PK’s album Reviews – White Wizard – The Devils Cut

Good evening folks are you ready for another review? I certainly hope so! If not, TOO BAD, you’re getting one!

So on today's review we have a band called White Wizard, who are they and what do they do?  Well they are Metal so that is a start, they have also been around since 2007 where they recorded their self-titled EP which wouldn’t come out till Mid 2008.  From there they have created one more EP (High Speed GTO) and two more full albums (Over the top and Flying Tigers).  They have been noted to have a sound like some of the older metal bands out there, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest just to name a couple.  

To date there is two long standing  members of the band, Jon Leon on bass, and Giovanni Dust on drums.  The other members of the band are Vocalist Joseph Michael and Guitarists – Jake Dreyer and Will Wallner.  The three new members will be heard for the first time playing for White Wizard on the latest album that will be out June 25th.  So how does it sound?

Well If the line-up stays the same, it sounds like these guys may actually have put something great together! I started to listen to the album and I was shocked and amazed at how the instrumental of the first track sounded… it is tight! I thought I was listening to an Iron Maiden album in the first bit, honestly now I can understand when they say they pull their sound from older bands,  but that isn’t a bad thing! It is a great start to the album and it leads into the next track smoothly which is “Strike the Iron” and it truly carries on the Iron Maiden sound for some of the lyrics and riffs, almost like the Churchill speech leading into “Aces High”.  Granted, the way they keep going with the song it does change style a few times in the song, you even have some Fantasy metal sounds in there too,  Which makes it for a very original mix of metal over all.

The whole album actually does flow like this through the nine songs it has in its LP, giving something to say about how well this current crew of members mesh as a band.  Most of the songs have the sound of older metal that really compliments the way that the band have their own strengths.  The vocals are really spot on with the rest of the music, and the transitions are smooth throughout the songs themselves.   Songs like “Lightning in My Hands” when you hear the chorus all you hear is Fantasy metal  but the solos you hear the Metal sounds of the 90’s!  I personally didn’t think that it would be a good mixture, but White Wizard has proven me wrong.

You will even find some slower ballads on here in “Steal Your Mind” however it doesn’t take away from the album it actually gives it the delicate punch you’d want to see in a album like this (I think they took notes from Ozzy on this one the way it sounds) from there they decide to pick up the pace during the song which once again changes the style and brings it to a new level.  

You will find this throughout the album and honestly it is a great sound for them.  Listening to the album it actually goes quickly, with all the tunes you have and the time of some of these songs it is pretty amazing.  After all the shortest song is the intro coming in at 2:03 and the longest song is “The Sun Also Rises” in at 9:32

So now it is time for a segment I call PK's Favorite and Least Favorite songs on the album:

For me the best is “Strike the Iron”  This song comes off of a very strong instrumental, and it really sets the pace of the album,  vocal timing is perfect with the changes of the riffs, and the chorus is very solid.  Even at one point Joseph Michael shows off his vocal range by setting off a scream that really catches the tone of the song!  There is also a great part where the lyrics are "Strike while the Iron's Hot"  and they do a solid mix of three different vocals that catch you off guard in a great way! This song is really sound for everything in it, and over all a great song to get you rocking out!

My Least Favorite Track  is “The Devils Cut” However this song sounds so familiar that I couldn’t put my finger on it right away however, but it had the same style even the same vocal progression as this other song.  You may know it as Megadeth's "Hook in Mouth"!  It isnt completely the same as it however if you know your Megadeth like me, you find yourself singing the Megadeth lyrics, which in a way takes away from the song.  The chorus starts to redeem it but, it just cant bring it back fully.  Maybe they are paying tribute to Megadeth?  Solos are great in it but that one part is WAY to similar to "Hook in Mouth" so it lost a few points for me.

I have to give this album a 7 out of 10, it does have some spots that it was the mix that was off where it seemed the guitar chords were a bit off from the vocals, and the one song that sounds so much like another one, seemed to drop it down a bit.  HOWEVER, I really hope this line up stays the way it does! These guys can really gel as a team and put out some solid tracks as you will hear on this album, I truly am looking forward to hearing more from this band!

For now I’m PK saying thanks again and ROCK ON! We’ll catch you on the next review!

You can read all of my reviews  www.brokenneckradio.com as well as you can follow me on twitter @theonlypk and on my facebook page @ www.facebook.com/theonlypk