Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) was released by Lee Dorrian’s doom metal band Cathedral in 1996 on a 5-track E.P. Formed in Coventry, England in 1989 from ex-members of Napalm Death (Dorrian) and Acid Reign (guitarist, Gaz Jennings), the band sought to ditch the punk and death metal directions their previous bands were heading in and explore slower, ‘doomier’ sounds, being influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath and Pentagram. Cathedral releasd their tenth album in April 2013.
Hopkins sees Cathedral at their peak, both musically, visually and perhaps most importantly, ridiculously. Intertwining soundbites from Vincent Price throughout the video from the film Witchfinder General, the video has oodles of everything you could want in a promotional video. Directed by provocative British film-maker and head honcho of the Redemption/Salvation group, Nigel Wingrove, if this doesn’t make you want to watch the film/dance like Dorrian, there’s no hope for you.
The video features ravishing actress and regular contributor to the horror scene, Eileen Daly as well as Cookie, who was often to be seen on the James Whale Radio Show which was a must-watch (it was confusingly titled) for insomniacs and post-pub revellers during late 1980s and early 1990s. Even the black horse was a celebrity, having featured in the Lloyds Bank television commercials.
Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia
Metal music on Horrorpedia: All Nightmare Long by Metallica | Army of the Damned | Black Widow | Brainscan | Cannibal Corpse | Cannabis Corpse | Dead Banging aka Metalca | Day of the Beast | Demons | Deranged | The Dungeonmaster | Electric Frankenstein | Ghost B.C. | Goatwhore | GWAR | Hack ‘O’ Lantern aka Halloween Night | Hellbilly Zombie Invasion by Pickups ‘n’ Pitchforks | Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) by Cathedral | Hymen Holocaust by Necromance | Killed by Death by Motörhead | KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park | Queen of the Damned | Repulsion | Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare aka The Edge of Hell | Slayer | Slipknot | The Spanish Chainsaw Massacre | Trick or Treat | Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal | Zombie Nightmare
