thrasher78: WITCHFINDER GENERAL

I WITCHFINDER GENERAL sono una delle mie bands preferite, formata nel 1979 a Stourbridge, Inghilterra, un gruppo della New Wave of British Heavy Metal in circolazione durante i primi anni 1980. Essi sono fortemente influenzati dai BLACK SABBATH di cui sono a mio parere gli eredi naturali del loro inconfondibile stile ed oggi sono ampiamente riconosciuti come uno dei pionieri del Doom Metal.

LINE-UP:

Zeeb Parkes - Lead Vocals '79-'84

Phil Cope - Guitars '79-'84

Johnny Fisher - Bass '79-'80
Live only. Did record with the band but recording was never used.

Steve Kinsell (aka Kid Nimble aka Kid Rimple) - Drums '79-'82
Recorded Burning A Sinner and Soviet Invasion singles.

Kevin McCready (aka Toss) - Bass '81-'82 (replaced Johnny Fisher)
Recorded Burning A Sinner and Soviet Invasion singles.

Woolfy Trope (aka Phil Cope) - Bass (replaced Kevin "Toss" McCready)
Phil played the bass tracks on Death Penalty.

Rod Hawks (aka Corks and Hawk Eye) - Bass '82-'84 (replaced Toss)

Graham Ditchfield - Drums '82-'83 (Replaced Kid Rimple)
Recorded Death Penalty, Friends of Hell albums and Music single.

Dermot Redmond (aka Derm the Germ) - Drums '83-'84
Live only - No studio work with the band.

DISCOGRAPHY:

Burning A Sinner - Single, 1981

Heavy Metal Records
1981

Line-up:
Zeeb Parkes - Vocals
Phil Cope - Guitars
Kevin "Toss" McCready - Bass
Steve Kinsell - Drums

First official release. Extremely rare.
Re-released by NWN! with the "Soviet Invasion" EP and live recordings from 1981.

RATING: 8/10

Soviet Invasion - Single, 1982

Heavy Metal Records
1982

Line-up:
Zeeb Parkes - vocals
Phil Cope - guitar
Kevin McCready - bass
Kid Nimble - drums

"R.I.P." is recorded live in the studio with additional crowd noise.
Re-released by NWN! with the "Burning a Sinner" 7" and live recordings from 1981. Re-released in 2004 by Phoenix Records on Picture LP with a sheet (250 handnumbered copies), this version is a bootleg.

RATING: 10/10

Death Penalty - Full-length, 1982

Heavy Metal Records
1982

Line-up:
Zeeb Parkes - Vocals
Phil Cope - Guitars
Graham Ditchfield - Drums
Woolfy Trope (Phil Cope) - Bass

Bass is credited to a ficitious person called Woolfy Trope.
Released in black, red, blue and clear vinyl + picture LP. Originally re-released on CD in Japan with a different cover. Also released on CD in '96 by Heavy Metal Records.
La ragazza nuda in copertina causò al gruppo diverse noie burocratiche di censura e di distribuzione del disco, in quei giorni, nel 1982 quella ragazza era una centerfold, praticamente una modella che si spoglia invece di vestirsi.., il suo nome è Joanne Kandy Latham, questo è il suo sito ufficiale www.joannelatham.co.uk. In quei periodi aveva una relazione con Zeeb Parkes.

RATING: 10/10

Music - Single, 1983

Heavy Metal Records
1983

Line-up:
Zeeb Parkes : Vocals
Phil Cope : Guitars
Graham Ditchfield : drums
Rod Hawks : Bass

Exists in these formats:
7" with picture sleeve
7" with picture sleeve on silver vinyl and gold vinyl
12" in picture sleeve

RATING: 9/10

Friends of Hell - Full-length, 1983

Heavy Metal Records
1983

Line-up:
Zeeb Parkes : Vocals
Phil Cope : Guitars
Graham Ditchfield : drums
Rod Hawks : Bass

Released on CD in '98 by Heavy Metal Records. Also on clear vinyl and picture LP by Heavy Metal Records.

RATING: 10/10

Live '83 - Live album, 2006

Nuclear War Now Productions
February 2006

All tracks recorded live at Tiffany's, 27A Oxford Street, Manchester - Wed. 6th July '83 except Shadowed Images and start of Quietus - The Palais, Humberstone gate, Leicester - Thurs. 7th July '83.
Released on CD first, and as a DLP later.
Due to a faulty mastertape, the music on the initial CD release of this album runs at a slower speed than normal. However, the DLP release of this album (released December 2006), has fixed this error. The vinyl die-hard edition came with a bonus 7" featuring "Music" and a radio clip. The CD was rereleased with the LP artwork and corrected speed on April 24, 2007.

RATING: 10/10

Buried Amongst the Ruins - Best of/Compilation, 2007

Nuclear War Now
October 31st, 2007

Released on CD by Nuclear War Now! Productions, and on LP + 7" (fold-out cover, 16-page booklet, poster, black vinyl) by Nuclear War Now! Productions and Buried By Time And Dust Records.
Tracks 01-03 are from the "Soviet Invasion" EP.
Tracks 04-07 are live recordings from 1981.
Track 06 "Phantasmagorical" is previously unreleased.
Tracks 08 & 09 are from the "Burning A Sinner" single.

RATING: 10/10

Resurrected - Full-length, 2008