'RESURRECTED'

Happy Birthday Rod! Congrats on the new lp, it smokes and is awesome as we say over this way. See you at the pool table with that partner of yours.......

From Hellride Music Forum / In the review section. After 25 years, I can only wipe the tears from my eyes and give thanks to the mighty WFG.......----

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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. Wel,l 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 A slew of historical documents, not to mention horror novels and movies, have warned against the possible consequences of resurrecting the dead and countless band re-unions and tepid filler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 -*test*-('")ified 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 re-unions can not only be worth while 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 tune, 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 uncon-*test*-('")ed runaway in that category, but I simply cannot imagine any other individual song beating this one out.

Order this now, order this right now…only the truly hopeless would need to be given a reason why at this point.

Wow. I am buzzed and blown away! Great production sound. Great riffs and solos. Drumz and Bass are on the money... And the vocals are DYNAMITE. Hats off to GAZ, he pulled it off and then some! Now we just need to make sure that our boys KEEP PLAYING! You guys sound like you've been playing together for years, so let's "keep the SG out of the closet" so to speak.

Congrats and thanks to everyone involved, now if you'll excuse me it's time for another beer and another listen!!

666

ps I even made the liner notes and so did the belt buckle !!! (thanks Copey)

Man I can't wit to her this thing!

*AAAAARRRRRGH!!*

Any details yet on the vinyl release ?

Okay - got the new cd. It only took 3 days for it to arrive at my doorstep in Denmark - and I can tell you it is bloody fantastic! For the last couple of days I haven't listened to anything else -

Keep up the good work lads, it is like I'm a newborn teenager in the start of the 1980's again!
The new material is simply fantastic! So Hail To All!

Just paid via Pay Pal.

I have been a huge fan since 82 and have been waiting for this day and boy I am not disappointed. I just heard Final Justice and The Living Hell (leaked on the web) and WOW!!!! Awesome riffs and great vocals (fits the riffs perfect). Phil has outdone himself, what a gift he has and my lucky ears get to hear it. I only found 1 resurrected being sold on ebay and scooped it up. I cant wait to hear the rest. Finally real metal in the 21st century. PLEASE do a few shows, I will fly over the pond from Boston to see that!

My true thanks to Liam for starting it all with the website and Phil for sharing his gift!

cool review Metalburn.9.5 out of 10 can't complain about that.Glad you are enjoying this monster.I spin it daily!!

Hello all! I picked up Death Penalty in 82' from a local record store owned by Kim Harris, who at the time had just started managing an unknown metal band called Queensryche! Anyhow, whenever I would stop in, I would ask for the newest and best metal offerings the had come in and on that day was directed a copy of Death Penalty. From that day, I was hooked. Of course when Friends of Hell came out, I had to have it! I made tapes of both albums and shared them with my friends, these recordings were a staple of most parties during the early to mid 80's. Flash forward to 2004 and the discovery of this wonderful website. During the last 20 years, I have continued to listen to this band. When the CD's for DP and FOH became available, I purchased them, same with Live 83" and Buried Amongst the Ruins, as soon as they were available. As an active bootleg trader of shows, I had tried to find live recordings of the band and was ecstatic that Live 83' became a reality. When it was revealed in late 2006 that they were reforming and would record a new album, I couldn't believe it! After twenty something years new material, how friggin' awesome would that be?!! So now, Resurrected has been released! I contacted Russ and placed my order for the CD along with a T-Shirt and waited eagerly for it's arrival. Finally, it arrived and was promptly put on my IPod. I have listened to Resurrected about 10 times completely through and after reading all of the very positive reviews on this forum, I would like to share my basic, overall thoughts.

Guitars: First off, based on the fact that Copey did not pick up a guitar for 20+ years, this record is amazing, the guy can still wale! The riffs, change ups and leads are vintage WF! If you compare his playing to FOH, you can definitely hear the rust, but no matter, bottom line, he's still got it!

Bottom End: Derm and Rod are in good form as well, considering that these guys didn't start playing together until about a year ago, it's a solid performance. If they all can get out and play some shows, things can only get better.

Vocals: Gaz Martin. Here is where I am confused. As a metal fan for most of my adult life and a WF fan, I can rate his vocal performance on this recording as nothing better than poor! My confusion comes from all of the positive comments in this forum, am I the only one with a problem here? I have tried to put it into perspective and give it a fair chance, but it's not good. It's not like he is replacing a talented singer, Zeeb was not a top notch vocalist either, but his voice "fit" the music. It sounds like Gaz has never heard the music before and is singing off of a lyric sheet, like bad WF karaoke.

There, I have said my peace. I am sure I will get flamed for such blasphemy, but I have to be honest. As a "die hard" Witchfinder General" fan, I will listen to Resurrected, but not like DP, FOH or Live 83'. I have the utmost respect for Phil Cope, his music has been a soundtrack to my life for the last 25 years and I am grateful. My dream now it that they will come to the states and play. Even though I am not a fan of Gaz, I would fly anywhere in the US to see them play live.

Thanks,

Jim

I must disagree about the vocals, I think they are better than Zeeb. Gaz takes WF to another level, similar to when Maiden switched singers, went from punky to power metal. I like the gravel voice with Copes guitars. Funeral/beyond the grave is amazing with Gaz, would not work with Zeeb. I think gaz best is on The Living Hell, great stuff.

No flames, it seems you are coming from at least a place of honesty and respect for the band, so opinions on whether or not you like the singing, guitar playing or rhythm section are impossible to refute or argue with.

Like you said the RIFFS are unreal, and Gaz has split opinion, about two thirds in favor I would say. I personally love the vox for a few reasons, the first is that he's fucking belting, really spitting it out. I beleive every word he is saying and that along with the heavy and catchy riffs makes for great SONGS!

I also happen to think he's got a great rock voice, sometimes even with a punk snarl, I don't know it just works for me. I listen to the album everyday for the last three months and it never gets old. Just my opinion however.

Oddly enough it is my opinion the song that was the most recently written is the best on the record(The Gift of Life). It's a killer record, for me sitting right beside Death Penalty, Friends of Hell. Live 83 and Buried Amongst the Ruins proudly.

Twenty five years later, hairs on the back of the neck still standing in awe!

Been a fan since Death Penalty first came out (still have it on vinyl)...I must have the new album...cannot wait to hear it \m/.