SAVAGE WIZDOM from Santa Fe, New Mexico are back with their third “Who’s Laughing Now” full length album. Ten years after their “A New Beginning” classic, the band is back delivering a masterpiece.
Totally old school Heavy / Power Metal without compromises, without “modern touches” and without fillers. Pure, talent, inspiration and total dedication to all those features that made this kind of music really big and important.
Amazingly developed songs based on an outstanding mixture, of riffing and melodies. Marvelous vocal lines and shining guitar solos are the elements shaping the big sonic frame of this brilliant full length.
Heavy Metal is in absolute need for bands like SAVAGE WIZDOM and for albums like “Who’s Laughing Now”.
Chris Papadakis
The eagle soars in the air. The rattling makes you shudder. A few bitter words are exchanged before a shotgun sound is heard, along with the Steve Montoya’s mighty voice – this is “The End of the Road” and there’s only one way after it: to move on, whatever is out there after that…
Well, it seems there’s only a hard, tough, badass outlaw’s life and the song that describes it is INSANELY powerful and convincing. The metal storm called “Life on the Run” breaks out right after the intro of the album, unfolding the dark story of two doomed lovers; a fast and furious anthem where we hear SAVAGE WIZDOM making a sweeping return!
Αnd right after the true, underground USPM sound hit us with all its might, an uplifting euro-power metal song comes to shake us up. It’s “The Need To Soar”, featuring Henning Basse (ex-FIREWIND, LEGIONS OF THE NIGHT), whose voice brings this amazing, inspiring track to really EPIC level – GAMMA RAY are brought to mind and for a really good reason!
“Ruins of Tongura” and “Blayden’s Conquest” follow, just to make absolutely clear what we’re hearing on this album; a rhythmic flurry of US steel, with perfect guitars, solid rhythm section and simple but wonderful musical development. MAJESTIC songs, that show us how the REAL DEAL is done.
That is before we find ourselves gazing the “Dark Horizon” – my God, WHAT A BLASTING OPUS! We once again witness the European influence –RUNNING WILD and HELLOWEEN are all over here!- in a track of eight minutes duration that has it all; strength, energy, melody, crazy guitar riffs, an excellent acoustic mid-part with narration, some string arrangement, a piano outro, and a remarkable vocal performance. Undeniably, one of the highlights of the album!
I think that it’s only normal to find “Dances” that comes next a little weaker. An easy going, really good and well delivered song that maybe found a wrong place in the tracklist. But don’t you make the mistake – this is no filler! There are NO such songs in “Who’s Laughing Now” and the title track that follows proves it in the most absolute way – an unbelievable song, a metallic hurricane of its own!
Can it get any better?
Well, almost eight minutes long, reminding among others some of MANOWAR‘s most glorious compositions, “Revenge For A King” proves that SAVAGE WIZDOM have returned with no limits in their inspiration and passion to deliver an album that would stand out FOREVER, reminding all metalheads what our music is all about!
Last one is “Wreck Of The Titan”. I wish I had the words to put it right; this is eleven minutes of perfect metal story-telling in the best IRON MAIDEN’s style. I really had the nicest feeling of fulfillment hearing it – yes, I DO LOVE the band, yes, I DID WAIT for a long time for their return, but I couldn’t believe that it could be like THAT!
So, take my word for it: this is an album that NO ONE will laugh at, not at all.
This is SAVAGE WIZDOM coming back after ten long years with a METAL MASTERPIECE!
Prepare yourselves for one of the BEST albums of the year…
“Who’s Laughing Now” will be soon released independently.
Mamercus
Do you remember a time when heavy metal was dangerous?
When even the rumor of an upcoming release was enough to make your body shiver?
When bands were committed into delivering maelstorms of heavy metal and not generic metal albums just for the hype?
If you do, then worry not since Steve Montoya is determined to bring these times back: SAVAGE WIZDOM came into the spotlight a couple of years ago with the “A New Beginning”, their second album, a testament of how Power Metal should be played. It was one of those rare times when an album was so inspired, powerful and “metal” that I felt that this band should never record another song again.
Well yes, I was certainly thinking that they could never reach the unreachable peak of “A New Beginning”, but here it is, the new album, several years later and from the first notes of the entry track: “Life on the Run” I knew that mister Montoya and the rest of the lads achieved the impossible: “Who’s Laughing Now” is
a solid monolith of Power Metal in its purest and unblemished form: Wandering through the endless maze of underground 90’s metal SAVAGE WIZDOM bring to front the best of the obscure 90s Power Metal influences from the four corners of the earth: from the proprietors of the scene, HELLOWEEN, SCANNER, HEAVEN’S GATE, RIOT, to obscurities like STEEL WARRIOR, CRYSTAL EYES, RAWHEAD REXX and even the mythical early TIERRA SANTA, early RHAPSODY, FINAL CHAPTER, HEIMDALL, ADRAMELCH, WHITE SKULL, SHADOWS of STEEL, HATRED, MARAUDER, early INNERWISH and the list goes on forever.
This is true Power Metal, lyrical, sentimental, full of power and passion. Check out the masterful “Dark Horizon” a
song made for all those 90’s boomers who read 90’s European fanzines, “Revenge for a king” a war-torn song that exceeds every expectation, or the final song, the eleven minute “The Wreck of the Titan” an absolute epic.
Listening to this album I felt that my faith in Power Metal is renewed. This is by far one of the, (if not THE) BEST power metal albums of the last ten years, a true supernova of power and passion.
This is happening now, this band is making history, don’t miss it unless you want to mention in as an “underestimated gem” in the future. SAVAGE WIZDOM are making a stand, therefore make sure that you are on their side.
Zippo
The album will be released April 19th.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
