Angel Witch

Hands of Goro – Hands of Goro – Review

Hands of Goro – Hands of Goro – Review

By Steel Druhm on March 1, 2024 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 70 comments

“On a day when a NASCAR-themed album hits the mean streets, why shouldn’t we cover a kinda-sorta Mortal Kombat-themed throwback metal opus by members of Slough Feg, Spirit Adrift, and Angel Witch. Hands of Goro is a project playing a style that the members refer to as the “Third Wave of British Heavy Metal.” That’s a fancy-pantsy name for what is essentially the classic NWoBHM sound being unearthed anew in 2024, and that basic NWoBHM template composes the core of what the band delivers on Hands of Goro.” Test your might!

Coven Japan – Earthlings Review

Coven Japan – Earthlings Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on December 11, 2023 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 13 comments

“The past still lives around us—a phone booth dilapidated with its tethered telecommunications device extracted, an eerie, abandoned Sears parking lot, Def Leppard jammin’ for the 6:00 pm crowd at the grocery store. Even for new members of the heavy metal clan, the sounds of royalty—Maiden, Priest, Saxon—often line the path to whatever extreme they may later fall into. It’s no surprise, then, to read that new Japanese export Coven Japan declares themselves as a young band influenced by 70s bands like Angel Witch and 80s bands like Satan” Past as prolog.

Green King – Hidden Beyond Time Review

Green King – Hidden Beyond Time Review

By Steel Druhm on December 17, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 28 comments

“With pickings slim to threadbare in the nearly drained promo sump, Yours Steely skulked through the muck, kicking aside one-man basement black metal projects, re-releases from 2020, and several of Holdeneye‘s lost retainers looking for something worthy of attention. Eventually, I scraped up a debut by unknown Finnish traditional metallers, Green King to be my (likely) final review of 2022. Originally formed as a stoner rock outfit, Green King came to be much more a traditional heavy metal vehicle, borrowing a great deal from the earliest days of the NWoBHM.” Green but eager.

Satan – Earth Infernal Review

Satan – Earth Infernal Review

By Steel Druhm on March 29, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, 83 comments

“Satan is the original Benjamin Button band. By this I mean the older they get, the better and more youthful sounding their output becomes. Part of the original NWoBHM phenomenon, their 1983 debut Court in the Act made the rounds at Casa Druhm back in the days of denim and high tops, but I was never especially taken with their sound, which felt like a less catchy version of Diamond Head or Angel Witch. I didn’t bother with their 1987 follow-up, Suspended Sentence, and I all but forgot about them as I got deeper into thrash and more extreme styles. Fast-forward 26 years to 2013 and they made a comeback with Life Sentence, and virtually nothing about them sounded the same.” Satan is real.

Venator – Echoes From the Gutter Review

Venator – Echoes From the Gutter Review

By Holdeneye on March 2, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, 67 comments

“Echoes From the Gutter finds Venator expanding upon the classic sound they established on the well-executed and well-received 2020 Paradiser EP, a sound that finds them worshipping with reverent fervor before the alter of the deities of early 80s British and American heavy metal. When I listen to these guys, I hear Defenders-era Judas Priest mixed with Jag Panzer, Angel Witch, and Omen; their songs are undeniably heavy and irresistibly catchy.” Hello from the metal gutter.

Maule – Maule Review

Maule – Maule Review

By Huck N Roll on January 31, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, 29 comments

“I’m starting my year off on a positive note. In my Top Ten(ish) column (along with many others) one commenter opined about our lack of love for melodic stuff. I really took that statement to heart and decided that for January it’s only traditional and glam metal for this olde cat. So here we go, with a new creation born on Canada’s west coast, Maule. Touting themselves as part of the new wave of traditional heavy metal, they intend to gallop their way into our hearts with churning rhythms, rousing choruses, and rather pleasant Canadian personalities.” Take off, eh?

Yer Metal Is Olde: Sabre – On the Prowl

Yer Metal Is Olde: Sabre – On the Prowl

By Diabolus in Muzaka on February 13, 2021 in Yer Metal Is Olde, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 16 comments

“As such, my hometown heroes are Bobnoxious, a stupendously fun hard rock band fronted by Bob Reid, whom you may recognize from Razor’s terrific records Shotgun Justice and Open Hostility, and the lesser Decibels. There was, however, another special band from London, Ontario. That band was the power trio known as Sabre, and they released only one record in On the Prowl.” Olde swords.

Lord Fist – Wilderness of Hearts Review

Lord Fist – Wilderness of Hearts Review

By Holdeneye on November 17, 2020 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, 36 comments

“Holdeneye, you’ve been assigned Lord Fist. Nothing personal.” Lord Protector Steel Druhm occasionally likes to try to cover up his warm, gooey, soft, loving center by presenting a hard candy shell. He does this by brandishing one or several of his many weapons, by pretending to enjoy the daily staff beatings morale-building exercises, or by tossing you promos that he thinks you’ll hate. The latter often feels as if a grenade has been dropped into your unsuspecting lap sans pin, but I was elated when I saw that Lord Fist falls under the New Wave of British Heavy Metal genre and that they hail from Finland — much like the band that I covered in my first ever review for AMG. Might Steel have unwittingly lobbed a winner into my hands, or have I just been Lord fisted?” Fist of the North Steel.