It’s been two years since fellow Norwegian maestros WIZRD unleashed their debut album Seasons on the Karisma label that was like an atom bomb, waiting to explode at the right moment, at the right place, at the right time. Combining the psychedelic sounds of the late ‘60s into uncharted waters of the prog-rock territory, this here is a band that have kept the spirit alive and has never backed down without a fight.
That and their second album Elements, delves into the complexity and extended song structures which is needed. Listening to the second album, you feel the fire raging inside the band’s heart and minds tackling each arrangement that comes towards them at the speed of light.
From the Camel-like turned Styx approach from their Wooden Nickel years of ‘Mesmerized’ to the shattering guitar affects of heavy improvisation behind ‘The Void’, this band have done their source material very well. You have to get in that highly driven organ effects, powerful vocal lines, and intensive drum work before traveling miles and miles beyond the future as they go into some Space Rock orientation with the ‘Fylkesvei 33’ as their spaceship, hurling through the cosmos.
When you hear a track like that, you get a sense of The Flaming Lips, Hawkwind, Gong, and French duo Air, writing a sci-fi soundtrack that isn’t just Star Wars, but a film that’s something straight out of the Adult-Illustrated Fantasy Magazine, Heavy Metal. And boy do WIZRD make the jump to light-speed in its revved-up force.
Then, they return to their jazz-rock roots with a galloping drum work Skalstad does, followed by Bjerkan, Bjorå, and Gaardløs going into this Canterbury atmosphere with intense time changes for their own ‘National Day’ to begin. When I think of ‘!!!’ I think of Iron Maiden’s first two albums featuring the late, great Paul Di’Anno as Karl channels his Steve Harris approach on his Bass guitar, tackling some of the challenges he puts onto his instrument.
Not only there’s the Maiden sound, but the combining forces of Yes, Rare Bird, and The Mahavishnu Orchestra having this ultra race across the country, going at 600 mph in ramming speed while ‘GT, Me & My 6610’ delves deeper into the watery oceans of pure bliss with a psychedelic meditation chorus and then driving off into the sunset which WIZRD puts in enough fuel in their corvettes to soar into the night-time sky.
