There are not so many bands that are able to arise such a surge of enthusiasm with their very first utters as US, Atlanta-based, sludgy psych-doomsters Wizard Smoke bunch were able to do in recent years.
With their killer couplet of 2009 album Live Rock in Hell and 2011 album The Speed of Smoke, this generous band battered your eardrums and cuddled your mind with their crushing blend of exquisite riff-based doom heaviness, groove-laden psychedelic atmospheres and desert rock swagger and strained, rough sludgy vocal aggression. These five guys (Dan Nadolny, Matt Cherry, Sean Sawyer, James Halcrow and Dave) are back with a brand new EP that will tease your thirst and will make you ask for more!
The Tickler EP includes just two songs, actually “suites”, Christian Cross, stretching across 10:31 minutes, and Old Snake, keeping you busy for the next 9:13 minutes. Christian Cross is rather contrasting in its features. It starts with a dynamic, definitely up-tempo, hard-rocking pace which is a bit unexpected and very involving. But don’t count on this too much. Brakes are soon pulled and there we slide into Dooooom, a slow and dark kind of lysergic doom melody made for numbing your mind. Doom can sound mysterious but is never too dark with Wizard Smoke. There is always that psych and desert rock vibe in the background that enlightens the oppression of the downtuned guitars and the tortured vocals and adds much spacey atmosphere. The length of the track is needed for unfolding the numbing leading melody which progressively grows and dilates in intensity up to a peak, and then again plunges into doom and gloom. And you’ll do the same …
Track “Old Snake” is another story. This song is drenched in dirty blues roughness and melancholy. The groovy swampy vibe, the fat riffs and James Halcrow’s singing performance will throw you straight into a smoke-filled pub smelling of stale beer and cheap whiskey, while your chopper is parked outside … You can’t keep from singing, ops, from shouting along with James in his drunken-sounding rage … Badass … But the end of this long track is accomplished by a beautiful, galloping retro desert-psych rock melody which is able to expand your mind. What happened? It is just you, back your chopper, riding free in the desert, your lungs filled with dry, pure air eventually …
Wizard smoke's EP "The Tickler" will be available on Bandcamp starting from September 27th 2012 ...
Keep the band's pages checked for the link!
Then get into the stuff and enjoy it!
And tell the band’s guys that more of this is needed …
Words: Marilena Moroni
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