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With a name like Black Wizard you might expect a band scouring doom’s dark underbelly and spinning your brain into a state of dreamy lethargy, but this four-piece from Vancouver offer an all-round chuggier endorsement of Satan’s songbook.

Sounding like it was written on beer and whiskey more than weed and LSD, New Waste is a product of Adam Grant and Eugene Parkomenko’s musical mainstays (Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple) while working a ‘shitty construction job’ when the first formations of the band took shape.

Eliminator puts the guitar centre stage and it becomes obvious that Black Wizard feel more comfortable slinging riffs around than getting sidetracked by a slow-moving dirge. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments where they sound like they’re dragging tyres around.

Unnecessary Evil boasts an unashamedly Sabbathian riff while underwater effects quiver in the background, but mostly this album prefers to take you on a bong’n’roll journey of odes that would appeal to anyone cast under Red Fang’s spell.

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.