RSS Feed


THE WIZAR’D
Subterranean Exile

Cruz Del Sur Music (2020)
Rating: 8.5/10

With a scorching, mystical album cover that looks like a scene from classic 80s kids cartoon He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe, comes The Wizar’d; a strange and peculiar brew featuring a vocalist who evokes images of what would happen if Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) had a stoned, satanic son with Manilla Road commander Mark Shelton (R.I.P.).

There’s a strange warble, rather than a rumble, in the dungeon as this intriguing Australian band comes shuffling out of the catacombs with its fourth full-length studio record.

It’s a band I know very little about, but I’ve fallen under the spell of this seven-track opus that combines New Wave Of British Heavy Metal darkness with a slightly lethargic doom metal styling. Again, I’m projecting weird, surreal images of He-Man’s greatest rival Skeletor wailing to the heavens with fizzing staff in hand. But hey, just look at the names of the band members. Those interesting vocal sneers and guitar duties are performed by a chap called Ol’ Rusty, and then there’s fellow axe man Master Of The Night (I bet he isn’t!), bassist Blackie, and drummer Maniac Frodsham – whose name sounds like an 80s football hooligan.

Musically, this is an engrossing opus that comes seven years after the last offering, May 2013’s Ancient Tome Of Arcane Knowledge.

The title track opens up proceedings and it’s just so damn authentic in its effortless groove; the combo sounding at one with the early 80s. If this had come out on Mausoleum Records back in 1984, and with that cover, I’d have been drooling all over it, because this really does have that ancient, antique occult mysticism about it as it flits between that Manilla Road-styled moodiness.

There’s nothing flashy here, just an oaken, esoteric nightmare slowly unfolding and plying us with steady doses of dread as one by one the tracks leak from the mist covered mountains, filling every crack with some steaming goo.

The doomy trudge of ‘Wizard’s Revenge’ is classic, doom-laced metal of stark and simple melody as the axe whines with melancholic values before a steady drum beat. “They can hear him calling from lonesome castle heights” warbles Ol’ Rusty; he’s literally that wizard or warlock who with skeletal fingers casts deadly spells. I’m not sure if I trust him or his merry band of upstarts as they flash their steely cloaks and wield their instruments of dark magic, but I’m in a trance, high on the smell of musty books and agog at the sight of spiralling, crumbling towers.

‘Master Of The Night’ isn’t in a rush to introduce itself; the bewitching riffery again hints at those old Angel Witch demo tapes. Hints of Ghost do come into view beneath the foggy wisps, but The Wizar’d remain on their own mystical plateau embedded firmly in the early, murky 80s, and just bewitching as they creak and smoulder away.

‘Long Love The Dead’ burns like the blackest candle, twinkling away with vim and vigour like some marsh spirit, and chiming in heroic fashion like some fully-armoured dwarf armed with axe, standing proud above the a pile of slain corpses.

Seriously, this is epic metal that somehow refuses to be epic… does that even make sense? Everything about it feels cool yet aged; the band unrolling worn tapestries whereby a solo rips through the murk yet refuses to shine, and the drums pound but never make an intrusive over-statement.

‘Evil In My Heart’ rages with speedier menace, and is another splendid tale of darkness as I constantly glare at that album cover and am caressed by those purple wisps of smoke. Meanwhile, album closer ‘Dark Forces’ is seven-minutes of ecstasy. The opening chords are a sombre, aching whine before Ol’ Rusty teases again with his echoing sermons of doom.

The Wizar’d refuse to gather any sort of pace, lumbering with effect rather than stoned boredom. Shame then on all these occult obsessed stoner acts doing the rounds, and lessons should be learnt from this understated gem of an album from a band that knows how to craft simple yet engaging fumes of doom and aged rock.

The future lies in the past. All cob-webs and plastic vampire fangs are welcome in this club… are you brave enough to join? The Wizar’d has spoken.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share