Bad Wizard – Sky High – Review

badwizard200Bad Wizard

Sky High (Howler)
by Brian Varney

If you’re familiar with any of the previous three Bad Wizard records, the opening title track is gonna catch you WAY off guard. The band is still playing butt-shaking boogie rock, no question, but the tempo’s a bit less frantic than normal, and the psychedelic effects on the vocals are enough to have you check and make sure you really did grab the Bad Wizard CD.

After you’ve become accustomed to the new sounds in the mix, you’ll realize how familiar the territory is. There are a couple of curveballs thrown in to mix things up a bit (“Black Navigator” is, as far as my memory serves, the band’s first foray into ballad territory), but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since there’s only so many times you can make the same album over and over again. The new production touches (courtesy of Royal Trux’s Jennifer Herrema, whose studio the band used to record Sky High) lend some new polish to what is otherwise a tried and true sound.
(www.howlerrecords.com)