22nd January 2024

Review: “I Am The Night” by Wizard Death

“I was dropping my kids off at school, listening to 3 Inches of Blood, Alex said we should write songs like that. I was all about it, so started writing music with him that night. He was reading a ton of Harry Potter and Goosebumps books at the time, so we started writing lyrics about that stuff.”

“It was a great pleasure to mix something that takes me back to my own roots of hearing power metal bands like IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST on the radio for the first time, when the hard rock radio stations were fun and full of good nature,” Wrong comments. “Having Alex painting visions of Masters of the Universe cartoon battle axes and the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the top of Tim’s precise rhythmic riffs and lead mastery, and then fronted by one of the most powerful women in metal that I am quite familiar with. I can only hope to be a part of whatever WIZARD DEATH has in store for us humans in the future.”

“[Alex] is the gatekeeper of cool,” Tim says of his son. “He sings and hums ideas to me and I play them on guitar. If he likes it we record it, if he doesn’t we do another idea. I have a few riffs I write but he has to think they are cool or they don’t make the cut. Lyrically, he and I talk through the ideas and I function as the thesaurus, but he has final say.” ~ Tim Kenefic

A father and son duo who love nothing more than epic riffs and dark fantasy fiction, Wizard Death were formed in 2023 as guitarist Tim Kenefic, known for his work in Assimilator and Throne to name but a few collaborated with his son Alex. The pair demoed three tracks and when they shared them with Tim’s vocal coach Kayla Dixon of Witch Mountain fame, the project became so much more…

Soaring vocals from Kayla Dixon ignite the flaming riffs painted in old school Traditional Heavy Metal from Tim Kenefic, their rich warmth a fitting accompaniment to a sonic creation that raises the hairs on the back of the neck. Her vocal performances throughout are both stunning and clever as she takes the lyrics inked by young Alexander Kenefic and gives them her all. A guttural moment at the end of the title track might not be something which you’d expect given the nature of this beast, but gives it a real edge. “Under the Southern Cross” then gallops across the horizon and finds some clean phrasing finished in tastefully unclean fashion and it works well as the music finds the band treading a similar path to bands like Hyperia and Luthario. By that what is meant is a kind of modern interpretation of an older sound has all the energy and vibrancy you could want, each performance offering up something more sublime than the last. Hummable earworm riffs fly in all directions and lean on obvious influences while having a life of their own and Kyle Smith behind the drum stool keeps the rhythms tight allowing the others to shine effortlessly. Rob Wrong, who also mixed the EP, adds lead guitars to “Slay the Serpent” which is the metaphorical cherry on the cake, the vocals layered so the almost sultry cleans get an unclean backing. You just can’t help but fall in love with these tracks because the musicianship is impeccable and the concepts in the lyrics work so well. Please kind sirs, can we have some more? [8/10]

Track Listing