I won’t pretend I’ve kept up with the wave of female-fronted doom bands over the past few years. I won’t pretend I’ve even cared enough to try. But what brought me to Death Penalty is what kept me here…
I’m talking about riffs. Killer kick-ass riffs. Riffy riff riffs.
Guitarist Gaz Jennings was long the (perhaps not-so-)secret weapon in Cathedral. He was never the first person to come to mind when one thinks of that now-defunct doom metal juggernaut, but yet, he was the biggest reason why anyone would think of them at all, because as much metal cred as Lee Dorrian brought to that party, without the riffs, Cathedral was nothing. And Jennings brings the riffs, lots of them, almost every one of them great.
Like the best of Cathedral and the Witchfinder General album whose title it appropriates, Death Penalty is a doom album that’s not so much downtempo as it is just oppressive and gloomy. It flirts heavily with a NWOBHM-ish traditional take, a galloping gait here and a melodic lead line there, and more of it is uptempo than isn’t, even if it’s still Sabbath-heavy throughout. Most importantly, it swaggers and rocks, never forgetting that even doomy downers need to swing.
Vocalist Michelle Nocon (formerly of Serpentcult) wails respectably atop these tunes, her voice strong and confident, alternately adding an intimacy and an edge. But still, it’s these riffs and these tunes that push Death Penalty above those of their peers that I’ve encountered, the Blood Ceremonys and the Devil’s Bloods. After a completely unnecessary forty-eight-second instrumental intro, the only riffless track of them all, proper opener “Howling At The Throne Of Decadence” kicks in with a chugging rhythm and a killer lead line. Even with almost every song over five minutes long, nothing wears out its welcome – the rhythm section of Raf Meukens and Frederik Cosemans (also of Serpentcult) brings ample energy, even in the album’s most downer moments.
And, in case I haven’t mentioned it enough, Gaz Jennings has riffs. Riffs riffs riffs. The Maiden-y leads in the stellar “Eyes Of The Heretic,” the trudging “Children Of The Night” (thankfully or regrettably not a cover of the Richard Marx song), the drifting drive of “She Is A Witch” that kicks into a double-time middle section, the absolutely stellar Tank-ish “Immortal By Your Hand”… There are no bad tunes here, although the shortest one, “The One That Dwells,” does feel a bit half-realized. Even with that, still, Death Penalty is comprised of nothing but rock-solid heavy metal…
So if you like riffs, and you do, then here’s a record you want to hear. It’s also very much worth mentioning that Death Penalty was preceded by a two-song single called Sign Of Times, and neither of those songs appears on the record. That single is equally worthy, two more songs of high-quality classic doom, with the title track being among the band’s best. The demise of Cathedral was a bummer, but Gaz has landed strong, still bringing the riff-happy heaviness. Don’t let the stark black and white gallows on the cover fool you; like that picture, this is dark, straightforward, ominous, but it’s more than just that. It’s also — dare I say it — fun.
Doom rarely feels this good.
