Time Signature In the eye of the metal storm...

Genre: Old school heavy metal

Among the pioneers of the Danish metal scene, Witch Cross sadly never rose to the same level of fame as their contemporaries Mercyful Fate, and the band's history has been an on-off one. Regardless, they are a pretty damn good band, and their most recent offering "Angel of Death" (released today!) is the living proof of that.

Combining melodicism with 80s metal tropes and an overall rock-n-rollness (and even a slight pinch of power metal), the album is an enjoyable listen from beginning to end. From the dark and ominous, yet hauntingly beautiful, instrumental 'Tempus Mori Est' to the closing Saxonesque 'Warrior', the listener is treated to a cornucopia of straight up heavy metal. Among my favorite tracks are 'Phoenix Fire' with its twin guitars and epic chorus, the heavy 'Marauders', the doomy 'Siren's Song' and the epic 'Eye of the Storm'. Hell, I even like the ballad 'The Chosen One'.

The songwriting is impeccable as these guys understand how to write old school 80s metal and utilize the tropes of the genre in an authentic way, from Maidenesque twin guitars over Priest-like motorcycle riffage to bursts of AC/DC-inspired sections here and there. The musicianship is also top notch (and one of the guys even knows how to play the glockenspiel - so why not use it in a song, right?) with solid wankery-less instrumental work across the board. I also quite like Kev Moore's voice which falls somewhere in between Ozzy and "Down Fall the Good Guys"-era Blaze Bayley (and that's a compliment, because I really like Blaze Bayley's work on that album).

Fans of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Accept, Running Wild and other classic 80s metal bands should find the latest full-length effort by Witch Cross a very enjoyable listen for sure. Also, yeah, makes me feel a bit of national pride. Not gonna lie about that.

UMUR "Fit for Fight" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish heavy metal act Witch Cross. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in 1984. "Fit for Fight" is the band´s only album release from those days (they´ve since reunited and have released more material). Not many Danish metal acts from the early eighties made it big or even got just a slight bit of recognition internationally, maybe with the exception of Mercyful Fate, Artillery, and Pretty Maids, and Witch Cross is another one of those forgotten Danish gems that very few people have heard about.

The band play a an energetic traditional heavy metal style, that can be relatively mainstream oriented like on "Night Flight to Tokyo", but also darker and heavier like on "Face of a Clown" (which features a couple of nods toward Mercyful Fate). The band are very well playing. The rhythm section is tight and organic, the guitar riffs are hard, edgy and heavy, the guitar solos blistering, and to top it off the strong vocal attack of Alex "Savage" Nyborg Madsen (who would later become a rather famous Danish radio hosts and also lead vocalist in the Danish Led Zeppelin Jam). He is a real vocal capacity and a great asset to the band´s sound.

So most of the features that need to be in place to succeed are present and accounted for on "Fit for Fight". When that is said, it´s probably in the songwriting department, where they didn´t stand out enough. The songwriting is competent enough, but it´s not terribly original for the time, and that´s probably the main reason for them not reaching a wider audience. I´m sure though with the right management and a couple of more mature releases, they could have made it big. As it is "Fit for Fight" is a pretty great heavy metal album and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature Killer dogs...

Genre: heavy metal

Although Mercyful Fate are probably the only really revered Danish metal band from the 80s, the truth is that the Danish metal scene of the early 80s was bustling with really awesome bands, most of which never made it big. One of these band was Witch Cross, whose only album "Fit for Fight" was originally released back in 1984. The album keeps surfacing in the form of various reissues - most recently on the cult metal label Hell's Headbangers Records.

And, you know what, this album deserves being pushed into the limelight again, because it is one of the damn best albums from the Danish metal scene of the early 1980s. Although stylistically quite different from Mercyful Fate's releases, it reaches the same level of high quality metal. Just check out a track like the driving 'Face of a Clown', the uplifting 'Rocking the Night Away', the heavy but melodic 'Killer Dogs', the amazing instrumental 'Axe Dance', and the proto-speed metal tune 'Alien Savage'. With a distinct NWOBHM-inspired sound, Witch Cross committed a near-masterpiece in this album.

It seems that Hell's Headbangers have not fiddled too much with the production of the album, which means that the distinct reverb-filled 80s metal sound is retained (which is okay here, because the Horn & Lund producing team did not go overboard in reverb). Moreoever, the guitar and drum sound has a nicely organic and truly authentic feel to them, while Alex Nyborg Madsen's voice is neatly placed on top of it all.

Hell's Headbangers' tagline for the album is "A mandatory release for all Heavy Metal Maniacs!" - I can only agree.