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Released on April 22, 2016 via Bad Omen Records
Lancastrian hard rockers Wytch Hazel inhabit a parallel musical universe in which the New Wave of British Heavy Metal happened six hundred years early. Their music mixes the eccentric folk-rock of Jethro Tull with the guitar harmonies of Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy. In fact, I’d say Wishbone Ash are the main influence that can be heard across all their début album’s ten tracks.
The mix of classic heavy metal and Plantagenet folk may seem like an odd mix, but Wytch Hazel manage to make it work. They come across as a less eccentric, heavier Circulus, although they manage to avoid embarrassing the listener, something that Circulus didn’t always manage to achieve it has to be said! Wytch Hazel should appeal to fans of Purson, too. They’ve got that same vintage psychedelic feel, particularly in the rhythm section. The album was recorded at the renowned Foel Studio in Wales and produced by former Purson member Ed Turner, which no doubt adds to the Purson-esque sound, although I’m inclined to put that down to the song writing as much as Turner’s production. It’s fitting that Prelude was recorded in a rural setting. This isn’t exactly urban music!
The musicianship on Prelude is of the highest quality, due in no small part to the talent and musical training of singer/guitarist and founding member Colin Hendra. As a child, he played drums in brass bands and orchestras as well as studying classical piano and singing in a chamber choir before making the natural leap towards rock and heavy metal in his teens. With a background like that, you’d expect a record heavy on melody with plenty of dynamics and Prelude delivers both of those. Wytch Hazel switch between soft clean guitar and overdriven vintage heavy metal in a way that sounds natural and smooth. Their ridiculous level of musical ability is quite intimidating to be honest. They just make it sound so simple and easy. The album manages to capture the warmth and steady pace of Wishbone Ash’s classic Argus album, and Hendra’s vocals sound mature and authentic. You could have told me this album was a remastered classic from 1974 and I would have been taken in! It’s going to sound fantastic on vinyl.
Ed Turner proved to be the right choice for Prelude, and wisely opted for cranked up vintage Marshall amps to capture that authentic ’60’s/’70’s guitar tone. It’s clearly dated but also timeless. It would be easy to lump Wytch Hazel in with the current slew of ‘occult rock’ bands, but there is more to them than that. Even a self-taught guitarist like me with none of the bands’ specialist musical training can hear that Prelude exudes quality. Wytch Hazel’s lyrics rally against apathy and all things false and phoney. The music scene needs more of that right now, with too many copycat bands doing the rounds. They will never be cool, but that’s exactly what makes them cool!
My only criticism would be that the album feels a little overly long (at least on the first couple of listens). Wytch Hazel do the clean to heavy, mid-tempo Wishbone Ash thing perfectly, but they do it on every song. All ten songs are brilliantly written and beautifully played, but they are quite similar. Like Purson, they have their own sound and they do it extremely well, but there’s not a massive amount of variety between the tracks. That said, if you give Prelude a quick listen and like the first couple of songs, you will know that this is the record for you.
