Over the past half-decade, there has been a movement within the Heavy Metal community inspired by a lot of the metalcore and screamo bands popular today.
Well, negatively inspired, anyway.
Quite frankly, a lot of metalheads don't like a lot of angsty Screamo and Metalcore bands (even if there are some pretty goods ones in the mix like Shadows Fall). In response, there's been a growing movement among some metalheads inspired by a lot of the early-80s pre-glam and Thrash metal scenes, particularly the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). The New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal might not be much of a genre-changing movement yet, but some bands like Enforcer, Holy Grail and Cauldron are becoming very popular.
One of the leaders of this movement is LA-based White Wizzard. Emerging from LA with their self-titled EP and single "High Speed GTO", the band, led by bassist Jon Leon, are easily one of the best bands of this movement. Their 2010 album "Over the Top" introduced me to them and the movement while I was at my college radio station WIDB. I loved every single minute of it.
However, because Jon Leon has a reputation for being very demanding, the band has gone through several line-up changes over the years. Naturally, they've become the butt of a few jokes because of their inability to keep a stable line-up. Part of this is why I was so disappointed with their 2011 sophomore effort "Flying Tigers". It didn't have the same punch as "Over the Top", the lack of excellent solos and exceptional songs doomed the album from the beginning.
In 2012, however, they settled on what may be a stable line-up of vocalist Joseph Michael (who also happens to be Ronnie James Dio's cousin!), guitarist Will Walner and Jake Dreyer as well as Leon and drummer Giovanni Durst, who'd been with the band since "Over the Top". With all that background info out of the way, it's time to review "The Devil's Cut".
White Wizzard's sound is very Iron Maiden-esque, especially at the beginning track, "Forging the Steel". You'd think you'd purchased an Iron Maiden album listening to it for the first time before it leads into the blazingly fast "Strike the Iron". The first time I heard it, I thanked the Metal Gods for this. It's fast, energetic and it kicks your ass the way Metal's supposed to.
The album itself is varied. The second track "Kings of the Highway" is a Judas Priest-esque ode to freedom on the open highway, and more of a mid-paced track. All of the tracks vary between high-speed cookers and mid-paced tracks. This variation works well and prevents the album from getting dull. However, since I like my Metal just like my auto racing--fast and loud--my favorite tracks are the fast ones.
Since this is only their second release with a full line-up (Over the Top had two guitar tracks but one guitarist, the other was Jon Leon), the band really shines here. Guitarists Jake Dreyer and Will Walner weave a complex and melodic twin guitar attack right out of an Iron Maiden album. Their soloing also compliments each other and as the Wizz promised, the solos are straight-up shred fests that more than make up for the disappointment that is "Flying Tigers". And as usual, Giovanni Durst lays down the beat, varying between a monster and a simple drum beat. It's this variation that makes him one of the better current drummers in metal. As for Joseph Michael, he's not the same as the vocalist on the Wizz's last two albums, but he's solid and is more than capable of hitting the high notes.
The lyrical content here is a little more down-to-earth than the previous two, which included fantasy songs like "Iron Goddess of Vengeance" and the Starman mini-concept album on "Flying Tigers". While there are lyrics that are fantasy-inspired, they're purely metaphorical rather than direct. However, Leon's typical freedom-loving lyrics are in full display here. "Strike the Iron" is basically a 6:46-long pep speech, as are most of the songs here. This isn't angsty metal here. Of course, there's also plenty of songs about METAL on here. Hey, they're inspired by '80s metal, are you surprised?
As for the band's playing, these guys are tight. It seems as if, barring another ego-driven meltdown, Jon Leon has found the line-up that sticks together for the Wizz. All the right buttons and notes are hit on this album. As mentioned previously, Dreyer and Wallner are fantastic, and they could potentially be the next David Murray-Adrian Smith or about as close as they can get. I feel that the Wizz might finally be hitting their stride. "The Devil's Cut" may not be perfect, but I feel it is certainly one of the best metal releases this year. Time will tell if The Wizz are selling out arenas and big concert halls like they should be.
Score: 8.5/10
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