in the UK, so KEVIN ended up staying in San Francisco on his own to form yet another new version of ANGEL WITCH. JON TORRES, the LAAZ ROCKIT bassist, joined, and so did TOM HUNTING –now of EXODUS fame. The first American line-up was established and recorded a number of critically acclaimed tracks, although unfortunately nothing much happened until they were included on RESSURECTION, which was first released in the USA, in 1999, as a limited edition CD through Crook’d Records. RESSURECTION, now also again available on MAUSOLEUM, with a bit of a more informative booklet, is a collection of various tracks the band has recorded over the last 15 years or so. Since the recordings span such a lengthy period of time, a large cast of musicians are present. The 1987 material was a perfect combination of NWOBHM gloom with a thrashier approach, whereas the later cuts saw ANGEL WITCH get steadily heavier, with the 1998 material bordering on death metal. In the process the group lost some of its trademark melody, but this is still a collection well-worth picking up for an interesting look at one of the NWOBHM's most legendary, if unfairly obscure, acts.

In the meantime Guitarist DOUG PIERCY had also joined the band and the quartet continued work on new material. JEFF WELLER’S foremost concern was still LAAZ ROCKIT, and this ultimately led to a conflict between WELLER and ANGEL WITCH. TAMBRE BRYANT then took over management responsibilities, but because KEVIN had no work permit at the time, and had overstayed the validity of his visa, he was arrested and deported the day before the first ANGEL WITCH gig with the renewed line-up was to take place. The rest of the band nevertheless performed at the concert, using the proceeds to pay for an attorney. The USA line-up dissolved immediately afterwards. JON TORRES and KEVIN HEYBOURNE kept in contact and there were continuous rumours of a possibility that these two might one day pick up where they had left off, and reincarnate ANGEL WITCH yet again. Back in England HEYBOURNE assembled an all-new ANGEL WITCH line-up in the summer of 2000 and performed with the band at the Wacken Festival in Germany, playing a lengthy set comprising of many older tunes to the joy of both hardcore and new fans alike.

Back in the USA, JON TORRES had swapped his bass for a guitar and formed WARNING SF, together with another LAAZ ROCKIT stalwart, guitarist AARON JELLUM, and VICIOUS RUMORS drummer WILL CARROLL. The rest of the band was made up of TORRE CARSTENSEN on vocals, BRIAN POOLE on Bass and Keyboards and JOE JIMENEZ, who played bass during gigs. AFTERMATH, the resulting album (also on MAUSOLEUM RECORDS) is nothing short of a masterpiece. During a promotional visit to Europe to plug the WARNING SF album, JON hooked up with KEVIN again. It must have been a hell of a meeting because soon after a press release was issued stating that KEVIN was once again discarding the existing line-up and joining JON TORRES to form a new-and-improved ANGEL WITCH. JON will revert to playing bass in this band, and guitarist LEE ALTUS of HEATHEN was also found eager to join. Initially drummer TOM HUNTING was tipped to complete the line-up, but his joining ANGEL WITCH seemed rather less appealing to the other members of EXODUS, so before long it was decided to invite DARREN MINTER – also a member of HEATHEN – to pound the drums. In June 2003 this latest line-up of ANGEL WITCH played their debut concert at the BANG YOUR HEAD Festival in Germany, and played a few assorted gigs around Europe the week after. They were also to record a brand-new studio album, which so far has unfortunately not emerged.

Alfie Falckenbach
May 2006