Review by Sonny for Witchfinder General - Death Penalty (1982)

Witchfinder General were formed at the onset of the NWOBHM in Stourbridge on the outskirts of England's "Second City", Birmingham. What set them apart from most of the new movement was that they took inspiration, unsurprisingly given where they hailed from, of Black Sabbath rather than the Judas Priests, Motorheads and Budgies of their contemporaries. They released a 7" single in 1981 that saw "Burning a Sinner" backed by "Satan's Children" which failed to make much of a splash and which is now incredibly rare. The following year saw the release of the three-track "Soviet Invasion" EP, which did see the band finally gaining a little traction. It contained a faux live version of "R.I.P.", recorded in the studio with crowd noise added later, at the behest of the label's head honcho, Paul Birch. This would be the track which also closed out "Death Penalty", albeit in a re-recorded and superior form.

Finally, in the autumn of 1982, Witchfinder General released their debut full-length to a mostly positive response from the UK's metalheads and the rest, as they say, is history. Grabbing the attention of every male teenage metal fan in record stores by featuring a famous Page 3 model in a churchyard and in a decided state of undress on the cover, the band then had to deliver within said album's grooves to match the hype thus generated. Fortunately, they did so and their brand of simplistic and youthful Sabbath worship saw them gain a dedicated following within the wider UK metal movement. It is actually a very slight album, its seven tracks barely managing to scrape past a thirty-minute runtime, but each minute is well spent and such is the quality that it is impossible to feel short-changed. The short runtime actually gives the material an immediacy and vitality that some later, more bloated releases just couldn't replicate.

As an aside, the band that recorded "Death Penalty" is actually a three-piece, with bassist Kevin "Toss" McCready having left after the "Soviet Invasion" recording sessions, to apparently be replaced by a guy called Woolfy Trope. In fact, the band hadn't replaced McCready by the time they went into the studio to record the album so the bass parts were supplied by guitarist Phil Cope, and the wholly fictitious Woolfy Trope was credited, with a roadie standing in as "Woolfy" for publicity photos.

I think it is actually a stretch to tag "Death Penalty" as a genuine doom metal album, it was very much a product of its time, with Sabbathian riffs run through a NWOBHM filter resulting in a version of doomy, downtuned heavy metal which does nevertheless provide something of a bridge between Sabbath's 70s psych influences and the grittier 80s UK metal scene with a DIY sensibility resulting from the influence of late 70s punk rock on the UK metal community. To this end I think it is fair to say that "Death Penalty" isn't exactly a lesson in complex songwriting or technical adroitness, but it is chock full of cool and memorable riffs and has a singular personality with a street-level perspective that sets it apart from the crowd. Most of the tracks are mid-paced affairs, with only the title track and, to a lesser extent, "Burning A Sinner" slowing to doom metal pacing, but the downtuned riffs pioneered by Tony Iommi are most definitely present and it is a truth that the earliest traditional doom metal bands very often switched it up to classic heavy metal velocity. Phil's soloing is also a product of intense study of Tony Iommi's technique, sometimes piling note upon note in a fretboard firestorm, as per the opening of "No Stayer" or soaring sky high like the solo at the end of the title track. Drummer Graham Ditchfield channels Bill Ward's blunt style, but I think it is also evident that he doesn't have the technical skill level that the often under-estimated Sabbath drummer possessed, although it still works very well in the context of this album. Then there is Stourbridge's answer to Ozzy in Zeeb Parkes who, like Ozzy, isn't technically a great singer, but who imbues his vocals with such personality that it is easy to forgive him his shortcomings and just go along for the ride. The production is a bit muzzy with a fair degree of echo, as opposed to Sabbath's much more professionally produced efforts where, presumably, much more money was thrown at them, but I think this actually works in Witchfinder General's favour, giving them more of an underground vibe.

Despite the band name and the imagery of the album cover, they aren't so much a horror / satanically-themed band, often with much more prosaic and down-to-earth lyrical themes such as drug-taking, drinking and fucking taking their place alongside the witch hunting of "Witchfinder General" or "Burning A Sinner". As a very young man from a strong working class background at the time of this album's release, these lyrics espousing a love of hokey horror movies, getting hammered and trying to get off at weekends absolutely captured the essence of life for me at the time. I know I may have a severe case of rose-tinted spectacles when it comes to "Death Penalty" and others may well scratch their heads in bemusement at my fanatical advocacy for it, but simple fact is that this is an album I still spin regularly to this day, forty-plus years later and every time I enjoy it immensely, so what more could I possibly want from a record?