ANGELWITCH "Angel of Light"

ANGELWITCH

“Angel of Light”

Talk about an erratic album schedule...ANGELWITCH should top that list. The last effort from the NWOBHM giants was “As Above, So Below” back in 2012...7 years ago. Over the last three decades, I’m never exactly sure if these guys are an active band or not, but “Angel Of Light” definitely declares that the WITCH is back in the game.

My feelings towards this one are conflicted. It is certainly true to the classic ANGELWITCH style of gloomy and galloping melodic metal that iapproaches  doom but is not quite there. The band hasn’t thrashed up their style or gone an AOR route. The core of what made the band great in the early 80’s still remains. Yet I’m unmoved by “Angel of Light”. It doesn’t have the extra weight and intensity that a classic release must have. The songs are heavy and pleasant, but not much more than that and I can’t say anything here sticks in my head the way “Free Man”, “Angelwitch” and “White Witch” did.

Kevin Heyhourne’s plaintive voice remains the same as it did all those years ago and his lead guitar skills have not dimmed. On this album, I recommend the powerful opening number “Don’t Turn Your Back” and the followup number “Death From Andromeda”. “The Night Is Calling” is a very old demo song that is a dark power ballad until it hits the gas late in the song...you can hear the ghost of early WITCH in this one. Outside of these tracks, everything else is listenable but not particularly interesting. The production is clear but has a kind of modern flatness to it.

End analysis: “Angel of Light” is ANGELWITCH through and through, but nothing to rave about.

METAL BLADE

ANGELWITCH