Fit for Fight

Along with the legendary Mercyful Fate and some considerably more obscure acts such as Alien Force, Randy and Crystal Knight, Copenhagen's own Witch Cross must rate as one of the best Danish heavy metal bands ever. Their 1984 album »Fit For Fight« is surely one of the Top 5 albums in the history of Danish metal. One of the two guitarists on this masterpiece is a certain 'Cole Hamilton' (his real name being Ole Hamilton Poulsen). He had joined Witch Cross after the recordings of their »Are you there« debut 7” single. His partner on guitar was Mike Wlad (birth name Michael Koch). Mike is not only a founding member of Witch Cross but also the main songwriter for the band from the very first day. He confirms: “Witch Cross was put together to be a dark version of my previous band Blood Eagle and I wrote most of the songs from day one. Later Cole was adding a lot of material, so we shared the writing on »Fit For Fight«. The band was born in and around a large town called Hillerød, about 30 minutes from Copenhagen. In the early 1980s the Witch Cross started to rehearse in Copenhagen and we shared a room with Mercyfyl Fate at one point. At the time, there were a number of bands emerging from all corners of Denmark so we had Evil, Maltese Falcon, Pretty Maids, Randy, Mercyful and a few others.” Witch Cross' first 7” single »Are You There?« was issued in 1983. It took a further year until the debut album »Fit For Fight« was issued in 1984. Originally it was released by a company called Vision Music. “After the single was released we did some interviews and a few gigs in Denmark,” elaborates Mike Wlad. “We heard about a company called MRM, which had looked at our single. After meeting with them we signed a deal, but the label split up when the two partners fell out. One of the guys, Alan Ranfelt, put together Vision Music and released »Fit For Fight« on his label. We did small tours and gigs in Denmark and Sweden promoting the album. And also a tour of Holland and Germany. We had a lot of new songs which should have been included on a new album, but our manager wasn't happy with the deals available.” After the demise of the original Witch Cross, Mike Wlad formed a band called Harlot, issuing one rarely seen album entitled »Room With A View« in 1988.