siLLy puPPy Naming themselves after the Christian saint from Sicily who died as a martyr from the Roman’s conquest and was allegedly able to fend off lightning strikes and animal attacks, the Los Angeles band SAINT VITUS provide their own musical attack on their eponymous debut album that came out way back in 1984. Along with Pentagram, SAINT VITUS were one of the pioneers in revitalizing the doom laden metal that Black Sabbath had invented more than a decade before. On this eponymous debut release we hear a whole host of grungy down-tuned guitar, catchy riffs and amplified fuzz backing up some of my favorite lyrics and vocals in the doom metal world. Scott Reagers was the original vocalist (and my fave) for SAINT VITUS and on this debut his contribution really set the band apart from bands like Pentagram who i feel sound a little too much like Sabbath at the same time.

Although we get nice doomy themes that revolve around zombies, magic, death and best of all - psychopaths, it’s Reagers’ operatic vocals that move these melodies and rhythms into a really catchy level of musicianship which allows Dave Chandler to show his guitar chops and bassist Mark Adams and drummer Armando Acosta to add their slow marching heaviness to make a consistently good album for the entire run. While this type of metal wasn’t reinventing the wheel or anything, it was paying tribute to a style that got swept away in the whirlwind 80s where speed and technicality were quickly gaining ground. While i find the albums of ST VITUS to be of varying quality i find this debut album to be very tasteful in its execution in its brilliant songwriting and catchy doom laden lyrical content. Great start for a legendary band.

Warthur The first Saint Vitus album might not have Wino on vocals, but that doesn't stop it being an absolutely seminal piece of early doom metal, with the band showing the influence of both classic Black Sabbath and the 1970s efforts of Pentagram. Though the production values on this album aren't too great - like many releases on the independent SST label at the time - the band do at least manage to get it to work to their advantage, creating a muzzy, murky atmosphere which actually works quite well with their doom repertoire, not to mention evoking the spirit of the old Pentagram demos that were clearly an inspiration to the album.