Soviet Invasion!

Witchfinder General are a NWOBHM band from the late 70's that took on many influences from the forefathers of metal, Black Sabbath, adding in some doom influenced elements very similar to Sabbath's approach and continued to ride the wave of NWOBHM allowing themselves to get more and more popular as Sabbath did as well. They had the approach of pulverizing slow riffs that seemed to sludge along, a guitarist who solo'd similar to Iommi or Murray/Smith and had a vocalist who wailed over top with a nasal flare. Anyway this all combined to have a traditional doom metal feel helping to shape old school traditional doom metal with other bands like Saint Vitus.

Still, on this 3 song EP, it seemed like they didn't have much of an impact. If this was the only thing they had released I'd just dismiss them as a second tier doom metal band; the recorded songs here are not featured anywhere else but are still decent, nothing special but nothing terrible and still listenable. The title song starts thing off real well, having an acoustic intro that usually would set the mood up, but is just kinda boring, fortunately though it leads into a nice traditonal doom style riff, very Sabbath influenced of course, and leads into a nice traversing tale of slow pounding riffs and wailing, then it picks up into a nice, fast solo. I really enjoy the solo, it's definitely something Vol. 4-era Sabbath style and keeps you on your toes.

The other song is a little less captivating, continuing a slow pace of traditional doom, but lacks more of a motivation I presume, and doesn't capture my attention. The live song RIP, which would appear on Death Penalty (which is really the only thing you need by Witchfinder General) is a weak track. I wish they'd just created another awesome song like the title song Soviet Invasion. RIP is a decent song I won't lie, but all I can hear in this recording is the vocalist's nasally voice and his weak Ozzy impression. The bass is solid but doesn't show much effort, the guitar is even weaker and the drums are just there, not being mixed well.

So, the EP Soviet Invasion is a decent, nothing essential unless you're a die hard Witchfinder General fan in need to have every song they've recorded, in which case I'd suggest getting the title track because it kicks ass, while the other two are just barely passable. Witchfinder General are a great traditional doom metal band, but this there first EP isn't that much of something special. Obviously taking much from Sabbath's sound and incorporating some NWOBHM elements to create a fun sound but nothing special here.