Please welcome Brian and a new feature for Doommantia called Doomology where we dig for those long-lost proto-doom gems. Hope you enjoy....
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The story of this band begins in a town called Edinburgh, in a little country named Scotland, in the year of 1965. The band, going by the name The Jury at this time, consisted of Jake Scott on the bass guitar, Bill Scott playing the keyboards, Jimmy Hush on drums, and Willie Finlayson handling the lead guitar and vocal duties. Vocalist Linnie Patterson, a well connected musician in the underground music scene at the time, would also board the train and share vocal duties with Finlayson. In the beginning they focused more on soul music and did mainly covers. But this would soon change when the band's manager showed them the music of The Doors, Love, and other such west coast groups. The band soon began writing their own material and building up quite a reputation as an aggressive live act; complete with the wild 60's psychedelic light shows typical of the day. A name change for the band was also in order and they officially became The Writing On The Wall. The band had built up enough of a reputation by 1968 and decided to relocate to London, where the music business was centred and where all the recording contracts were. The venue known as Middle Earth was the band's main stomping grounds. In fact they even lived underneath the stage where they'd frequently play and often slept in their van. It was these hardships which fueled the energy and intensity that went into their stage shows. John Peel was impressed enough with their set one night and he managed to get them into the BBC's recording studio for a live session.
However the BBC audition panel were not as enthusiastic about the band and this unfortunately went nowhere. The band pressed on, continuing their impressive live performances and recording more live sessions and demos. In '69 original singer and guitarist, Willie Finlayson, had decided to call it quits and return to Scotland. Robert 'Smiggy' Smith was brought on as the new lead guitarist and Linnie would handle the vocals exclusively. With no recording contract still, the band's manager decided to form the Middle Earth record label and the Wall would be the first signing. With this the band was able to record their debut album and a single consisting of Child On A Crossing and Lucifer Corpus. The album, entitled The Power Of The Picts, was derived from the band being perceived as savage Celts (they were also frequently referred to as "the hicks from the sticks"). It managed to sell reasonably well in their native locale, but made little impact anywhere else. Although it received positive reviews and acclaim, it failed to capture the band's intensity and energy they brought with them on stage. However the underground press called them 'one really heavy very evil band' and Melody Maker commented that the band had "the reputation of being violent to frightening extremes." During one show they were billed to open for the band Wishbone Ash, but were reported to have bullied them out of a headlining slot and forced them to be the opener. This aggressive reputation seemed to have scared off many A&R men and did little to help the band progress further.
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Brian Waldman, the band's manager, was eventually approached by an American promoter who wanted to take the band to the States, but would only agree to this if the other bands on the Middle Earth label would be invited as well. Naturally the promoter refused which signalled the end of that prospect. This led to the band ousting Waldman and Jake Scott, the bassist, would take over as manager. The Wall would continue their excellent live set over the next couple of years but thanks to the threat of legal action by their former manager, were unable to secure any more recording deals. Finally sometime around '71/'72 the band found themselves signed to the Chrysalis Agency. Unfortunately though due to a shift in personnel, the label soon lost interest. At this point vocalist Linnie Patterson and guitarist Robert 'Smiggy' Smith decided to leave the group. Following this original vocalist and guitarist Willie Finlayson returned and the very first incarnation of the band had been reunited. The excellent live shows continued and a new spark of creativity found the band as they began to write and rehearse new material. They caught a break in 1972 when they were invited to play a large rock festival in Brazil. The band was very well received with one newspaper headline proclaiming them as "heroes of the people!" However by 1973 the band had still not advanced beyond a popular live act and were beginning to tire of their situation. At this time original keyboardist Bill Scott had decided to part ways and move to Australia. But the Wall decided to tough it out a bit longer and were given a chance to record another single and possibly a second album with Seven Sun Records. Unfortunately the recordings were severely sodomized by poor production and these sessions did next to nothing to boost any interest in the band. The coffin's final nail had been hammered in with the theft of some recording equipment during a power outage. By this time pub rock and glam were dominating and people were no longer interested in complex arrangements and songs over three minutes in length. Jimmy Hush and Jake Scott had decided to return to Edinburgh, while Finlayson joined the band Bees Make Honey. Although The Writing On The Wall never achieved the success they deserved, The Power Of The Picts album, as well as the handful of singles and demos recorded by the group, shows the promise they had.
The Power Of The Picts is one of the darkest and heaviest pre Sabbath albums you're gonna find out there. I have a theory that any album cover with a human skull on it, is going to rock. And rock this one does. They waste no time in getting the ball rolling with the opener It Came On A Sunday. With it's dark and gloomy guitar and organ blaring they set the mood of things to come right away. You may love or hate the singing. For me it works and this band really benefits from the guy's voice. But I've heard others comment on it being too soulful for this type of music. It's perfectly fine for my ears so you be the judge. The organ also gives the album a very strong Doors flavor throughout, but not to the point of ripping them off. For me this is the what a love child between Black Sabbath and The Doors would sound like. The doomy and gloomy vibe continues as we progress onto Mrs. Cooper's Pie and Ladybird. The former transitions into the latter beautifully and this is for me where things really pick up. It only gets better from here though. The fourth track, Aries is straight out of a psych ward. Some may be turned off by the preachy, "I believe in God, do you believe in God!?!" lyrics in the song, but I see it more as a jittering psychopath sitting in his padded white cell trying to come to terms with a horrifying truth in the back of his mind, that we are all truly alone and no one is watching over us. Interpret it how you will though; it is still one of the heaviest songs on the album and one of the most demented things I've ever heard. This is an example of where the singer's voice really works in the album's favour. The band is kind enough to give us a short break from the darkness with the beginning of Bogeyman. It starts out as a weird upbeat, fun polka tune or something but this is only temporary. Soon the darkness has returned and we are being stalked by the Bogeyman to be taken away into the night. Pretty damn dark and doomy for 1969 if you ask me. And the foreboding terror only continues on. The sixth track signals the return of the same lunatic from Aries (he makes several appearances on this album) and the organ brings more full on gloom.
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There's also some nice bluesy, but still dark guitar to entertain our ears on this track. The next song is another highlight and one of my favourites. The dark vibe is again full force (it never seems to leave during the course of listening to this). And the lyrics wring true; you will never see white horses again. Things definitely slow down a bit for song number 7, but they keep up the momentum. It's still got plenty of heavy guitar and depressing organ, plus some totally off the wall circus music in certain parts. And now we reach the grand finale, Virginia Waters. Our lunatic returns once more and rambles on about his lovely Virginia while evil guitar and organ notes blare in the background. This track really brings things to a close and finishes up a fantastic listening experience. The underground press called this band really heavy and very evil and after listening to their album you'll see why. The release that I have also features the single recorded with the album, as well as a second disc full of demos and unreleased tracks; mostly recorded 1972-1973. Now the second disc has a few good tunes on it, but there are also quite a few clunkers; as is to be expected on bonus tracks. Buffalo, Diane's Big Daddy, and a few others are pretty decent, but watch out for the bland pub rock tunes like Bellyful Of Rock and Man Of Renown, along with the annoying, overly Christian song Fishers Of Men. Now on the other hand though, the two songs from the single the band recorded with the album are fantastic and would be right at home with the other songs from the LP. They have the same dark, heavy feel and are exactly what bonus tracks should be. Bonus fun. Lucifer Corpus is especially good with the vocalist screaming at you that you're gonna die, along with everyone around you. If that's not doom I don't know what is.
All in all this is fantastic find if you're looking for dark, heavy, proto-doom from this period of time. There are countless forgotten bands from the era to choose from, but these guys are one of the very best and certainly among the darkest and gloomiest. What's even more amazing is the fact that they came before the mighty Black Sabbath. Few bands from the 60's can contend with the heaviness these guys had. Download or YouTube the music if you have to, but if you dig what you hear then buy the album!
Recommended tracks:
-Ladybird
-Aries
-Tasker's Successor
-Child On A Crossing (from their single)
-Lucifer Corpus (from their single)
Words: Brian
Writing On The Wall Official Website
The story of this band begins in a town called Edinburgh, in a little country named Scotland, in the year of 1965. The band, going by the name The Jury at this time, consisted of Jake Scott on the bass guitar, Bill Scott playing the keyboards, Jimmy Hush on drums, and Willie Finlayson handling the lead guitar and vocal duties. Vocalist Linnie Patterson, a well connected musician in the underground music scene at the time, would also board the train and share vocal duties with Finlayson. In the beginning they focused more on soul music and did mainly covers. But this would soon change when the band's manager showed them the music of The Doors, Love, and other such west coast groups. The band soon began writing their own material and building up quite a reputation as an aggressive live act; complete with the wild 60's psychedelic light shows typical of the day. A name change for the band was also in order and they officially became The Writing On The Wall. The band had built up enough of a reputation by 1968 and decided to relocate to London, where the music business was centred and where all the recording contracts were. The venue known as Middle Earth was the band's main stomping grounds. In fact they even lived underneath the stage where they'd frequently play and often slept in their van. It was these hardships which fueled the energy and intensity that went into their stage shows. John Peel was impressed enough with their set one night and he managed to get them into the BBC's recording studio for a live session.
However the BBC audition panel were not as enthusiastic about the band and this unfortunately went nowhere. The band pressed on, continuing their impressive live performances and recording more live sessions and demos. In '69 original singer and guitarist, Willie Finlayson, had decided to call it quits and return to Scotland. Robert 'Smiggy' Smith was brought on as the new lead guitarist and Linnie would handle the vocals exclusively. With no recording contract still, the band's manager decided to form the Middle Earth record label and the Wall would be the first signing. With this the band was able to record their debut album and a single consisting of Child On A Crossing and Lucifer Corpus. The album, entitled The Power Of The Picts, was derived from the band being perceived as savage Celts (they were also frequently referred to as "the hicks from the sticks"). It managed to sell reasonably well in their native locale, but made little impact anywhere else. Although it received positive reviews and acclaim, it failed to capture the band's intensity and energy they brought with them on stage. However the underground press called them 'one really heavy very evil band' and Melody Maker commented that the band had "the reputation of being violent to frightening extremes." During one show they were billed to open for the band Wishbone Ash, but were reported to have bullied them out of a headlining slot and forced them to be the opener. This aggressive reputation seemed to have scared off many A&R men and did little to help the band progress further.
Brian Waldman, the band's manager, was eventually approached by an American promoter who wanted to take the band to the States, but would only agree to this if the other bands on the Middle Earth label would be invited as well. Naturally the promoter refused which signalled the end of that prospect. This led to the band ousting Waldman and Jake Scott, the bassist, would take over as manager. The Wall would continue their excellent live set over the next couple of years but thanks to the threat of legal action by their former manager, were unable to secure any more recording deals. Finally sometime around '71/'72 the band found themselves signed to the Chrysalis Agency. Unfortunately though due to a shift in personnel, the label soon lost interest. At this point vocalist Linnie Patterson and guitarist Robert 'Smiggy' Smith decided to leave the group. Following this original vocalist and guitarist Willie Finlayson returned and the very first incarnation of the band had been reunited. The excellent live shows continued and a new spark of creativity found the band as they began to write and rehearse new material. They caught a break in 1972 when they were invited to play a large rock festival in Brazil. The band was very well received with one newspaper headline proclaiming them as "heroes of the people!" However by 1973 the band had still not advanced beyond a popular live act and were beginning to tire of their situation. At this time original keyboardist Bill Scott had decided to part ways and move to Australia. But the Wall decided to tough it out a bit longer and were given a chance to record another single and possibly a second album with Seven Sun Records. Unfortunately the recordings were severely sodomized by poor production and these sessions did next to nothing to boost any interest in the band. The coffin's final nail had been hammered in with the theft of some recording equipment during a power outage. By this time pub rock and glam were dominating and people were no longer interested in complex arrangements and songs over three minutes in length. Jimmy Hush and Jake Scott had decided to return to Edinburgh, while Finlayson joined the band Bees Make Honey. Although The Writing On The Wall never achieved the success they deserved, The Power Of The Picts album, as well as the handful of singles and demos recorded by the group, shows the promise they had.
The Power Of The Picts is one of the darkest and heaviest pre Sabbath albums you're gonna find out there. I have a theory that any album cover with a human skull on it, is going to rock. And rock this one does. They waste no time in getting the ball rolling with the opener It Came On A Sunday. With it's dark and gloomy guitar and organ blaring they set the mood of things to come right away. You may love or hate the singing. For me it works and this band really benefits from the guy's voice. But I've heard others comment on it being too soulful for this type of music. It's perfectly fine for my ears so you be the judge. The organ also gives the album a very strong Doors flavor throughout, but not to the point of ripping them off. For me this is the what a love child between Black Sabbath and The Doors would sound like. The doomy and gloomy vibe continues as we progress onto Mrs. Cooper's Pie and Ladybird. The former transitions into the latter beautifully and this is for me where things really pick up. It only gets better from here though. The fourth track, Aries is straight out of a psych ward. Some may be turned off by the preachy, "I believe in God, do you believe in God!?!" lyrics in the song, but I see it more as a jittering psychopath sitting in his padded white cell trying to come to terms with a horrifying truth in the back of his mind, that we are all truly alone and no one is watching over us. Interpret it how you will though; it is still one of the heaviest songs on the album and one of the most demented things I've ever heard. This is an example of where the singer's voice really works in the album's favour. The band is kind enough to give us a short break from the darkness with the beginning of Bogeyman. It starts out as a weird upbeat, fun polka tune or something but this is only temporary. Soon the darkness has returned and we are being stalked by the Bogeyman to be taken away into the night. Pretty damn dark and doomy for 1969 if you ask me. And the foreboding terror only continues on. The sixth track signals the return of the same lunatic from Aries (he makes several appearances on this album) and the organ brings more full on gloom.
There's also some nice bluesy, but still dark guitar to entertain our ears on this track. The next song is another highlight and one of my favourites. The dark vibe is again full force (it never seems to leave during the course of listening to this). And the lyrics wring true; you will never see white horses again. Things definitely slow down a bit for song number 7, but they keep up the momentum. It's still got plenty of heavy guitar and depressing organ, plus some totally off the wall circus music in certain parts. And now we reach the grand finale, Virginia Waters. Our lunatic returns once more and rambles on about his lovely Virginia while evil guitar and organ notes blare in the background. This track really brings things to a close and finishes up a fantastic listening experience. The underground press called this band really heavy and very evil and after listening to their album you'll see why. The release that I have also features the single recorded with the album, as well as a second disc full of demos and unreleased tracks; mostly recorded 1972-1973. Now the second disc has a few good tunes on it, but there are also quite a few clunkers; as is to be expected on bonus tracks. Buffalo, Diane's Big Daddy, and a few others are pretty decent, but watch out for the bland pub rock tunes like Bellyful Of Rock and Man Of Renown, along with the annoying, overly Christian song Fishers Of Men. Now on the other hand though, the two songs from the single the band recorded with the album are fantastic and would be right at home with the other songs from the LP. They have the same dark, heavy feel and are exactly what bonus tracks should be. Bonus fun. Lucifer Corpus is especially good with the vocalist screaming at you that you're gonna die, along with everyone around you. If that's not doom I don't know what is.
All in all this is fantastic find if you're looking for dark, heavy, proto-doom from this period of time. There are countless forgotten bands from the era to choose from, but these guys are one of the very best and certainly among the darkest and gloomiest. What's even more amazing is the fact that they came before the mighty Black Sabbath. Few bands from the 60's can contend with the heaviness these guys had. Download or YouTube the music if you have to, but if you dig what you hear then buy the album!
Recommended tracks:
-Ladybird
-Aries
-Tasker's Successor
-Child On A Crossing (from their single)
-Lucifer Corpus (from their single)
Words: Brian
Writing On The Wall Official Website