Title - Give 'Em Hell
Date - 1980
Tracks:
Ready to Roll; The Divine Victim; Leaving Nadir; Gettin' Heavy; Give 'Em Hell; Unto the Ages of the Ages; Pay Now, Love Later; The Devil's Gallop
CD Re-issue Extra Tracks
Tetelestai; Wake Up Screaming
I still remember, way back in 1979 when I was a mere 12 years old, my sister taking me to see local band Limelight at Mansfield Civic Theatre. The support band, that night, were from down the road in Somercoates and called Witchfynde.
Or so we thought...
At the last minute, due to bereavement, Limelight pulled out leaving Witchfynde as the headliners with another local band, Savage (anyone remember them?) as the support. What can I say? I thought Witchfynde were fantastic.
Even better, not so long after that, we heard that they had signed a deal with independent label Round Records (later Rondolet) which had been formed by the manager of a small record shop of the same name across the road from the Civic (anyone remember that place - I used to spend most of my Saturdays in there). The first release, a single featuring 'Give 'Em Hell' and 'Gettin' Heavy', was eagerly awaited by myself, my sister and a number of her friends. Better news came with the announcement that an album was forthcoming. I still remember saving up my pocket money so I could head into town after school to buy it (and I still have my copy).
So, onto the music...
For me, Witchfynde were the best of the occult based NWOBHM bands, with the possible exception of Demon, far superior to Angel Witch and the, in my opinion, dreadful Venom. Musically, they harkened back to the Hard Rock of the 70s with a gutsy sound that was raw but kept a melodic edge that many of the others lacked. Like any band with an occult edge to their music, they were often compared to Black Sabbath but, honestly, they are no comparisons. Instead of Sabbath's slow, doomy plod, Witchfynde were punchy with some great riffs that demand you pick up your air guitar.
Vocalist Steve Bridges possessed a great voice and was accompanied by a the rock solid rhythm section of Andro Coulton and Gra Scoresby. Add to this some guitarist Montalo who, though he may not have been the greatest vituoso around, showed great flexibility in his approach.
Song wise, its difficult to pick out the highlights. Opener 'Ready to Roll', gets everything to great start while the chugging riff of 'The Divine Victim' keeps thing moving. My favourite track comes next, 'Leaving Nadir' which begins with a nice arpeggiated intro before kicking into high gear. the single's b-side, 'Gettin' Heavy' is, to my mind, the weakest of the set but is still a damn good rock song and, as the review in Sounds (by Geoff Barton if I remember correctly) said, the best title for a NWOBHM song ever.
Side two (my main memories are of the vinyl version) kicks off with the title track. 'Give 'Em Hell' is very much an underrated classic, deserving to be up there with Maiden's 'Running Free', Diamond Head's 'Am Evil?' and Dark Star's 'Lady of Mars'. The albums epic, 'Unto the Ages of the Ages', may come off as a little pretentious at times but ultimately never outstays its welcome before 'Pay Now, Love Later' finishes off in rousing fashion.
Or so you think...
Unlisted on the original vinyl release, 'The Devil's Gallop' shows the band's humorous side as, to the accompaniment of the Dick Barton Theme, they fantasize about giving the aformentioned Geoff Barton a good beating in response to his bad review of the album. In fact, Barton's review (if it was by him), was fairly positive.
As to the CD bonus tracks, 'Tetelestai' was completely unknown to me until I managed to get hold of the CD. All the Witchfynde trademarks are there, albeit with a superior sound while 'Wake Up Screamin' was familiar to me from live performances and the re-recorded version that features as the b-side to the 'In the Stars' single.
Whatever Witchfynde went onto do in later years, 'Give 'Em Hell' still stands up as a great album and a worthy debut.
