«Death Penalty» is the first album by Witchfinder General and it was released in September 1982 through Heavy Metal Records. The band from Stourbridge, England, recorded the album in just two days, produced by Peter Hinton, and it was one of the heaviest names of the NWOBHM wave.
“`Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Doom Metal
For fans of: Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Trouble
The sound is slow, heavy and dirty, like a doom metal that came out before the genre was named that way. Phil Cope’s guitars carry a heavy, menacing riff that recalls the early Black Sabbath, the bass and drums move slowly, and Zeeb Parkes’s voice sounds otherworldly.
«Invisible Hate» opens the album, while «Free Country», the title track «Death Penalty», «Witchfinder General» and the closing «R.I.P.» stand out. The songs do not rush; they build the atmosphere slowly.
The album received negative comments for its cover, which showed a naked woman inside a church courtyard. Above that controversy the music stayed: Witchfinder General were among the first bands to play this slow and heavy within the NWOBHM, paving the way for doom metal.
The album was released on vinyl and on picture disc, and was later reissued on CD. Witchfinder General took their name from a horror film of 1968, and that dark influence can be felt across the whole album, from the lyrics to the weight of the music.
«Death Penalty» is now considered a classic of the genre and influenced many doom bands that came after. Even though the band stayed together only a few years, their first album laid the foundations for the sound that was later named doom metal.
See also
See also: Thronehammer – Slay Kill Erase and Morbid Stench – Doom Metástasis.
