Follow the Wizard

This is quite a minimal take on traditional doom metal, which is perhaps why it works so well. I've always felt that Sabbath worship is best when it strips away some of Sabbath's excesses and extraneous elements, leaving one with that core of doom that all the disciples of 'true doom' hold so dearly. The Wizar'd takes that paradigm even further, resulting in some of the most minimal and direct traditional doom I've ever heard, essentially demanding the listener's complete focus throughout this EP's half hour run. It's one of those releases that's so simple and primitive that you can hardly believe it succeeds as much as it does, but here it is, certainly a cut above most traditional doom endeavors these days. It's not a perfect release, and I have some significant criticisms of it, but overall I'm surprised by just how much these guys managed to get right.

The music of The Wizar'd is almost entirely riff-based; despite the guitars being subservient to vocals in the production, they're most certainly the driving force of the compositions. They're simple and somewhat droning, with long strings of open chords lazily turning into sparse fragments of dark, questioning melody at the end of phrases. Perhaps the biggest influence here is Saint Vitus, though with a less obviously American style of riffing. Drums are a steady, minimal plod, devoid of the improvised jamming of Black Sabbath, and the tempo of the music never moves above a bare midtempo. Lead guitar occasionally bursts out into a wafting, pure Sabbath-worship solo that helps ignite the music under it; this technique is used phenomenally on 'Life Eternal', easily the best track on the EP.

The Wizar'd is excellent at conveying that pseudo-occult Sabbath atmosphere via the slow, laborious procession of minimal riffs and purely '70s style production. Really, the band must have organized their gear and production methods specifically according to '70s standards, because there's no way that this was done with modern equipment. It's one of the purest replications of the '70s doom sound I've ever heard from a modern band, and it greatly enhances the atmosphere of the music. The guitar tone in particular is excellent, ultra-viscous, only about half distorted, and with a strong, rumbling bass presence. It perfectly captures that haunted feel without seeming overly derivative, despite the clear throwback nature of the music.

The biggest problem I have with this release is in the vocal department. The issue with them is rather strange, in that Rusty seems to be attempting to combine multiple styles of traditional doom vocals at once, and it simply doesn't work out. There's more operatic moments ala Messiah Marcolin, almost spoken sections like Scott Weinrich, and all of this delivered with an Ozzy-style nasal tone. All these elements are good on their own, but when placed together tend to cancel each other out. Rusty doesn't have enough range for the operatic Candlemass style and too much of an Australian accent to pull off the Wino sound, which leaves the performance floating around somewhat aimlessly in the music. A more focused and unique style would help to manage this. Another, smaller issue I take with the EP is the track order; the placement of the two longest tracks at the beginning makes the two shorter ones seem less significant by comparison.

Overall though, this is quite a good debut EP. My enthusiasm for this band isn't quite the bizarre extreme that some people in the doom scene seem to hold, but they are a talented young band which will hopefully go far. I'm looking forward to hearing their new full-length if this EP is any indication of quality.