Witchfinder General - Resurrected

Year: 2008
Country: UK
Label: Nuclear War Now!/Buried By Time And Dust
Catalog#: DUST 003
Style: Hard Rock, Doom Metal, Stoner Rock
Audio: flac
Size: 328 mb

Brand new album from this legendary doomy New Wave of British Heavy Metal group! You can't almost call it new cuz the music sounds like it was recorded back in the 80s, it's truly lost in time. This time around it's another step further in the dark doomy direction they toyed with on their early records. That signature gloomy guitar sound is alive and well.

By Mike Ballue:
References to resurrection are not new to metal. Whether regarding the band’s reunion or the tune’s unearthing, the concept of new life, post-death seems almost natural when revisiting the past. Well Resurrected is indeed an appropriate name for the new Witchfinder General album. After two and a half decades of deathly stillness for the band (not counting the artifacts brought forth by musical archaeologists and thieves, no surprise there, the tombs of the legendary dead are often plundered) here they are once more very much animated and active. A slew of historical documents, not to mention horror novels and movies, have warned against the possible consequences of resurrecting the dead and countless band re-unions and tepid filler dominated “finds” have testified to the horror show that can result in real life.

So where does this leave Witchfinder General’s Resurrected? As a musical example, absolute proof that reunions can not only be worthwhile and bring no dishonor upon past accomplishments, but even further them and stand proud on their own merits. As to the horror reference, well we all know that the dead usually come back to life with a dangerous and nasty attitude bent on destruction and doom… and that’s exactly the case here. This jewel of a monster will shred your ear drums without remorse, pummel your senses with clubs of iron and bone… and resurrect the soul of metal in any willing heart…

The cover sets the tone right off the bat. No color, black, shades of grey, white graphics, bleak constitution with elements of evil, and an SG statement of intent on the back. The intro to opener “The Living Hell” begins with an interesting “all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small” sample (one that will make sense as the song unfolds) quickly giving way to a rather haunting melody before the band kicks in and Blam! Witchfinder General are crushing and ripping you like an iron elephant crossed with a rabid wolf.

The production is wondrously old school. This sounds like it could have come right out of the early 80’s, but with a serious punch and power. The guitar tone is so unmerciful, powerful and out and out raw doom it’s jaw dropping. This is an omen and portent for the remainder of the album. This is the heaviest and doomiest album that Witchfinder General have yet unleashed on the world. The groove and nods to the 70’s heavy rock roots are still there, but Zeeb is not. Is he missed? Not at all to my ears, and that’s no slagging of his abilities or of his fit with 80’s era WG. For me this album is to WG what Heaven and Hell was to Black Sabbath, unquestionably a product of the same band, but with new dimensions and elements, well fit by their new vocalist. Gaz Martin was indeed a good pick, not because he sounds like Zeeb, he doesn’t, but because he fits well with the music erupting out of the speakers.

The second track “The Gift of Life” rides in on another stellar riff of doom from the hands of Phil Cope and demonstrates forcefully that this is not going to be one of those albums marked by a great opener that quickly fades to mediocrity or worse (no risk of that, the best is saved for last here, but we’ll get to that further down the page). As on nearly the whole album, the lyrics are intelligent and unique tales of darkness. The guitar solo on this one is just spectacular. Not in a “look how many notes I can wank in 10 seconds” fashion, but in that fits the song perfectly, shows talent both in the playing and composing areas, and is out and out searing heavy metal, kind of way.

Following is “Final Justice” which like its predecessor shows that the great mid-tempo, head-banging gallop of yesterday’s WG lives on, but in a bit harsher, angular and limit pushing fashion. This is no rehash, but continued building on an extremely strong foundation. Underground metal heads should be smiling with surprise at about two and a half minutes into this as Witchfinder General superimpose a vocal melody strikingly akin to Sword’s (the Canadian metal masters, not the current trend darlings, for any numbskulls that might misinterpret) “The End of the Night” over a riff so Sabbathian it hurts. It all works before slamming into a great end section, with more spot on soloing from Mr. Cope. After a brief interlude with the instrumental “Bryn-Y-Mor”, it’s on with the destruction as the aptly titled “Brutal Existence”, a song with more great riffs than a lot of lesser bands could summon for an entire album, performs an auditory beating on the listener. Heavy, punishing, gut hooking and simultaneously varied and coherent, this one is definitely a highlight on an album where it’s hard to stand out, for the constant high caliber of the sonic offerings.

“Euthanasia” continues the darkly compelling and “color outside the usual lines” lyrics, with a tale of a man executed for euthanizing the lady he loved. Once more the music that these lyrics are laid over is that wizardly alchemical mixture of Doom Metal and NWOBHM that Witchfinder General wrote the book on. Filling the next to last slot is “A Night to Remember” is a fun, rocking frolic musically but not my favorite lyrics by any means. It’s an enjoyable tu ne, but not up to the standard set by its disc mates. No worries though, because next up is the crown jewel of this album…

“The Funeral/Beyond The Grave” is as doom as you can possibly get. The riff, the guitar tone, the lyrics, the tempo, the vibe, the title… this just bleeds doom and will cause the listener to also. Hands down the doom metal song of the year. The Gates of Slumber and The Lamp of Thoth will assure that this album must have legs to have a shot at album of the year, there will be no uncontested runaway in that category, but I simply cannot imagine any other individual song beating this one out.

Gary Martin (vocals)
Phil Cope (guitars)
Rod Hawkes (bass)
Dermot Redmond (drums)

1 The Living Hell 7:50
2 The Gift of Life 5:47
3 Final Justice 4:20
4 Bryn-y-Môr 2:18
5 Brutal Existence 5:15
6 Euthanasia 5:25
7 A Night to Remember 4:28
8 The Funeral / Beyond the Grave 7:03