Some history: Anna Göldi was the last person executed for witchcraft in Europe. The year was 1782. Technically she was executed (decapitation) for charges of poisoning, but it is widely accepted that the real charge was witchcraft. In 2007, the Swiss parliament declared her trial a "miscarriage of justice" and the next year, in 2008, Göldi was exonerated. Today you can visit the Anna Göldi Museum at the Hänggiturm building located in Ennenda, Switzerland.

More history: In 1970 BLACK SABBATH released their self-titled album. The first track begins with a lonesome church bell ringing in the cold distance. Tony Iommi then intones the devil's tritone, or Diabolus in musica-a combination of notes so feared they were banned by religious authorities-and Heavy Metal is born. Some 48 years later in 2018, Marco Nieddu and Gabriele Fancellu form a band called 1782 dedicated to the many women who were killed for allegations of witchcraft. One year on in 2019, 1782 release their self-titled album on Heavy Psych Sounds. The first song, "Intro ( . . . To the Church)," begins with a distance church bell dolefully clanging against the backdrop of a crackling fire. Following are more permutations of the flattened fifth than Beelzebub could calculate on a bone abacus.

On "1782," Nieddu and Fancellu, hailing from Italy, lay down eight solid tracks of indelible Doom. They are joined by Gabriele Fiori (BLACK RAINBOWS) for a guitar solo on "She Was a Witch," Alfredo Carbon (RAIKINAS) as guest vocalist on "Oh Mary" and "Celestial Voices," and Nico Sechi (FORGOTTEN LIGHT) as Hammond master on "Celestial Voices." Standout tracks are many. Right off the cuff is "Night of Draculia," a grooving piece of Stoner infusion followed immediately by "The Spell (Maleficium Vitae)." "She Was a Witch," released by Electric Valley Records several months before the full album, is a smoldering salvo which effectively captures the theme of the entire album. Fiori's solo on this track, though short lived, is stunning. Also of note is "Oh Mary," a dark story of injustice and persecution followed by revenge from the beyond. Be warned, this track has an infectious melody which will probably haunt you as much as its antagonist reputedly haunted her wrong-doers . . . but in a good way.

The final track on the album is a cover of PINK FLOYD's "Celestial Voices." Now, I am not a fan of PINK FLOYD. Never have been. Don't ask me why, but they just don't do it for me. However, 1782's rendition of "Celestial Voices," with Sechi on Hammond and Carbon on vocals that I can only describe as cosmic, almost converts me. Like so many Metal bands, 1782 recalls us to a dark point in history, but with purpose. There is certainly the celebration of the dark, but there is also a tribal call to arms for the disenfranchised and dispossessed. Forty-nine years on from the birth of Metal, "1782" does both.