The Speed of Smoke

Its been a good few years since a “stoner”/psychedelic metal band has come along and brought out an album that I would consider a truely original sounding landmark release (the most recent I can think of is Baroness’ 2009 LP, Blue Record; an album which anybody who appreciates progressive rock or metal owes it to themselves to listen to or just maybe Dopefight’s Buds) but Atlanta’s (USA) Wizard Smoke have unarguably accomplished this on their second LP Speed of Smoke.

Speed of Smoke sounds like the evolution of Doom/”stoner” metal. As many of their contemporaries are still working their own interpretations of Jimmy Hendrix and Black Sabbath, Wizard Smoke craft an organic synthesis of Pink Floyd’s taste for epic flowing soundscapes, effects and structuring with Electric Wizard’s riffs, rhythm and agression to create something fresh and awesome.

Each track on Speed of Smoke seems to flow seamlessly into the next, while each track is notably different. This has a trance-like effect on the listener allowing you to get lost in the music leaving you wondering just how that 45-odd minutes of amazing music went by so fast! The production on this album is phenomenal especially on the unpredictable array of effects used on both instruments and vocals as the entirety of the bands vision is realised and communicated flawlessly.

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