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The Batlord · 03-18-2014, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Briks

Briks tries Doom Metal

Well, despite recently saying that one or two sections were enough for me, I'm now opening another one. This time it's about doom metal, a genre I decided to delve further into after hearing some Candlemass. Carpe Mortem and Batty recommended seven bands in the “What Are You listening To V.III Metal!” thread, and I decided that it was enough for a whole new section. Well, it might get short-lived, but if I like this, I'll probably check out some more bands and write about them. In fact, I'm starting off with one that wasn't recommended, but still caught my interest:

I wonder why, ya perv.

Quote:

Artist: Witchfinder General
Album: Death Penalty
Year: 1982
Chronological position: Debut album
Genre: Traditional doom metal/NWOBHM

Before listening:

I have not heard much about this band, other than that Wikipedia says it was a major influence on the doom metal scene, and that it was part of the late New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Based on the NWOBHM part, I suppose that this album will have a little more raw production than the other doom I've heard so far, and because of the year it was released, I assume that it will not sound as developed as Candlemass, but more like Black Sabbath.

After listening:

I don't know all that many NWOBHM bands, but this sounds like NWOBHM to me. The production is pretty raw, but even though it's unpolished it's not grinding on my ears. The vocalist doesn't seem to have a great range, but still pulls it off, reminding me of Vince Neil or Ozzy Osbourne. The latter is appropriate, because these guys surely have been listening to a lot of Sabbath. The music isn't as slow as I expected; I thought it would sound sort of like the title track on Black Sabbath's self-titled. The lyrics aren't as doomy and depressing as I thought, either. Instead, they're about sex, drugs and witch burnings. I quite liked this, and I'll probably listen to it again.

4/5

Love that album. Yeah, it's definitely more Sabbath than a lot of other, later doom bands. But back then doom metal didn't exist. The only band that had really picked up with what Sabbath was doing was Sabbath. So Witchfinder General were were more like a tribute band than anything else. I guess they may have evolved the sound a tiny bit, but from what I understand their place of honor in doom circles is mostly due to being the only band since Sabbath to have done that kind of sound, and I suppose they influenced other bands just because of that.