Witch Cross - Biography
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1982-
Biography
Witch Cross was originally founded back in 1980 in the Danish city Hillerød by vocalist Alex Savage (aka Alex Nyborg Madsen) , Mike Wlad Koch and Thomas Stoney on guitars, Jan"Little John" Field on bass and Anders "A.C". on drums.
The band recorded and released their first single "NoAngel/Are You There" in 1982 and received a lot of good press from the release.
witch cross 1982.
After the 1 st single Thomas Stoney left Witch Cross and Cole Hamilton joined. The band began to developed their style with twin guitar parts and a more Judas Priest inspired sound.
Witch Cross then started writing and recording their debut full length album "Fit for Fight" which was produced by danish guitarist Ivan Horn ( who had produced the bands first single) and engineered by Niels Erik Lund who worked with Mercyful Fate and King Diamond at the legendary Easy Sound Studio in Copenhagen.
AC left the band shortly after the release of "Fit for Fight" and Lars (Tony Adams) Bjornstad became the new drummer.
Witch Cross toured mainly in Skandinavia but in 1985 the band went on a Dutch German tour and were captured live on video at the famous rock club Dynamo in Holland.
After the tour Cole Hamilton left the band and were replaced by Rene Rieland on guitar.
Witch Cross 1984.
The band stood out in a period with many Danish bands hailing the darker sides of the religious spectrum like Mercyful Fate and King Diamond or pure AOR/melodic acts like Fate or Hero with a style that combined melodic power rock with social commitment and statements concerning the society! Even though Witch Cross had started out with rubber skulls and satanic altars etc. on the stage the band soon became know as the "smiling heavy metal band" of Denmark.
The band Witch Cross existed up until 1986 with changing line-ups though Jan "Little" John Field was the only original member.
On the 27th April 2012 Witch Cross took the stage at the prestigious "Keep it True" festival in Germany in front of 2000 rocking Heavy metal fans. The band performed songs from their acclaimed 1984 debut album "Fit for Fight" and founding member and guitarist Mike "Wlad" Koch says "it's great to be playing the old songs along with one or two new ones, even though we couldn't get the whole band back together for various reasons it's exciting to be able to bring our music back to life in front of so many people" and the band plan to continue to play live after this event so watch this space.
On stage with Mike Wlad will be 2 other original members of Witch Cross , bassplayer Jan "Little John" Fields and drummer Anders "AC" Hjort. The 3 have drafted in British singer Kevin Moore from Graham Oliver's Saxon and guitarist Paul Martin. The bands debut album "Fit for Fight" along with their 1982 single No Angel/Are you There and 19 other demo track spanning the bands early day until their split in 1985 has been released on a 4 vinyl limited collectors albums by the American heavy metal label Hells Headbangers earlier this year. And a double CD with some bonus video with be released in the near future.
Source: http://www.witchcross.dk/band/history.html
The band recorded and released their first single "NoAngel/Are You There" in 1982 and received a lot of good press from the release.
witch cross 1982.
After the 1 st single Thomas Stoney left Witch Cross and Cole Hamilton joined. The band began to developed their style with twin guitar parts and a more Judas Priest inspired sound.
Witch Cross then started writing and recording their debut full length album "Fit for Fight" which was produced by danish guitarist Ivan Horn ( who had produced the bands first single) and engineered by Niels Erik Lund who worked with Mercyful Fate and King Diamond at the legendary Easy Sound Studio in Copenhagen.
AC left the band shortly after the release of "Fit for Fight" and Lars (Tony Adams) Bjornstad became the new drummer.
Witch Cross toured mainly in Skandinavia but in 1985 the band went on a Dutch German tour and were captured live on video at the famous rock club Dynamo in Holland.
After the tour Cole Hamilton left the band and were replaced by Rene Rieland on guitar.
Witch Cross 1984.
The band stood out in a period with many Danish bands hailing the darker sides of the religious spectrum like Mercyful Fate and King Diamond or pure AOR/melodic acts like Fate or Hero with a style that combined melodic power rock with social commitment and statements concerning the society! Even though Witch Cross had started out with rubber skulls and satanic altars etc. on the stage the band soon became know as the "smiling heavy metal band" of Denmark.
The band Witch Cross existed up until 1986 with changing line-ups though Jan "Little" John Field was the only original member.
On the 27th April 2012 Witch Cross took the stage at the prestigious "Keep it True" festival in Germany in front of 2000 rocking Heavy metal fans. The band performed songs from their acclaimed 1984 debut album "Fit for Fight" and founding member and guitarist Mike "Wlad" Koch says "it's great to be playing the old songs along with one or two new ones, even though we couldn't get the whole band back together for various reasons it's exciting to be able to bring our music back to life in front of so many people" and the band plan to continue to play live after this event so watch this space.
On stage with Mike Wlad will be 2 other original members of Witch Cross , bassplayer Jan "Little John" Fields and drummer Anders "AC" Hjort. The 3 have drafted in British singer Kevin Moore from Graham Oliver's Saxon and guitarist Paul Martin. The bands debut album "Fit for Fight" along with their 1982 single No Angel/Are you There and 19 other demo track spanning the bands early day until their split in 1985 has been released on a 4 vinyl limited collectors albums by the American heavy metal label Hells Headbangers earlier this year. And a double CD with some bonus video with be released in the near future.
Source: http://www.witchcross.dk/band/history.html