When you look into the early history of the band Angel Witch, you can pretty much see this entire scenario scrolling across your eyes. Formed in 1976 but established as Angel Witch in 1978, the band had recorded and released their debut eponymous album in 1980, a story that will be told in an episode not too far down the track on this podcast. However, following that album, one that seemed to have stimulated the right people in the industry with its sound, the band began to falter. In 1981 Drummer Dave Hogg was sacked and bass guitarist Kevin Riddles left to form the band Tytan. Band founder Kevin Heybourne put the band on ice and joined Deep Machine, but soon found that unsuitable, and reformed Angel Witch in 1982 with two other members of Deep Machine. This also failed miserably, and the band was once again put out to pasture as Heybourne moved onto yet another band called Blind Fury in 1983.
However, Angel Witch refused to lay down and die, and in 1984, Heybourne was back, and this time with a line up he was sure would work. Dave Hogg returned on drums, and working alongside Heybourne on guitar was bassist Peter Gordelier and lead singer Dave Tattum, leaving Heybourne to concentrate on guitar without also providing lead vocals. This new line up f the band was signed to independent label Killawatt Records, and entered the studio in April 1985 to record the band’s sophomore album, some five years and several line up changes after their debut album. How much this was going to affect the album and the band itself, only time could tell, as the release came in September of the album titled “Screamin’ and Bleedin’”
It would be fair to say that when I discovered that Heybourne would not be singing on the album I was disappointed, I must admit. I had enjoyed his vocals on the first album, and felt he gave that album a drive as a result. Tattum is not a bad vocalist, and gives a good performance on the material here, but for me it was less Angel Witch because of this.
The album itself suffers from being a collection of good heavy songs it an era where the NWOBHM era had faded, and those bands were being replaced by bands who had been inspired by that first Angel Witch album. Oh the irony! Angel Witch now competing against bands who themselves wanted to be Angel Witch. This album is structured around a solid pairing of drums and bass guitar, providing the base for the album to thrive on. It may not be spectacular or scintillating stuff from the rhythm section, but it does the job required of the songs. This then allows Heybourne's guitar to weave its way through each song, dictating which way it would like them to progress. Again, there may not be a lot of electrifying solo pieces or imaginative riffs that have you sitting up in awe, but they are enough to provide plenty of enjoyment throughout. Tattum's vocals then tell the story of each song, and for the most part are effective in their way.
Most of the tracks have the basis of great songs, though without ever really living up to that potential. "Who's to Blame" starts the album off well, a great riff kicks it off and Tattum’s vocals climb in. Heybourne’s solo is effective and brings back memories of that debut album. “Child of the Night” starts off with a great chugging riff and enough notes that bring about memories of better times to make it enjoyable from the outset. The mid-tempo rumble finds a great groove, and Tattum and Heybourne’s combining of vocals does come through nicely. The song probably suffers from not actually moving out of that chugging riff for the entirety of the song which does produce a feeling of monotony as a result. "Evil Games” has some great touches to it, with Tattum’s vocals raising above the riff in a more pleasing and pleasant style. The chanting of children of the title of the track through the middle of the song gives it an interesting byplay. As a song in its own right it is enjoyable, but it feels as though it failed to push a menacing undertone that would have suited it perfectly. That search for an atmospheric and menacing tone also seeps into the follow up song “Afraid of the Dark”, in which it is almost effective in pulling off. Part of the problem with the track is that the structure of the song doesn’t really suit Tattum’s vocals or range. He does a reasonable job here on this song, but comparatively to other lead vocalists on similar type song in other bands it doesn’t quite work. The bones of the song are strong and sound, perhaps just the execution is not quite there. And it may sound as though I am being both slightly critical and also trying to be over criticise, and both of those opinions would be correct. The title track follows, and has a good pace about it and some energy in the vocals, while Heybourne’s solo through the middle of the song is excellent, the highlight of the song.
"Reawakening" opens up the B side, starting off with the kind of guitar and back beat that flicks a switch inside and is backed up by solid guitar riff and harder vocals from Tattum and Heybourne. The music and vocals are much closer together here which provides a better sample size as to what this line up is capable of. When they both sing together during this song, it is a much more enjoyable concept, it truly sounds like Angel Witch. “Waltz the Night” drops the tempo back again into an almost doom metal track. Musically this style is actually surprisingly enjoyable from the band here, the moody guitar and bass combine well in this environment. The mix is what doesn’t help this with the drums being too loud and prevalent. Heybourne’s solo complements the style of the track terrifically well. “Goodbye” acts as the band’s version of a power ballad, one that suits Tattum’s vocals. “Fatal Kiss” is more of the same, and again the vocals settle nicely into the Tattum’s range, even as the song itself moves slowly through the different stages of power ballad to pop to hard rock settings. The album then concludes with “U.X.V.” an instrumental piece that while it seems out of place also feels like it fits in as a result.
At a couple of different periods of my life, I have grown blase with the music I had been listening to and decided that I needed to branch out and track down some different bands or albums or genres and check them out. One of these times came about 15 years ago from the recording of this episode, when I got into my head that I wanted to start to track down all of the bands of the NWOBHM era that I hadn’t heard at that stage of my musical life. One of those included the recently recorded episode on the debut album by Tygers of Pan Tang called “Wild Cat” - episode number 112 for those who might be interested. And one of the first bands I looked for was Angel Witch, based around their song “Baphomet” that was on the Lars Ulrich and Geoff Barton compilation album, “79 Revisited New Wave of British Heavy Metal”, and their self titled song that I had enjoyed the video clip of so much with my young kids at the time. And initially, apart from that debut album, I was able to discover their second album. One that was quite different from that original release. And one that stood out as a result.
I was looking forward to what I might think of this album over the last few days when I pulled my copy off the shelves once again. When I first got the album I was caught in a quandary. The problem and subsequent answer is simple. It just lacked something, some inspiration that is missing from this album but was there on the debut album. The period of five years between albums had allowed that spark to go missing, a vital ingredient that could well have turned this album and its contents into something more special. It's worth recalling that I thought then that this is not a bad album, just an album that doesn't live up to its predecessor. That's not an easy task when your debut is regarded so highly, and there was so much time between the albums. The change of lead singer always troubled me as well. I loved Kevin Heybourne’s vocals on that first album, and while I understood his desire to concentrate on his guitar for this follow up, it is his voice as much as his guitar that is the start attraction of the first album, that was the SOUND of Angel Witch, and that missing ingredient on this album was slightly troubling.
In recent days, those things have still been in my mind. I mentioned earlier where I probably sounded like I was being critical of how a track sounded while in the same breath not wanting to over criticise, and that is true of this album as a whole. Mainly because I enjoy their debut with Heybourne singing and was hoping this would be equally as good. And in many ways, it is, except that the actual recording of the instrument's lacks something, and Dave Tattum as a lead vocalist doesn’t suit the way either he or Heybourne (or both) thought these songs should have been sung. He’s just not quite in sync as to where the vocals needed to be to get the most out of the tracks as written. Now whether that meant the guitars needed to be tuned down, or Tattum needed to adjust, it isn’t for me to say. To be fair, a better producer and more money in the budget for such things would certainly have helped with the final product, and maybe this is where the true problem with “Screamin’ and Bleedin’” lies.
I’m also of the opinion that the songs are, generally, too long. Editing these down to four minutes maximum would have made them much tighter and punchier, without so much added on stuff that does become a little boring after a while. All of this leads me to believe that if this was re-recorded with a better producer, this could be a really decent NWOBHM album. Someone to really direct how Dave Tattum sings these songs, someone to tighten the rhythm and get the mix of the drums right. Even WITHOUT all of that, if you can tolerate the period and time and the way these albums sounded back in the day, then you can enjoy this album. I still do, even with the reservations I have voiced along the way here. It isn’t a perfect album by any means, but anyone who enjoyed “Angel Witch” will find enough here to enjoy. It's just that you may well end up being like me, and wonder what may have been produced if time had not been an element if not for that five year gap and being able to follow up quickly on the excellence of that first album.
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