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Angel Witch, 32 years removed from their the seminal 1980 album Angel Witch, has finally provided a worthy follow up with As Above, So Below. Kevin Heybourne and a cast of thousands disguised as Angel Witch vainly tried to follow up the NWOBHM masterwork, but could only muster 1985’s Screamin’‘n Bleedin,’ which has legitimacy in the heavy metal canon, but whose umbilical cord never was connected to Angel Witch.

Decades passed and Angel Witch’s self-titled album was reissued about every two years by a different label, probably as the royalty checks dwindled to single digits. Heybourne trotted out umpteen different lineups, often with Angel Witch alumni making a second or third return. Heybourne even moved to the U.S., whipped up a yank Angel Witch, landed a spot on a tour, then got booted out of the country for immigration irregularities.

The GPS of perseverance brought Heybourne into the coordinates of drummer Andy Prestidge and bassist Will Palmer. Together the trio recaptures that ol’ Angel Witch electricity. Enter Jaime Gomez Arellano, producer of Ghost and Gates of Slumber, and the greatness of 1980s Angel Witch returns back to the future.

As Above, So Below begins with “Dead Sea Scrolls.” Wham-o, the production resurrects the shrill mid-range honk endemic to the car speaker sound of NWOBHM as the guitars gallop in just like yesteryear. When Heybourne’s vocal appears, Angel Witch is back with new found glory...

or old recalled glory, given that the song is an unreleased effort from 1983. Splashed with Saxon-sauce and Ludwig thunder, it belongs to another era. “Dead Sea Scrolls,” Angel Witch and Arellano’s time capsule production lovingly resurrect the sonic soul of proto-metal streaking into the metallic eighties.

As Above, So Below is a 50/50 mix of old and new songs: four recently-penned numbers and four unreleased nuggets. Its really up to the listener to guess which Witch is which. After the opener comes another heritage piece, “Into the Dark.” The rhythm takes center stage between the flash-pots until Heybourne’s classic lead solo arrives. Fervency freshens up this old gal and proudly brings her to the show.

“Geburah” and “The Horla” then rise above the horizon, proving that Heybourne can still write new Angel Witch songs by waning moonlight. Guitar harmonies and reverence for the Angel Witch formula true up the rejuvenated sound. “Witching Hour” leaps out of the archive lock-box and spoons out “classics of the '80s” elixir. The melody is rib-stickin’ good.

After an inauspicious detour of downbeat with “Upon this Cord,” valiant effort that it is, comes the album highlight, “Guillotine.” All that made Angel Witch a secret handshake member of the NWOBHM founders club exists in this beauty. Why ever did Heybourne keep this in the Anvil case of forgotten songs?

As Above, So Below ends with the fourth newborn, “Brainwashed.” Again galloping, again invoking a classic metal vibe with a hint of Heart’s “Barracuda” and touches of Accept and Iron Maiden, Heybourne and Angel Witch have put together a convincing demand for respect, and ultimately, redemption.

(released March 27, 2012 on Metal Blade Records)



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