Armoured Angel – Wings of Death LP

Formed in 1982 and disbanding in 2001, ARMOURED ANGEL were Australia’s very first extreme metal band – and for many years, one of its only ones. Originally released in 1989 on cassette tape and then a vinyl edition that’s long out of print, Wings of Death was the band’s second demo and first to truly nail the signature ARMOURED ANGEL sound: patient, pulsing, and largely mid-tempo death metal rife with nuance and molten power to spare. Although still early days at this point, contemporaries could be likened to Bolt Thrower, Asphyx, and Gorefest, but there’s always been a certain clarity of expression to ARMOURED ANGEL that favorably compares to later Amebix; here on Wings of Death especially, their classic death metal uptempos bear a proud ‘n’ poignant pulse, symptomatic of strong songwriting even at this early stage in the band’s storied history. And although they would only release one album – and quite belatedly, at that – it was always the short-length format where ARMOURED ANGEL excelled most. The four-song Wings of Death stands as a testament to this fact, and more so the endearing legacy of one of heavy metal’s true cult favorites.