Carrying on my love of of all things early eighties metal comes this four track EP from Ottawa’s very own Witchkiller. Released on Metal Blade in ’84 this is the only record the band put out before splitting. Influenced heavily by NWOBHM (and I would say Judas Priest), this actually isn’t that bad and is way better than some of the other offerings around at the time.
Opening track Day Of The Saxons could have been an early Maiden demo as the riffs and groove are very NWOBHM. Riders Of Doom sounds like Beyond The Realms Of Death era Priest and it’s only the guitar solo that lets this one down. Cry Wolf is pushing those Maiden influences hard and Beg For Mercy sounds as though it’s a demo and is the one track that doesn’t cut it for me. My favourite tune however is close out tune Penance For Past Sins. Starting with the patented eerie slow quiet build before exploding into life.
I can see why they called it a day, they needed help to flush out their ideas and I guess Metal Blade didn’t want to flash the cash.
7/10 from The Grooveman.
