We were excited about Death Penalty's debut EP, which came out earlier this year and garnered a 7 out of 10 rating. Now it's already time for a full-length, and time to see if the band's gloriously NWOBHM-drenched doom (if that band name doesn't tip you off to where they're coming from, you're no Witchfinder General fan, which means please go listen to Witchfinder General) can stay interesting over the course of a full-length. No surprises here: yes. Guitarman Gaz Jennings (ex-Cathedral) steals the show, like on the EP, the band's sound definitely riff-based, the man laying down many varieties of awesome metal. Shades of his old band and Sabbath abound, while vocalist Michelle Nocon really comes into her own a handful of songs into the album, "Golden Tides" showing her melodic croon fitting in well in a classic '80s metal/hard rock sort of way; the tune evokes a Bark At The Moon-era Ozzy cut you'd hear on the radio (right down to the solo) as much as it does a six-minute doom rock tune (which it is). Cuts like "Children Of The Night" go moody and heavy and slow, casting a shadow of early '80s trad/doom over the album; it's easy to imagine this bunch grooving on early Trouble albums over some beers before the jam session. And I dig how as this album goes on, the songs just get longer, more dense, and more doom-ridden ("She Is A Witch" just rules, and features some of the album's slowest and fastest playing... are those double bass drums?), creating a listening experience that gets heavier and moodier once those deep cuts hit. Closer "Written By The Insane" is heavy on the Cathedral and also heavy on the power screeching '80s metal/hard rock vox from Nocon, and it sounds great (and the last couple minutes are pure guitargasm heaven).