Witchfinder General - Death Penalty (1982)

After Black Sabbath, only a handful of bands have so sincerely carried the flag for a style of music that, in metal circles, has become known as 'doom metal'. Call it what you want but that type of music in its truest form shouldn't be labelled as such, in fact 'dark rock' is probably more appropriate because bands such as Sabbath, Pentagram, Witchfinder General and Trouble do not set out to write gloom filled serenades, they are simply naturally gifted at their own brand of this kind of heavyweight rock.
Witchfinder Geenral were doing this sort of thing long before the 'stoner' movement of fake 'doom' arrived on the scene, and it's their real, and sincere style of rock that somehow enables them to become kings of their field.
The band are legendary, despite only releasing two records, this, and 'Friends Of Hell' and their album covers alone would drag any innocent young metal fan under their spell.
Amazingly also, their albums are short, 'Death...' running at only half-an-hour, but once it begins you are swept away by the seven tracks on offer and nowhere else, except on the Sabbath records, will you find such a no-thrills yet heavyweight blend of pummelling rock.
This is very much traditional Brit rock, wrapped up in mystical prowess and simplified lyrically yet propelled by its immense riffs. Vocally, Zeeb Parkes is your average guy, he's not pretending to be something he isn't, and this is the magic of this kind of slow motion rock. The title track has a Sabbath-esque plod, but it's no imitation, and that's why Witchfinder General will always remain as cult kings and if you can track these records down, grab one because it's these kind of obscure masterpieces that make metal what it is.
8/10