Witchfinder General

Witchfinder General is the story of a Doom Metal pioneer influenced by his compatriot Black Sabbath and remained more famous for his controversial covers showing topless witches tortured by the Inquisition than for his music. No, it's not. It all started in 1979 when Zeeb Parkes (song) and Phil Cope (guitar) set up a band, whose name comes from an old horror film. They quickly recruited a rhythmic section composed of Cope Steve's cousin "Kid Nimble/Kid Rimple" Kinsell (battery) and Kevin "Toss" McCready (bass). The average age is then... 16 years. It is necessary to wait until 1981 to see the first release of the band with the single Burning a Sinner (ironically nicknamed "Burning a Singer"). 1982 marks the real beginnings of the band with Un EP, Soviet Invasion , a track present on the compilation Heavy Metal Heroes and a first album, Death Penalty , recorded for the anecdote without fixed drummer and with Woolfie Trope on bass which is none other than Cope himself, Kinsell and McCready having left the band. The latter will be replaced after the release of the record by Rod "Corks and Hawk Eye" Hawks. The drummer position will continue to be a recurring problem for Witchfinder General , which will focus on the Graham Ditchfield session drummer. Death Penalty draws attention thanks to the presence of the pin up Joanne Latham half naked on the cover, media exhibition that the band would never have had except in spite of an excellent album, the fault of a sloppy production. Malin, Witchfinder General reworked the following year with the cover of Friends Of Hell, but the audience did not pay attention to it and the band disappeared, despite a very good album again. However, Witchfinder General is still active, proof of this is with the release of Live '83 in 2006, and the announcement of a compilation of rarity planned for soon. For the record, his two real albums have finally reached the status of cult works in Doom's history.
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