Angel Heart

“Greece’s very own WARLORD” – that’s how the Athenian group ANGEL HEART has been described in the past. A fitting description in many ways, not least given the band’s knack for 1980s-fashioned lyrical Heavy Metal that taps its power from two roots: the epic and the melancholic. For those who know the band exclusively from their contribution to the seminal “Greece Attacks” (1989) compilation 2LP – the rather non-representative ballad “The Reason I Survive” sung by the band’s early vocalist Athena – it is strongly suggested to dig deeper into the ANGEL HEART discography if you want to know what the fuss is all about.

Although their total creative output in terms of individual songs can be counted on two hands, ANGEL HEART is commonly counted among Greece’s finest HM acts by the underground intelligentsia, which may give a hint as to the proportional quality of the material found on the band’s two (and a half, or even one and a half depending on how you count) demo tapes. However, it hasn’t always been an easy task to find out anything substantial about ANGEL HEART. Luckily, Christos Papadakis from the long-running fanzine “Forgotten Scroll” managed to track down core member and guitarist George “Roxx” Mavropoulos some years ago to finally shed some light on the band’s history and legacy. Christos was kind enough to allow us to refer to the interview as we wished, but given its extensive scope we chose instead to direct anyone interested in finding out more about the band to read his inquiry here.

One detail that needs to be mentioned though concerns the many rumors revolving around a supposedly unreleased ANGEL HEART mini-LP planned for release on Molon Lave Records in the early 1990s. George Mavropoulos confirms that there was indeed a mini-LP in the making but that the deal evaporated when Molon Love suddenly folded without further notice. On a positive note, some of the songs (or maybe all of them) that was supposed to make it onto vinyl can be found on tape dubs. In some cases tucked unto the B-side of the second ANGEL HEART demo, “March of Death” (perhaps done in retrospect by a benevolent tape trader?)

Compilation appearances:
* Greece Attacks [2LP, Comp, Gatefold: FM, 1989]
* Metal Darkness Compilation Tape [Cass, Comp: Metal Darkness Zine, 1991]