Biography
Hailing from Bellevue, Washington, the American heavy metal and hard rock group Fifth Angel surfaced during the mid-1980s, delivering an aggressive melodic approach shaped by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and reflecting the textures of Pacific Northwest peers Queensrÿche and Metal Church. The outfit put out two favorably received albums in the latter half of the decade—Fifth Angel in 1986 and Time Will Tell in 1989—before the changing musical climate of the early 1990s prompted their breakup. They regrouped in 2017, secured a contract with Nuclear Blast, and saw the label release The Third Secret in 2018 along with the double concept album When Angels Kill in 2023.
High-school acquaintances Ted Pilot on vocals and Ed Archer on guitar established the band in 1983; it later grew into a five-piece through the additions of lead guitarist James Byrd, John Macko, and drummer Ken Mary. Shrapnel Records recognized the power of Fifth Angel’s classic metal and put out their self-titled debut in 1986, an effort co-produced by Terry Date, who later oversaw platinum releases from Pantera, Soundgarden, and White Zombie. Although the album gained limited traction domestically, it reached a broader listenership abroad and marked an early hit for the then-new Roadrunner label’s European distribution arm.
The release also drew interest from Concrete Management, whose efforts to pitch the record to major labels placed the band in extended limbo amid drawn-out contract talks. Members pursued outside work during the wait, notably Ken Mary, who contributed sessions for Alice Cooper and House of Lords. Epic Records ultimately offered a long-term agreement and reissued the debut in 1988. By that point James Byrd had departed to begin a solo career with the Shrapnel album Atlantis Rising, and Kendall Bechtel took his place ahead of the recording of Time Will Tell. The album performed strongly, with its single “Midnight Love” adopted as the theme for Howard Stern’s widely popular radio program, yet the group, like many contemporaries, could not withstand the rise of alternative rock and post-grunge and dissolved the next year.
Fifth Angel returned in 2010 with most original members intact—Heir Apparent’s Peter Orullian stepping in for Ted Pilot, now a successful endodontist—to headline the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Koenigshofen, Germany. Invited back in 2017, the musicians formally reunited and joined Nuclear Blast. Functioning as a compact four-piece of Archer, Mary, Macko, and Bechtel, who assumed lead vocals, they issued the melodic power metal-oriented The Third Secret in 2018, their first new material in nearly thirty years. The ambitious 2023 release When Angels Kill presented a story-driven double album incorporating themes from their prior three records.
High-school acquaintances Ted Pilot on vocals and Ed Archer on guitar established the band in 1983; it later grew into a five-piece through the additions of lead guitarist James Byrd, John Macko, and drummer Ken Mary. Shrapnel Records recognized the power of Fifth Angel’s classic metal and put out their self-titled debut in 1986, an effort co-produced by Terry Date, who later oversaw platinum releases from Pantera, Soundgarden, and White Zombie. Although the album gained limited traction domestically, it reached a broader listenership abroad and marked an early hit for the then-new Roadrunner label’s European distribution arm.
The release also drew interest from Concrete Management, whose efforts to pitch the record to major labels placed the band in extended limbo amid drawn-out contract talks. Members pursued outside work during the wait, notably Ken Mary, who contributed sessions for Alice Cooper and House of Lords. Epic Records ultimately offered a long-term agreement and reissued the debut in 1988. By that point James Byrd had departed to begin a solo career with the Shrapnel album Atlantis Rising, and Kendall Bechtel took his place ahead of the recording of Time Will Tell. The album performed strongly, with its single “Midnight Love” adopted as the theme for Howard Stern’s widely popular radio program, yet the group, like many contemporaries, could not withstand the rise of alternative rock and post-grunge and dissolved the next year.
Fifth Angel returned in 2010 with most original members intact—Heir Apparent’s Peter Orullian stepping in for Ted Pilot, now a successful endodontist—to headline the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Koenigshofen, Germany. Invited back in 2017, the musicians formally reunited and joined Nuclear Blast. Functioning as a compact four-piece of Archer, Mary, Macko, and Bechtel, who assumed lead vocals, they issued the melodic power metal-oriented The Third Secret in 2018, their first new material in nearly thirty years. The ambitious 2023 release When Angels Kill presented a story-driven double album incorporating themes from their prior three records.
Albums
