Biography
During the first half of the 1980s, an all-female heavy metal quartet called Leather Angel operated out of Los Angeles, its lineup comprising vocalist Terry O'Leary, guitarist Debbie Wolf, bassist Cathy Amanti, and drummer Krissi North. Although other women such as Pat Benatar, Heart, Girlschool, Vixen, and ex-Runaways Joan Jett and Lita Ford were likewise exploring metal and hard rock during that era, fully female metal groups remained uncommon.
The quartet had begun life in 1981 under the name Obsession, yet was forced to adopt a new moniker in 1983 once it discovered another act already claimed the same title. Leather Angel concentrated its early efforts on the West Hollywood metal and hard rock circuit, the same proving ground that launched Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns, Poison, Warrant, and Vixen. Unlike those acts, however, Leather Angel achieved only modest commercial traction. Its sole release, the 1983 EP We Came to Kill, appeared on the Enigma-distributed Miami 1992 imprint; within a few years the band dissolved without ever completing a full-length album.
The quartet had begun life in 1981 under the name Obsession, yet was forced to adopt a new moniker in 1983 once it discovered another act already claimed the same title. Leather Angel concentrated its early efforts on the West Hollywood metal and hard rock circuit, the same proving ground that launched Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns, Poison, Warrant, and Vixen. Unlike those acts, however, Leather Angel achieved only modest commercial traction. Its sole release, the 1983 EP We Came to Kill, appeared on the Enigma-distributed Miami 1992 imprint; within a few years the band dissolved without ever completing a full-length album.