The Metal Files

Here’s an odd one from my old vinyl collection.  Danile and I were at Electric Smiles Records in Virginia Beach about 15 or so years ago rummaging through their $1 bins and I ran across both LPs from White Witch.  They were automatically interesting for 2 reasons…band name and imagery.  I bought them without hearing them.  Why not?  They were only $1 each.  I think that was the same day we saw Pantera’s first 4 albums on LP as well, but they were like $15 each and I wasn’t into spending that kind of cash that day.

I had no idea what to expect from this band.  Seeing that they were an early 70s band, I expected something sort of Sabbath-esque and maybe a little proggy like YES.  Instead it’s a little more psychedelic with a few flashes of prog rock.  Maybe a little Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash thrown in for good measure.  Overall this first eponymous album is pretty good with some catchy chorus and musical hooks here and there.  I bought the CDs for these several years ago and they apparently sell for decent cash on eBay these days.  I sold their 2nd CD on eBay a year or so ago for $40.  I preferred the debut album so I kept it.  Now it’s in the stack to be sold with much of my CD collection and I am making the transition to going almost completely digital.  Interesting that they toured with Alice Cooper.  That would have been a cool show to see for sure.

So if you’re into the trippy 70s rock, I highly recommend that you download this.  It’s been out of print for a few years.  Read up more on the band here.

I really dig the guy’s vocals.  He has a Barry Gibb tenor thing sans the falsetto.  Favorite tracks are You’re the One, Don’t Close Your Mind, And I’m Leaving, Illusion (double bass!) and Help Me Lord.  I do tend to skip over Home Grown Girl and It’s So Nice To Be Stoned.  They’re both a bit goofy but pretty normal for the time they were written.

Download here.