Warthur
An excellent doom metal album from Witchfinder General - a band who were harking back to the 1970s when the decade was barely over? The primarily stylistic influence is, naturally, early Black Sabbath, but here and there I also detect a little of Judas Priest's slower tracks creeping in - particularly in the (rare) quiet acoustic moments. Fuzzy, raw, and heavy, the songs display an intriguing lyrical preoccupation with crime and punishment - not to mention Witchfinder General itself, the track the band were named after, which surely inspired future doom metal acts such as Cathedral and Electric Wizard to pen their own tributes to the classic Vincent Price movie that inspired the song. You could almost consider this a concept album of sorts, revolving around the arrest, trial, execution and disposal of a "thought criminal"; either way, it's a startlingly good debut album which deserves wider recognition from doom afficionados.