Black Magic
Wizard’s Spell
High Roller Records
2014
Can you describe a Norwegian band as NWOBHM?
Black Magic is, by the looks of it, a band who really values their privacy. The press release that accompanied their album “Wizard’s Spell” noted that “The band is NOT available for interviews!” (sic). After some looking into, I managed to find out that the band is actually only two guys from Norway. “Wizard’s Spell” is probably the best example of “less is more”. It appears that these guys like to keep things simple. From the band’s name, to the record’s title, right down to the artwork for it. It goes without saying of course, that this minimalist mentality is also very present in the sound and musical composition of their songs (otherwise this approach wouldn’t work).
The most suitable description for Black Magic’s music would be “hellish”. Hard and heavy guitar riffs, a voice that seems to be coming from the darkest depths of hell and a rocking rhythm section as the backbone. “Wizard’s Spell” is like a combination of Black Sabbath’s dark mentality with the “discrete epic-ness” of a band like Bathory (there’s some Iron Maiden and Metallica too). Black Magic do not attempt to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing in this record that you haven’t heard before. But they respect their own genre enough so as not to burden it with anything unnecessary.
They know when to kick it like there’s no tomorrow and, more importantly, when to take their foot off the gas and let the song breathe. There’s no way of knowing if this 70s like production sound is deliberate or not. One thing is for sure though, it works like a charm (or should I say “like a spell”). Another positive aspect of “Wizard’s Spell” is that it also flows smoothly from the one track to the next, giving the listener the impression that the band has a clear idea of what they and their work are about.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really care for the last part of the album. I would have been happy if the record had ended with “The Ritual (Reap of Evil)”. In my opinion, the three remaining songs whose titles end with “(Reap of Evil)” is where the band kinda lost it. Even though none of them are bad, I find that they don’t add anything to the album.
Black Magic is, by the looks of it, a band who really values their privacy. The press release that accompanied their album “Wizard’s Spell” noted that “The band is NOT available for interviews!” (sic). After some looking into, I managed to find out that the band is actually only two guys from Norway. “Wizard’s Spell” is probably the best example of “less is more”. It appears that these guys like to keep things simple. From the band’s name, to the record’s title, right down to the artwork for it. It goes without saying of course, that this minimalist mentality is also very present in the sound and musical composition of their songs (otherwise this approach wouldn’t work).
The most suitable description for Black Magic’s music would be “hellish”. Hard and heavy guitar riffs, a voice that seems to be coming from the darkest depths of hell and a rocking rhythm section as the backbone. “Wizard’s Spell” is like a combination of Black Sabbath’s dark mentality with the “discrete epic-ness” of a band like Bathory (there’s some Iron Maiden and Metallica too). Black Magic do not attempt to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing in this record that you haven’t heard before. But they respect their own genre enough so as not to burden it with anything unnecessary.
They know when to kick it like there’s no tomorrow and, more importantly, when to take their foot off the gas and let the song breathe. There’s no way of knowing if this 70s like production sound is deliberate or not. One thing is for sure though, it works like a charm (or should I say “like a spell”). Another positive aspect of “Wizard’s Spell” is that it also flows smoothly from the one track to the next, giving the listener the impression that the band has a clear idea of what they and their work are about.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really care for the last part of the album. I would have been happy if the record had ended with “The Ritual (Reap of Evil)”. In my opinion, the three remaining songs whose titles end with “(Reap of Evil)” is where the band kinda lost it. Even though none of them are bad, I find that they don’t add anything to the album.