Anyone familiar with digging through vinyl bins in the early 80’s as well old compilations of underground bands will know the name Witch Cross. The Danes managed to coattail onto the NWOBHM movement with some very minor success releasing their ‘Fit to Fight’ album in 1984 to a real warm reception before fading away. The band returned in 2011 and now the band have released ‘Angel of Death’, their first studio album since 2013.
Time has not tarnished Witch Cross and ‘Angel of Death’ is another decent album of old-school heavy metal delivered with some real bite and veteran expertise. Straight off the bat, Witch Cross go for the throat, after some time away they’re ready to do it all over again as riffs pummel out against a rhythm section which is tighter than cramp after a football match which has gone to extra time. To completionists and heavy metal aficionados, Kevin Moore may be a familiar name, the man once fronted Graham Oliver and that is no surprise as with ‘Angel of Death’, Moore cranks up the Biff Byford so much that at times you’d convince yourself that you were listening to Saxon outtakes on tagged on the end of a bonus disc from a 1985 remaster. That is not a bad place to be in all honesty, this air of familiarity breeds not contempt, but love for an album which is decent.
Witch Cross may be a cult band, but ‘Angel of Death’ is very enjoyable and a lot of fun, it’s got some good sing-along songs and it is heavy metal done right. What more do you want?
