Those among you that read my reviews regularly will have probably picked up on the fact that I’m hardly the world’s biggest cheerleader for all things power metal, and that certainly is not through any lack of trying. A few years back I really made quite an effort to get into the genre, and began delving into the catalogues of Primal Fear, Grave Digger and the likes…but I very much felt like I was going through the motions and thus eventually grew tired and gave it up as one very bad, highly pitched joke. I am aware that a certain type of metal fan would deem me a poser for thinking this, but the world would be a very boring place if we all loved Gamma Ray (plus there would be no stadiums big enough to hold that crowd!)
One band that genuinely did capture my attention was Wizard. I was introduced to this German powerhouse with their 2003 opus entitled ‘Odin,’ which my usual dealer recommended while out on a spending spree one afternoon, and to this day it still ends up in stereo rotation on a fairly regular basis in our house. The sheer power of the album just made it a winner for me, but with the subsequent departure of guitarist Michael Maaß, their output of late hasn’t quite matched up. Now he has returned, and so have the band with another concept album dedicated to the Norse Gods of old, and after a few listens it is clear that they are back on track.
Much like we saw with ‘Odin,’ this hurtles ahead at an unprecedented speed; an almighty army that charges through the field of combat on horseback scything through every last troll with razor-edged fire-powered scimitars that gleam fiercely in the suns reflection as the enemies are ravaged by contagious flames. The trolls have clearly proved a most prominent adversary in this tale with recurring anger towards the particular creatures, in ‘Midgards Guardian’ where the clear command is ushered to “KILL THE TROLLS!” as you can imagine a fierce horde of warriors charging at the big ugly green fiends with an assortment of swords, hammers and magic potions.
The whole album is made up of in-your-face, catchy and truly monstrous anthems that pack one hell of a formidable punch; let’s just say you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it anyway! Fuck the wimps and the posers; this is all about the power; you can literally hear the steel pumping through the veins that give life to these tracks. These guys are ready for battle and something tells me they are not about to recoil in fear any time soon. ‘Resurrection’ is one that really gets the blood flowing, with its crushing riffs and scorching solos, while S. van Heek unleashes a sonic hailstorm of fury on the drums.
‘Serpents Venom’ does slow down the pace a tad, with its dark atmospherics as a mid-paced melody slithers along like a serpent ready to ensnare its victim. Don’t let the word “slow” mislead you into thinking you’ve to expect any awful power ballads here though, as that would just be plain silly! I must point out that the pronunciation of ‘Asgard’ has me wondering if this is a song about a kind of posterior armour, but apparently this is in fact the home of the Gods.
This album comes highly recommended if you are after a bit of true balls-to-the-wall metal; if you thought Thor’s hammer was likely to crush you, then this will surely obliterate! You have been warned.
http://www.myspace.com/wizardband
http://www.massacrerecords.de
