Angel Witch

Emerging from the inauspicious environs of suburban Kent in 1977 with the doom-laden clangour of Black Sabbath ringing in their ears, Angel Witch quickly found themselves leading a movement of bands who were taking the heavy metal paradigm to exciting new dimensions, creating something darker, faster and heavier than anything previously issued forth.

Songwriter, lead guitarist and chief architect Kevin Heybourne engineered a psychic realm where horror and fantasy imagery locked horns with pulverising riffs and razorsharp hooks, the band were soon vying for supremacy in an alarmingly fertile scene that also included <a href="spotify:artist:6mdiAmATAx73kdxrNrnlao" data-name="Iron Maiden">Iron Maiden</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:71vVmHeNgCVSa5SVmfvscU" data-name="Saxon">Saxon</a>.

Released in 1980 <a href="spotify:album:1a3pru3t4DuZoGHBpCNM66" data-name="Angel Witch (30th Anniversary Edition)">Angel Witch (30th Anniversary Edition)</a>, earned them a rabid following if not always critical plaudits, Yet unknown to most, these feverish, vicious and incisive songs had already found the ears of a generation of young and hungry musicians who would come to lay the groundwork for extreme metal.

Since reforming in 2009 and with the album <a href="spotify:album:2Bor2ZrDezqfE3cQgJZEZG" data-name="As Above, So Below">As Above, So Below</a> Angel Witch united an audience of new devotees and older fans around the world, traversing Europe with <a href="spotify:artist:7GTkjp7qsfmx8iJzBUQLmN" data-name="Grand Magus">Grand Magus</a>, touring with <a href="spotify:artist:0eayuW5zGMgvXCEmcP7ivq" data-name="Trouble">Trouble</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7zDtfSB0AOZWhpuAHZIOw5" data-name="Candlemass">Candlemass</a>, headlining shows as far afield as Japan and Canada. 2017 proved to be the most eventful year of the decade thus far, with the line-up of Heybourne, Will Palmer (bass) Jim Martin (guitar) and ex-<a href="spotify:artist:3HVmba1wHgrLVsVC5IIzkG" data-name="Witchcraft">Witchcraft</a> drummer Fredrik Jansson touring with <a href="spotify:artist:4htjQW3lgIwL6fEJlTOez4" data-name="Electric Wizard">Electric Wizard</a> returning to Japan and playing Poland for the first time.