Welcome Metalheads! It’s Hump Day Metal Day once again which means new metal and reviews aplenty! I discovered this one through a random Facebook post so I guess FB is good for something occasionally. Plus this sumbitch is FREE!!
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The Band:
Aaron Hodgson Guitars Ryan Janssen Bass Travis Nordahl Drums Mahle Roth Vocals |
Kult of the Wizard
The White Wizard
Released: March 13th 2015
Label: Unsigned
From: Minneapolis, MN
The White Wizard
Released: March 13th 2015
Label: Unsigned
From: Minneapolis, MN
Track Listing:
Tusk of Mammoth
Olde Fashioned Black Magik
Plasma Pool
Black Moon
Devil Delight (Heart cover)
Tusk of Mammoth
Olde Fashioned Black Magik
Plasma Pool
Black Moon
Devil Delight (Heart cover)
Feind’s Thoughts…
When I have a free moment I do try to scroll through my timeline on Facebook or Twitter to see if there’s anything interesting going on that I don’t already know about. Since 90% of my news feed on FB is from bands or various writer groups I’ve managed to be added to I mostly see nothing but horror & metal news plus the occasional convo with Jimmy Lee Combs, director of new Scribbler favorite Hans Crippleton. So I was scrolling through the other day and came across a post from the awesome folks at Decibel Magazine about a new doom laden group giving away their latest Ep for FREE! Free being my favorite word it took me all of about 10 seconds to take advantage of the free download. I hit play and ten seconds was about all I needed to make up my mind on newcomers Kult of the Wizard.
Kult of the Wizard released two Eps prior to The White Wizard aptly titled The Red Wizard (2013) and The Blue Wizard (2014) that slipped passed me but if I’m being honest they probably wouldn’t have caught my attention much due to being all instrumental. Nothing wrong with vocal-less bands which seem to be more and more abundant these days but vocals are what seal the deal for me though I admit to owning several instrumental albums (mostly string tributes, I kinda dig the sound of a cello). But I see I’m getting longwinded on a short Ep once again. Kult of the Wizard added the vocal talents of Mahle Roth for this one and man what an addition! Onto the music…
Bassist Ryan Jansson
From just a few seconds in you just know this is going to be some damn good doom. As soon as Roth’s voice kicks in hauntingly howling, “It’s Time!” combined with a nice doom power cord that’s all I needed to take advantage of that free download. Usually I’ll listen to a full song before deciding to give an album valuable hard drive space but I didn’t need to with this one. One of my favorite albums last year was Witch Mountain’s Mobile of Angels as much for the music as for Uta Plotkin’s beautiful voice (sadly Plotkin left WM as the album was released and has recently been replaced but I haven’t heard her replacement, also female, yet). I mention WM here because from the first track, Tusk of Mammoth, Roth’s voice reminded me of Plotkin only much darker and more haunted. One song in and I’ll tell ya, Old Man Feind is hooked.
The Original 3: Travis, Aaron, Ryan
Olde Fashioned Black Magik kicks off with an awesome groove filled to overflowing riff reminiscent of early Sabbath’s doomier songs. More so than Witch Mountain, Kult of the Wizard give off a heavy 70s feel with modern doom sensibilities which make this second track groove and rock and fuckin’ roll you over with a damn steamroller. Plasma Pool has a trippy sci-fi feel for an opening with soundbites from what sounds like a 60s sci-fi horror film though being honest I don’t know what it is if any. This is more of a trippy experimental track with “exotic noises” provided by Erik Highter. It works as a nice interlude before the doom comes back in force.
Mahle Roth
Black Moon is as dark and haunting as the title would suggest. With Roth crooning like a harlot dancing in the moonlight warning you that, “I’m coming for you baby, coming for your child, coming to take every breath from your mouth.” Since my mind instantly pictured a beautiful woman dancing naked in the moonlight as no more than a silhouette I had no fear. Imagine the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival track Bad Moon Rising as a doom song with a beautiful female voice replacing John Fogerty and you have an idea of how good this song is. Then we’re to the final track Devil Delight which appropriately is a cover of an old Heart song (one of their doomier tracks to begin with). I say appropriate because you could easily mistake Roth for a young Annie Wilson. The original Devil Delight is already an early doom song but KotW slow it down even more stretching it into a seven minute opus that you really don’t want to end.
Feel free to compare & contrast
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As you can see I highly recommend this Ep that has more to offer than most full lengths. I won’t lie, I saw this and downloaded it last Wednesday and I’ve easily listened to it a dozen times and I’m not sick of it yet so that should tell you something. Yes, doom hits a sweet spot for me but not all of it is any good. Kult of the Wizard are definitely beyond just good and I’ll be keeping an eye on them going forward. This is one kick ass Ep so I can’t wait to see what they do next. Unless you’re blind or stupid you can see I think The White Wizard is one you should crank up so loud you break the damn knob off as you...
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