Reign of Evil

I had never even heard of this band until I recently came across a copy of Reign In Evil, so I figured I'd give it a listen in hopes of finding a hidden gem or two to add to my ever-expanding play list of heavy metal tracks. It started out promising; the music was certainly heavy enough for my liking, and then Berto Van Heen opened his mouth to sing (and I use that term loosely). In a weird cadence, he went for a high note on every second or third syllable, and it was as if he took a deep breath from a helium-filled balloon before taking a stab at them. I reasoned, okay, it's a mere glitch - after all, no one would intentionally try to sound like an eagle shrieking into a microphone, but he just kept it up. Again, and again, and again.


Every time he felt compelled to belt out that high note, it was an exercise in simultaneously unintentional hilarity and utter annoyance. I began to cringe each time I would sense another impending shriek, and sure enough, good old Berto didn't disappoint - you could hear them coming from a mile away. The first track was called Mortal Agony, and it certainly was that upon my hearing, so I skipped ahead to the second track, Choice Of Life, which again started out decent enough, but then at the 1:06 mark, it was back into the helium vocals. My annoyance rose a bit more with each yelp, but I soldiered on into the third track, Judgement Day, which was listenable until it hit 1:00 exactly, and then Berto went off on his screechy histrionics yet again. The title was apropos, as the time of "judgment" had indeed arrived.


The verdict? The singer possessed the unenviable trait of sounding as if his ankle were caught in a bear trap and he was merely vocalizing his pain. I simply could not listen to any more of his atrocious caterwauling. For me, this album was destroyed by Van Heen and his awful vocals. It's no wonder their discography ends with this album; who would be fool enough to let Berto loose in a recording studio again?


If the troops are looking for a perfect example of a disc worthy of playing to terrorism suspects to make them crack, I wholeheartedly suggest this album. A short dose of Van Heen winding up that voice would have the most stubborn of terrorists begging for mercy and singing like a canary.

In the early and mid 80’s, when Heavy Metal was on the rise and on constant development, NWOBHM was the ruling sub-genre. This sub-genre came, originally, from England. But many other European and American Metal acts had drawn a lot of influence from it while trying to create their own thing. Dark Wizard from Vroomshoop (Overijessel) , Holland were a part of a rain of bands that came from all over Europe but, unfortunately, didn’t survive.

Formed in 1983, the Dutch group played Heavy Metal, drained from the NWOBHM movement, infused with dark themes like Satan and Horror. That is the reason that many of their fans recognized them as a Black Metal act as compared by the fans of Mercyful Fate that recognized King Diamond’s style as a Black Metal act. Their first official release was with an EP in 1984 under the name of Devil’s Victim. In 1985 the band released its first and last full length album, Reign Of Evil.

Reign Of Evil displayed the same vein of music led by the band since their formation... dark lyrics , many guitar and bass melodies (that were very common to NWOBHM and later on many European Heavy Metal and Power Metal acts), used lots of melodies in their music, raspy and evil clean vocals that told of dark tales.

While listening to the songs you can feel their weight. Not because they are boring in any way, but because the music is slow, in most songs, melodic and has the feel of an epic. Not all of this album is perfect as it could have been in the first place. Dark Wizard lacked various elements in their music. But the reason was pure and simple; they didn’t know as much as is known today in the Metal world. There aren’t too much pace changes or shredding solo breaks or heavy groove parts. That was the band’s way, that was, what it is called today, Traditional Heavy Metal by the book.

The production that is presented in Reign Of Evil is pretty standard for the era. The original recordings were on Vinyl and cassette so the quality, by today’s standards is somewhat medium or low. The band’s sound is similar to many bands back then with crunchy and dark guitar, hard bass lines, late 70’s sounds, sometimes like Sabbath’s, and early 80’s drums and, like in almost every 80’s album, reverbed vocals.

As for the members of this group, they play their part with finesse, creating a sort of dark music, without the extreme influences that lead the bands of the present, their purpose is only by longing to be as evil and as mystical as they can and without corpse paint.

At the vocals comes Berto Van Veen. This guy has a huge part in the evilness of the band and their material. His voice is raspy and cruel, that resembles Dio’s and Running Wild’s frontman’s Rock N’ Rolf’s vocals, yet makes his part as a storyteller. In addition he mixes his singing with high pitched tones. The trouble is that, in most tracks, his usage of high notes is not that good and is even annoying like in some parts of “Death Struggle Thriller”. Still the man was the best for the band.

Guitarist, Marcel De Groot, displays great skill in his role. He practices some great solo efforts, especially in tracks like: “Mortal Agony” and “Coming Out Of The Sky”. He also produces some morbid, classic Heavy Metal riffs with galloping speed. One of the greatest talents of this group is the bass player, Kees Reinders. This guy has it all in the bass that many in his time were doing the simple thing of abiding the rhythm guitar. He creates mini solos; he leads the music and gives a superb melodic edge. His best work is the track: “Evil Spirits”. The drummer, Tony White, is not doing anything bombastic or different like many other drummers but still he is doing his job without trouble.

Not all of the tracks in Reign Of Evil can be considered as all time hits but some of them will get the focus they deserve. The opener, “Mortal Agony”, is a hell of an opening track, getting straight down to business with heavy riffs and Von Veen’s cranky vocals. Nice simple riffs and a catchy chorus that tells what the song is all about – “Fighting against...” This song later appeared, in 2004, the Heavy Metal Maniacs compilation. “Evil Spirits” is a Black Sabbath influenced song with morbid rhythm and great bass work. This song is not the usual catchy song, rather less epic than a standard song, but it delivers. “Coming Out Of The Sky” is an absolute classic with marching riffs that resembles in some measure to Dio’s early works with his band. Also there is a leading riff that resembles the one in “Paris Is Burning” of Dokken. “Death Struggle Thriller” is another epic that delivers and the closer and self tilted, “Reign Of Evil”, summarizes the band’s path with a shout.

Dark Wizard is no more because of many problems with their label and they searched for a label with no success. They still continued to play live but with no end to it. With no other option the band scattered and the members went on to play their parts in different bands. Dark Wizard made their stand like many in the 80’s and Reign Of Evil stays in the archives of Heavy Metal as a true classic.

This is part three in my “Unknown Underground Dutch Metal” series.

One fine British morning in 1970, Tony Iommi woke up, and decided to invent heavy metal. And when he had finished, Iommi looked on all that he had done, and saw that it was good. Ten years later, in 1980, Steve Harris had a brainstorm and came up with a new sound; he was so excited, he immediately ran out and told all of his friends, and together they formed NWOBHM. Three years after that, in America, a little Dane by the name of Lars Ulrich was listening to his favorite NWOBHM bands, and found himself wishing they were heavier and faster. Little Lars went and met up with his friend James, and they put their heads together, and so started thrash. Later, in Sweden, a man called Quorthon thought to himself “man, thrash is great, but what if it were about Satan and had shitty production?” And so, he…

Of course this is ridiculous. Genres and subgenres as big and important as metal and its children don’t get “invented” by individuals; they are birthed slowly and collectively through the thought and effort of whole scenes, consisting of hundreds if not thousands of musicians and fans, often working completely independently. At best, an individual or small group at the forefront of their scene will be a little faster and push things ahead a little more than the others, and once in a while they will even have a good idea of what they’re doing. That said, I’ve come across certain coincidences in my years of listening to metal that are sometimes hard to swallow. Though unlikely, I can’t help but wonder if certain bands weren’t secretly in touch with one another. Black Alice, Bloody Six, and Dark Wizard are three bands like this. Three bands of similar style, with similar singers and similar atmospheres, yet from three totally different countries, and all released their best output within three years of each other. Black Alice, the earliest, even have the distinction of having put out the only heavy metal full-length from Australia in 1983! Another potential candidate would be Rozz, but there the comparisons aren’t quite as strong. Also, though their vocalist doesn’t fit the category, Brocas Helm is another band that could be included, on the strength of their musical resemblance (on their first album). They go for a different atmosphere, too, but consider them unofficial members anyway.

“But what do these bands, and Dark Wizard in particular, sound like?” Well, I’m glad you asked, Mr. Hypothetical Reader! To start with, the most distinctive quality: the singer. All three of the bands I mentioned have singers of a similar style, though each certainly with their own distinctive take on it. Berto van Veen from Dark Wizard sounds to me like Udo from Accept would if he took singing lessons from Dio. Sure, like Udo, he’s still got that coffee grinder in his throat, but he’s got a bigger range and doesn’t sound quite so rough, and at his most melodic Berto resembles Dio at his roughest. Sometimes, though, he goes for this little squeak or squawk to accent certain words that almost sounds like his voice is cracking (listen to the beginning of “Mortal Agony”). Frankly I don’t like this technique too much, but he doesn’t use it often enough to really bother me. He also pulls out some clean singing once in a while (check “Evil Spirits”). His voice also has simply put some of the greatest character of any in metal. He’s instantly recognizable, and with anyone else Dark Wizard would not be anywhere near as good as they are. As fir the production, it reminds me of Dio-era Black Sabbath’s; in other words, it’s spot-on perfect, with a great guitar tone, great mix, and the bass is even totally audible (and good thing, too!).

The riffs seem to be twisted versions of NWOBHM riffs, but are perhaps better comparable, as I mentioned before, to those from Brocas Helm’s first album. Imagine them slowed down, and with the leads mostly absent. Listen to the title track from Into Battle, and once the little lead part ends, that riff right there could be on this album with just bit of fine-tuning. Of course, here again noting the closeness of release dates, it seems likely the similarity is just a coincidence (Dark Wizard played much the same style on their EP from 1984, too, though substantially more primitive than here). Dio-era Black Sabbath is also perhaps a good comparison; the riff from “Death Struggle Killer” sounds very close (though not identical) to the main one from the title track off of Mob Rules. In other words, the riffs are usually of the simple, straight-ahead variety, and focus a lot on single-chord repetition (occasionally they do throw in some unusual ones, though). But with that simplicity in mind, the bass does some pretty weird things. It’s not that it does anything hugely complicated, more that, again like in Brocas Helm or Dio-era Black Sabbath, you can actually hear it, and it plays a lot of fills. Also, it often plays a harmony with the guitar, rather than just the root. Definitely makes for a strange sound.

The songs waffle back and forth between a rockier approach and a more serious one; however, unlike many bands of the earlier 80’s (and the other two bands I’ve put in this category), Dark Wizard does this most often within the songs themselves, and quite deliberately as well (here as in so many other cases, we see a similarity to Brocas Helm…were they secret pen pals, or something?). The most telling example of this is on “Judgement Day”, which really ambushes you with it. Given the name and ominous intro that builds tension as it ascends, you think it’s going to be a nice dark, atmospheric song about Armageddon (another thing that ties Black Alice, Dark Wizard, and Bloody Six together are that all three wrote great atmospheric songs about Armageddon). But then that pounding riff comes in and relieves the tension built by the intro almost before it’s begun; “well, ok,” we think, “at least it’s a good riff.” And then we headbang along for a while, until it builds the ominous tension a little more…and then we’re back to another pounding riff! After a bit more of that, we get that cool little bass lead bit, but what the hell? The chorus comes in, and it’s all of a sudden dark and evil and holy crap the atmosphere! “THIS IS THE END, THE END OF YOUR DAYS! THERE’S NO CHANCE OF STAYING ALIVE!” Then they go back to that rocking riff for the awesome solo, and end us with a return to the chorus. It sounds disjointed, and it is, but intentionally; each time the tense, evil bits return, things are a little tenser and a little more evil, until finally “THE HOUR OF JUDGEMENT IS HERE! YOU SEE THE FIRE? YOU WILL BURN!”

Though I’ve compared Dark Wizard to Brocas Helm a number of times, the epic atmosphere of that band is almost totally absent here, exchanged instead for a dark, almost paranoid one; another fine example of this is “Master of Time”, with its great churning main riff. The gang vocals here and on a few other songs are damn well used, too. Though not as godly as the previous, it’s still a solidly good song. “Master of my soul, bring me to the black hole!” From all my quoting, you’ve probably guessed I really dig Dark Wizard’s lyrics; but they don’t always sing about such subjects. For example, “Choice of Life” ridicules in humorous fashion all of the complaining metal and rock bands do about war, murder, rich assholes, etc., and says that these things have always been around and always will be, and that the only way to survive is to just live your own life.

Tied with “Judgement Day” for best track of the album is “Evil Spirits”. With that intro featuring the bass (“In my mind, I hear a choir! It burns like fire!”), it reminds me of Cirith Ungol’s “Master of the Pit”. Like “Judgement Day”, they alternate sections, but instead of tense, evil sections contrasting with the rocking bits, we get more open interludes of a softer melodic nature, though still quite ominous. These alternate until the last part, where the protagonist goes insane or gets possessed by the spirits or whatever (“my own hands are killing me!”), and everything gets frantic. The whole thing works very, very well, but one oddity I must point out is the use of the keyboard tone in the last part of the song. Keyboards are used sparingly throughout the song, but WAAAAAAAAAAY in the background; but here, it comes right out in front for a little bit. It’s just one drawn-out note, but it shows up a couple times, and it sounds like the default “human voice” setting on every keyboard (you know, the one that sounds nothing like a real human voice). I have no idea why it’s there, but somehow it fits in a weird way.

Now, that’s not to say that everything is perfect with this album, because unfortunately, the title track is weak. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it; it’s not a ballad, or a single attempt, or even a drastically different style. It’s just the same thing as the rest, but not as good. Nothing horrible, just a bit lackluster compared to the rest of the album. I have to give the band props for sticking to their guns, though; of the three bands I consider adhering to this “micro style”, Dark Wizard are by far the most consistent. Of course, they’re also the latest chronologically, so that may have something to do with it.

Apparently in the 80’s this band was quite an item back in Holland. They cultivated a horror image to match their sound, and even had monstrous characters as a part of their stage show, like Eddie for Iron Maiden, except Dark Wizard had a whole cast of them; you can see one on the cover of their Devil’s Victim EP. This image was so strong, they were even called black metal back in their day! In any case, this is definitely a forgotten classic of Dutch heavy metal (though honestly their country of origin is only incidental; they don’t sound anything like other Dutch bands). Reign of Evil doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves, especially considering that with the great production and consistent style, the band’s sound is quite accessible (to people who like Manilla Road and Brocas Helm, anyway). As with many of the albums I review, this one is musically very simple, but it’s the powerful atmosphere that makes it great. If you let it, Reign of Evil will whisk you off to a dark realm of fear and madness.