LIVE REVIEW

The album cover is easily the best album cover Angel Witch has had and it's also one of my most favourite of any heavy metal album cover. It is quite morbid and should have been the cover to the Screamin' N' Bleedin' record. Unfortunately, this live album isn't quite as enjoyable as the previous releases. 
Performance-wise, there aren't any backing vocals here, although Peter Gordelier is credited with them. He does almost all of the talking to the audience, though. The music, on the whole, is rushed, as if Angel Witch had to adopt a speed metal style in order to stay interesting to the fans who most likely were at the Troubadour, where this album was recorded, to see the main band, Laaz Rockit. Unfortunately, many of the songs do not translate well into a speed metal format, having been written in a more classic style originally. It also sounds like the band are still a bit nervous, perhaps because this was Angel Witch's first time in USA. The setlist is composed entirely of EMI and Bronze era songs, of which very few fit the band's new style. 

"Angel Of Death" starts off the set and is very promising and very heavy, although already you can hear the "low budget sound" kicking in, from the sound of the drums - not quite the same kind of sound as heard on the Frontal Assault album even though this is mostly the same lineup. 

"Sweet Danger" is next but the intro doesn't sound right because Grant Denison does not harmonise with Kevin Heybourne. In fact, he does almost no harmony guitar work, sticking with just bashing power chords and rhythm guitar, causing another weak point on the album. 

"Confused" is one of the best cuts on this record, and it suits the band's new style fairly well, and is just as heavy as the Onslaught cover of this song that same year. 

"Sorceress" is up next and has a good lead guitar spot for Heybourne and a so-so one for Taco Bell Denison. It still stands up very well, though, in the new style. 

"Gorgon" seems to be too fast for its own good, and suffers as a result from being rushed. 

"Baphomet", originally from the Metal For Muthas album, is a highlight of this album as it was originally a speed metal song and so it sounds really good here, although some of the rhythm guitar work is a bit sloppy, as if Heybourne and Denison haven't quite clicked quite yet. This is actually one of the biggest problems on the album. Still, the song fares very well here. 

This is followed by "Extermination Day", which suffers immensely from the aforementioned inability for Heybourne and Denison to play together on rhythm guitar. 

"Atlantis" is also much too fast, and you can even hear Denison just barely remembering in time to catch Heybourne's leads in harmony. 

"Flight 19" again suffers from being much too fast, and the very intense and heavy chorus rhythm section is lost in the shuffle. Much of what made the original debut single version great got stripped off on this version. 

"Angel Witch" is good here, although the audience is horribly out of tune. Still, the best live renditions I've heard are from my 1979-81 concert tapes. 

"White Witch" finishes up this record and is extremelly well done, and just might be the best track on this record. 

All in all, disappointing for a live album and also for the fact that Angel Witch hasn't been really active since due to one misfortune after another. It really is more highly recommended that you check out Oliver Klemm's '82 Revisited - Live At The East Anglia Rock Festival Mildenhall CD, which has a much better sound quality and performance overall. 


RATING: 6