Review Summary: Passing along the torch.
With the prospecting retirements of heavy metal juggernauts like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, the time has come to look forward. Supporting the massive, popular new acts for your next fix of metal is all well and good, but looking to the more obscure, independent players can also be rewarding. Enter Black Wizard, a relatively unknown act from Vancouver channeling the likes of Rainbow and Deep Purple for a truly massive sound. This is the spirit of metal at its finest, a lumbering beast with riffs aplenty and guitar solos galore.
Alongside the doom aesthetic, Black Wizard will occasionally indulge in Floydian explorations. “Laughing and Lost” showcases the band’s talent at psychedelic introspection, as does the one-minute interlude “Waiting For.” These mystical explorations add new dimensions to
New Waste, augmenting an otherworldly flavor to the crushing metal. The bulk of
New Waste is obviously spent on the riffs though, and tracks like “Eliminator” and “The Priest” pack the biggest punches of the album.
Slower, more lurching tracks like opener “Revival” and “Unnecessary Evil” bring to mind the likes of Electric Wizard in the best of ways. Album closer “Final Ripper” sees the band at their most inspired and impressive, closing one hell of a metal album with technical riffing and rolling toms. This serves to embody the fluid, ever-changing nature of a genre with plenty more to express, even in the face of so much change and transition. Whether or not they ever gain the attention they deserve, metalheads can at least rest assured that bands like Black Wizard will always exist who understand what it’s about, riffs and all.
