Over the Top

I don’t think White Wizzard needs an introduction, but I’ll give one anyway. They’re an American heavy metal band and part of the so called NWOTHM movement in the last seven or eight years. In my opinion, they’re one of better bands of this movement, but they do have a big flaw, they keep changing line-up. After all, they did have a different line-up on the EP they put out before this album and a different one on the follow-up. OK, that will suffice, now onto the album itself.

The instrumental part is heavily inspired by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest at their best, among other bands, which means it ranges from very good to great. Also, every track has something to help you distingush between them. I will choose just a few examples: the title track has one of the best opening riffs on the album (also, see the video for this song), while Out of Control has a cool bas intro á la Iron Maiden. Speaking of bass, due to good production, it can be heard throughout this album without much trouble. The drums are well played and fit the rest of the music seamlessly.

Wyatt ‘Screamin’ Demon’ Anderson is a great vocalist, arguably among the best vocalists in this movement. Some people compare him to Bruce Dickinson, however, to me, he sounds way more like Rob Halford from his best days. Not only does Wyatt sound like Rob, he also has a great range, just like Rob used to have on, for instance, Painkiller or, maybe a better comparison, Screaming for Vengeance, as well as British Steel.

The edition I heard contains two cover songs, Gates of Gehenna by Cloven Hoof and Heading Out to the Highway by Judas Priest. They don’t sound too different from the original. In fact, the Judas Priest cover is very, very hard to distinguish from the original due to many reasons, one of them being Wyatt’s voice; on the other hand, the Cloven Hoof cover is much easier to distinguish from the original. Another song that gets a mention is Iron Goddess of Vengeance (present on all editions); it’s just not as enjoyable as the rest of the album.

So far, White Wizzard have managed to put out some of the best newer traditional heavy metal, including this album, despite all the problems. All in all, this album is undoubtedly worth your time, especially if you’re a fan of either Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or any other traditional heavy metal band. Sure, this band may bring very little truly new to the table, but as long as it’s fun, who cares?