The Wizar'd - Pathways Into Darkness (2010)

What a killer this is! After a few years of little releases, most of which recieving little attention from the public, the Wizar'd are in seriously good form with their latest album. Hailing from Hobart, these guys are notorious in the local scene for their insults towards posers and their music mostly being regarded as shit by the majority of the 'metal' fans in the area, and while I think that many will be unfazed by this album, others may finally see something in this band. Sadly there is little to be found in the way of true metal in the state, and even the whole country of Australia, but these guys well deserve to be the key leaders of the genre here. Ol' Rusty's vocals are a sticking point for listeners of The Wizar'd, his nasally and raw approach the source of both praise and hatred, but now he's adopted a more in-key approach compared to earlier releases which fits the music perfectly while remaining, surprisingly, fairly original. Despite containing only seven songs, all sound pretty fucking inspired. There is little of the way in originality but it's fairly obvious that these guys do not give a flying fuck about being original, and would rather be hailing the legends of true 70s/80s doom. It's clear that the songs are way more thought-out than the songs off the earlier albums and EPs, focusing less on droning riffs and more on simple yet effective songwriting. The songs are fairly varied, ranging from slow and heavy (the title track and Disease From the East), slower, mournful and heavy (Frankie's Dungeon), to troll footsteps and boulder-heavy (Some Like It Dead). It's all a lot of apocalyptic fun. The drums are simple throughtout all the songs, as are the riffs, but this definitely beats anything played by the tech-death and deathcore bands of today. Less noodling and any other fluff and more time for ape-like riffing. Memorable riffing as well. In fact the memorability of the whole album is a key factor in it's success. The choruses from Rainbow's End and Pathways Into Darkness could turn these songs into classics one day. Just wait. The only major criticism of this one is that it's far too short! Only about 33 minutes and 7 songs, which makes for a rather brief track-by-track listening experience. A few more songs would have increased the score of this one but it's not the end of the world…yet. Those footsteps you're hearing outside isn't Sasquach, it's Pathways Into Darkness commanding you to partake in it's 7-song ritual, so buy or die. Kudos to The Wizar'd for what is perhaps Tasmania's best metal album thus far.

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