Seventh Angel | pt

Seventh Angel formed when Ian Arkley (vocals/guitars) met Scott Rawson (guitars) and started jamming together back in 1987 in Netherton, UK. A Spinal Tap-esq hunt for drummers began, and the legend has it that 5 drummers came and went during 1988/89. Andrew Blount joined, and the first few songs were written. Andrew Blount was soon replaced by Andy Hopkins who in turn played with the band until December '88. Early in 1989 Mark Ruff took over the drums. The first demo, simply entitled 'Seventh Angel' was recorded, with Ian playing lead guitar, bass as well as vocals. A few days later Simon Bibby joined to play bass and the band began to play local gigs around the West Midlands. Seventh Angel's first gig took place in May in Netherton, W. Midlands, England. In August the band played their fifth gig at the Greenbelt festival, following One Bad Pig in the big top. Shortly afterwards Mark left, and Seventh Angel toured the UK, including Ireland, with American band Whitecross. Colin Brookes helped out on drums during the tour. Scott then left the band, but the lineup stabilized with Scott rejoining and Andrew Thompson, known as Tank, replacing Colin on drums. Scott left again for a couple of months, during which time the second demo, 'The Rehearsal Demo', was recorded live for the grand total of £26. On December 27th Scott rejoined the band. On January 25th 1990 Seventh Angel appeared on Channel 4's 'Not on Sunday' program, which featured a performance of "Divine Takeover" and a band interview with Brian Redhead, recorded the previous day. The demos received good reviews in various magazines. Ian and Simon were involved in a car crash on February 14th in which Simon broke his arm, and Ian damaged several of his teeth. However, this did not stop the band fulfilling their gig commitments that week, although Simon was only able to sing. Between March 12th and 14th the third demo, 'Heed the Warning', was recorded and mixed at White Rabbit Studios in Bridgenorth with Paul Hodson producing. Shortly afterwards the band recorded their first album, 'The Torment', at Mad Hat Studios in Wolverhampton, again with Paul Hodson at the producing helm. Rodney Matthews provided the artwork for the album cover. Over the next few months Seventh Angel played a number of local venues around Dudley and Stourbridge, including at least five appearances at The Rock Tavern in Brierley Hill. The band also headlined Metal Meltdown in November, which was to be Simon's last gig, as he left the band the following February. 1991 also saw the band parting ways with their manager Dave Williams. Simon Jones helped out by stepping in to play bass, and the band continued to play gigs around Horsham and Stourbridge during the spring. The band played festivals including Harry and Crossfire. Seventh Angel also toured the UK with Toranaga from March 21st to April 7th, playing a total of 11 tour dates. The second album, 'Lament For The Weary', was recorded in ICC studios, Eastbourne, with Roy Rowland producing. The recording took place from the 4th to the 16th of July 1991. It was mixed during the first ten days of August, but the final album wasn't released until the following year. The band also appeared on a compilation album, released on Edge/Pure Metal Records, entitled 'White Metal Warriors - Last Ship Home'. The compilation was made to highlight the British white metal scene, and featured 4 other metal acts from the UK. The 2 Seventh Angel songs featured were both from the 'Heed The Warning' demo. On the 23rd of August, Seventh Angel played a memorable set on main stage at the Greenbelt Festival, sharing the bill with Galactic Cowboys. In October 1991, shortly after a gig in Croyden, Scott left the band (for the third and final time). Due to work commitments Simon Jones also left shortly after Greenbelt, and the band continued with only Tank and Ian as permanent members. The band temporarily split between the 1st and 14th November, but reformed, responding to the invitation to play at the Christmas Rock Night in Ennepetal, Germany on the 7th of December. Jon Willis played bass on this occasion, in the absence of the irreplaceable Simon Bibby. Also helping out on bass during the next few months were Earl Morris and Nic White. February 1992 saw Seventh Angel on BBC TV four times, in footage recorded the previous August at the Greenbelt festival. The featured track was "Forbidden Desires". Over the next few months the band played at many festivals and gigs around the UK, Holland and Germany. On May 30th Seventh Angel played in Utrecht, Holland. Mark Broomhead, of Detritus fame, stepped in to play bass at this point and the band, returned to Greenbelt on August the 28th, playing alongside Veni Domine. A tour of Holland took place from September 9th to October 12th , and November 12th until December 12th. December 12th 1992 saw Seventh Angel's last gig in Utrecht, Holland and the band split up shortly afterwards. In 2005 Retroactive Records re-released 'The Torment' and 'Lament for the Weary'. Bombworks Records released a CD with early demo recordings and live material, entitled 'Heed The Warning - Demo & Live Recordings'. And finally in 2008 Seventh Angel reformed, and started recording again. Metal Mind Productions re-released both their albums, with remastered sound, and newly recorded bonus tracks. .