Below is a history of Angel Witch, as penned by Dave Ling in the 2005 re-issue of the s/t album.

This has not been updated since Dave's original text, which was written in 2005, but we will ad an addendum at some point soon.

For some interesting stories check out Dave's site:

http://www.daveling.co.uk/

For a band that eventually became so influential, it's odd to consider the indifference (and in some cases derision) that Angel Witch endured during their original burst of activity. In recent years, the band's occult-influenced oeuvre has become appreciated by a legion of doom-metal enthusiasts, but at the time Angel Witch faced stiff opposition from the press, rival musicians, the record industry and many rock fans.
The group began life in the South London suburb of Beckenham at the tail end of the 1970s, guitarist Kevin Heybourne having served an apprenticeship with several local minnows. Among them was the funk-rock act Deadline, believe it or not. However, along with rhythm guitarist Rob Downing and a now forgotten rhythm section, Heybourne formed Lucifer in 1977, trading in the name when he learned of another group that shared it. The quartet already had a song called 'Angel Witch' in their repertoire, so that became their new moniker.
Various musicians came and went before 17-stone bassist Kevin 'Skids' Riddles walked in the door, joining Heybourne and drummer Dave Hogg in a power-trio line-up. Hard gigging at venues like the Ruskin Arms in East Ham began to develop Angel Witch a fanatically loyal following. Although some laughed at their mixture of Satanic lyrics, thunderous riffs and bombastic rhythms, the band stuck to their guns, making no secret of their love of Black Sabbath. Indeed, they'd sometimes encore with the latter's 'Paranoid'.
Having contributed the track 'Baphomet' to the legendary Metal For Muthas compilation (included here), Heavy Metal Soundhouse DJ Neal offered a spot on the Metal Crusade tour, alongside the likes of Iron Maiden, Saxon, Praying Mantis and Sledgehammer. As the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal took off, Angel Witch were also invited to record a session for Radio 1's Friday Rock Show. Comprising the songs 'Sweet Danger', 'Angel Witch', 'Angel Of Death' and 'Extermination Day' it was broadcast on 14th March of 1980 (again, you'll find all these tracks here). 'Extermination Day' was later included on the BBC's Metal Explosion collection. The single 'Sweet Danger' (b/w 'Flight 19' and 'Hades Paradise' – both flipsides also included) scraped into the UK's Top 75, its single-week stay delighting the band's critics by making them the nation's least successful chart act till that point.
1980's Reading Festival confirmed the NWOBHM's arrival, Angel Witch joining Maiden, Def Leppard, the Tygers Of Pan Tang, Samson, White Spirit, Praying Mantis and Sledgehammer on a thoroughly impressive three-day bill. The previous month, they'd also appeared at Motörhead's Heavy Metal Mayhem Barn Dance at Bingley Hall in Stafford on a bill completed by Saxon, Girlschool, Vardis and Mythra.
"I still have bloody excellent memories of those times, there was so much energy – everyone was buzzing," Heybourne recalled in 1998 of the NWOBHM. "Musically, there was a lot of variety. When I saw Girl at the Music Machine, I thought, 'What the hell are they doing lumped in with it all?'"
Iron Maiden and Def Leppard were the fortunate acts whose careers took of the quickest, and legend still abounds of the fateful occasion when Angel Witch had an "off night" at the Music Machine and an EMI Records A&R man decided to sign Maiden instead.
"We were headlining and went on extremely late," admits Heybourne of the incident. "We'd had a few too many drinks… it was a big mistake."
Angel Witch – whose sound was once famously described as: "the first Sabbath album played through a cement mixer" – would always be deeply unfashionable. They could smash attendance records at the 'old' Marquee Club in Wardour Street, where only AC/DC ever attracted more punters, but the next step up the latter always seemed tantalisingly out of reach.
Dave Hogg, who'd soon be replaced by Dave Dufort, complained in 1980: "When we played at Hammersmith Odeon, we sent tickets out to record companies for our support slot. But on the night, the only empty seats were those 12 or so."
"There was more of a glamour to bands like Def Leppard," reflected Heybourne in 1998. "We had Fatty [Riddles] and Skinny [himself] up at the front, and this hippy [Hogg] on drums. For some people that was a bit weird, but we never pretended to be anything we weren't."
Although Hogg played on Angel Witch, highly experienced former E.F. Band man (and brother of Girlschool's Denise) Dufort succeeded him on the stool soon after it hit the racks in late 1980. Sounds, the era's leading UK music weekly, was merciless in its condemnation, writer Paul Suter dismissing the record as "40 minutes of undiluted torture… the aural equivalent of a Blackburn refuse tip… a bass sound tremendous only in its weediness… as limp as a blancmange umbrella in a rainstorm… the vinyl answer to fouling the footpath."
Soldiering on in the wake of such a massacre would always constitute an uphill struggle, and although Angel Witch issued a single called 'Loser' (along with its B-side 'Suffer' it's among this disc's bonus tracks) they folded after a gig at the Marquee in September 1981, citing: "A difference of opinion over management and a breakdown in the working relationship of the three members."
However, just six months after joining the band Deep Machine, Kevin unveiled a new-look Angel Witch at a gig at Maidstone Technical College. Singer Roger Marsden, plus the ex-Deep Machine duo of bassist Gerry Cunningham and drummer Ricky Bruce completed the revised Witch. This reunion was also to short-circuit, however, and in May 1983 Kevin formed Blind Fury with ex-Satan singer Lou Taylor. Blind Fury released an album called Out Of Reach in 1985, but Heybourne had long since quit to reunite Angel Witch once again, taking bassist Pete Gordelier with him.
Dave Hogg returned for July 1985's second album, Screamin' 'N' Bleedin', which also featured the lead vocals of Dave Tattum. With Hogg heading for the door again, Angel Witch recruited ex-Dexy's Midnight Runners percussionist Spencer Hollman for Frontal Assault.
"Oh God, those albums were a total mistake," groans Heybourne looking back on the era. "I was trying to get into more melodic stuff, but there were terrible productions and awful pressings. It was a weird time for me. I was watching the American bands and realising we were being blown away. They had so much professionalism."
Angel Witch had been namechecked by several Bay Area (San Francisco) thrash-metal bands, so in 1990 Kevin and a line-up completed by rhythm guitarist Grant Dennison headed to California for what seemed like a last throw of the dice. A successful gig at LA's Troubador spawned the Angel Witch Live album, and Heybourne decided to stay. Goldelier, Dennision and Hollman were invited to follow suit, but declined.
Heathen guitarist Doug Piercy, former Exodus drummer Tom Hunting, Lääz Rockit bassist John Torres all signed up for a US incarnation of Angel Witch. Alas, Kevin's dreams were to be shattered when he was deported back to Britain with nothing but the clothes he wore and, in his own words, "looking like a fucking vagrant."
In 2000, the Witch began boiling her cauldron again. An excellent new line-up completed by guitarist Keith Herzberg, bassist/vocalist Richie Wicks and drummer Scott Higham played Germany's Wacken Festival, the buzz resulting in the Sinister History anthology, a belated UK release for the Resurrection album and the Live At The LA2 CD. Curiously, ex-Tigertailz man Ace Finchum then auditioned to replace the departed Higham, and with Wicks joining the Tygers Of Pan Tang, all seemed lost once again. However, in the summer of 2002 the rhythm section agreed to give things one more try.
This time it was Heybourne's turn to pull the plug, mystifying his band-mates by reviving the American line-up instead. There was further live action, including a spot at 2003's Bang Your Head festival and a Ruskin Arms warm-up, but we await the new studio album that's been mooted.
"I'm still writing material," confirms Kevin. "This year is also the 25th anniversary of the first album, so there is a possibility we could do something again. It would be a shame if Angel Witch were to be laid to rest, but I can't say anything for definite about future plans."
So many years later, it's hard not to feel that Angel Witch were the right group at the wrong point in time.
"The Bay Area bands definitely took ideas from ourselves, Witchfynde and Diamond Head," Heybourne had told me years later. "But they had chances that were denied to us. In our day, everything was so controlled by the record companies. Metallica had seen other bands get screwed and insisted on a hands-off attitude. It's a luxury I wish I'd had."
So, will this expanded re-issue of their debut album afford the Angel Witch legacy a belated reappraisal? Alas, it's probably too late for such miracles. But the music's quality speaks far louder than mere words.

Dave Ling
Classic Rock/Metal Hammer magazines
London, 25th April 2005