Rise
Above Records
August
11
The
songs:
1.
Grotesque Horizon
2.
Howling At The Throne Of Decadence
3.
Eyes Of The Heretic
4.
Golden Tides
5.
Into The Ivory Frost
6.
Children Of The Night
7.
The One That Dwells
8.
She's A Witch
9.
Immortal By Your Hand
10.
Written By The Insane
The
band:
Michelle
Nocon - lead vocals
Gaz
Jennings - guitars
Raf
Meukens - bass guitar
Frederik"Cosy"Cosemans
- drums
Never thinking Gaz
Jennings would stay away from music completely when Cathedral called
it a day, I didn't expect this from him though. Oftentimes the first
"solo" release by long serving band members are
schizophrenic and incomprehensive at best, but not so with Death
Penalty. Having brought in three Belgians: Michelle Nocon,
vocals(Bathseba, ex-Serpentcult), Frederik"Cosy"Cosemans,
drums(Serpentcult, Hedonist, Hemelbestormer) and Raf Meukens, bass
guitar, was a very wise move. Not only are these three excellent
performers, they also helped turning Death Penalty into a
fully-fledged band instead of it being only a project.
The
instrumental opener 'Grotesque Horizon' leads me to believe I
have a full-blooded doom release in my hands but I couldn't be more
wrong. Instead, when 'Howling At The The Throne Of Decadence'
kicks in, I am treated to a fantastic mix of early Iron Maiden
and Witchfinder General. It's fast, heavy and
brilliant. Michelle is like a banshee moving back and forth between
soft almost whispering singing to belting it out. Slightly slower but
still an excellent heavy metal song, 'Eyes
Of The Heretic' showcases a blistering
solo from Gaz as the song picks up in pace. Switching to bonafide
doom on the occult 'Golden Tides'
the band is in your face with some fantastic work from Cosemans and
Meukens. 'Into The Ivory Frost'
continues in the path of 'Golden Tides'
keeping things doomy and bleak. Beautiful!
Oh
yeah! 'Children Of The Night'
is a slow and punishing monster of a song. Mainly doomy in it's
approach the latter half of it is hypnotic with an excellent guitar
solo running through it. Bewitching, deranged and captivating, 'The
One That Dwells' comes across like a
seance before launching into a heavy-ass Mercyful Fate/Candlemass
mode. Amazing folks, absolutely amazing! A slow, sinister and lurking
riff-fest 'She's A Witch'
is captivating and mesmerising until halfway through. Then the band
kicks into higher gear and turns the song into a breathtaking
neck-breaker only to slowdown at the end. Damn! Purest and finest
form of heavy metal that you will ever hear. I'm talking about
'Immortal By Your Hand'
and this is by far my favourite song on 'Death
Penalty'. The whole band is on fire
taking no prisoners at all. Michelle sings like she is
possessed...amazing! The album ends with the beautifully 70's heavy
rock inspired 'Written By The Insane'.
There are some amazing Iommi riffs in the choruses while Gaz again
pulls off a couple of blistering solos.
Having
taken their name from the Witchfinder General album by the same name,
the band nurtures this influence as well as any other influence they
have. You hear bits and pieces of different bands but as greatly
blended they are with the band's own amazing ideas 'Death
Penalty' is a fresh and unique addition
to the world of metal. More bands should take inspiration from them
how to be themselves and be creative. This is an excellent debut that
promises so much for the future!
Written by Håkan
Nyman
Thanks to Rise Above Records for sending us a promo to review. Death Penalty - S/T - will be available to buy from Rise Above Records from August 11th 2014. Vinyl Record will be released in Sept 2014.
Check The Band From Links Below
