Over the Top

Here we have Over the Top, the first of hopefully many full-length albums by White Wizzard, the band hailed as the saviors of "true" or "traditional" heavy metal and one of the bands at the forefront of the NWOTHM, or New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal. After making a pretty big impact with the band's High Speed G.T.O. EP, bassist and band leader Jon Leon scrapped the rest of the band and hired a whole new line-up. And with this new-and-improved White Wizzard, the band have put forth one of the finest offerings of this NWOTHM so far.

The album opens with it's title track, easily one of the best songs on the album. 40 Deuces continues in this tradition, but High Roller and Live Free or Die just aren't as good. Iron Goddess of Vengeance is another highlight, being the album's only epic. Out of Control's got a lot of energy, but isn't as good as the anthem Strike of the Viper. Death Race is okay, but White Wizzard is way better, closing the album on a high note. You may be thinking, "Well this guy says half the songs on this album suck, so I'm not going to buy it, but I might download it and be a total jag-off.", but you have to realize that even the songs that aren't total classics are still really good and very catchy. If you've got the limited edition version of the album, that means you've got 2 bonus tracks, a cover of Judas Priest's Heading Out to the Highway and Cloven Hoof's Gates of Gehenna. The covers don't really take the songs to some new dimension of originality or anything, but they're an interesting listen, nonetheless.

The band's performance on this album is spot on. The songs are brimming with hot licks and solos, rightfully accompanied by a solid thumpity bass and some thunderous drumming. Vocalist Wyatt "The Screamin' Demon" Anderson is everything you've ever wanted in a heavy metal vocalist, even an awesome nickname like "The Screamin' Demon." He's like a mixture between Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, and Geoff Tate, which makes for one hell of a vocalist. He's got enough talent to be one of heavy metal's legends to some distant, future generation of metal heads.

A lot of people have been tearing this band apart for being to being unoriginal or trying to be "too metal" or whatever, but honestly I think it's very refreshing to hear a band like this spring up during a time when screamo posers with emotional issues and bands with illegible logos dominate the genre. It's hard for me to find a lot wrong with this album, but it seems everyone else finds something to hate about this band. They really seem to be shaping up to be a real love-em'-or-hate-em' band, but as long as they keep putting out albums like these, I'm totally leaning towards the love-em' side of this debate.

This album is, quite frankly, one of the most metal things you'll ever hear. Just look at the cover art, it's easy to see why people think these guys are just trying too hard. And with a sound like theirs, I can see why people think these guys are just Iron Maiden clones, but I see a lot of originality in them. I guess you really have to listen to this album to decide for yourself, but I would definitely recommend buying this album. If you like 80's styled heavy metal, you'll either worship this band for their ability to stay true to heavy metal's roots, or you'll despise them for their "total lack of originality." In my opinion, a must-have.