Over the Top

White Wizzard is one of the bands that are spearheading the so-called new wave of traditional heavy metal, which is a movement that I am a pretty big fan of. This new movement has brought us some pretty damn good bands that I really enjoy. I'll take these aspiring Iron Maidens and throwback bands any day of the week over the latest metalcore or emo band that pumps out the same garbage every year, but even then, a lot of the real metal bands nowadays either completely and miserably fail to create a substantial or impressive album, or they try far too hard to copy their influences and end up sounding a little too much like a gimmick or throwback band.

White Wizzard (despite the rather awkward name) are actually one of the better bands in this movement. I have known the title track from this album for a while and have always liked it, so I decided to check out the whole album. I must say, this isn't bad at all. Are these guys the new Iron Maiden that they are trying so hard to be? Not at all, heck, not even close. They need a serious overhaul in the guitar department, a way better vocalist, and some better lyrics to come even close to attaining that. The only reason I compare them to the British legends is because these guys are nailing the Iron Maiden sound on the head. They have what it takes to put together some very good stuff, but they are majorly lacking originality. Doing a great job of sounding like your influences can be one side of the coin, but if you are going to do that, then a band should bring a heaping helping of their own flavor to the table. The band does this a little bit, but not enough to truly break the mold. If I wanted to listen to something like this, I could just throw on Powerslave, an album that literally blows this one out of the water.

The song structures, the basslines, the vocal style, even some of the drums all resemble Iron Maiden. A few of these tracks just scream Powerslave to me, but the sound is severely lacking the dynamics to pull it off. The band generally does an excellent job of putting together some great songs, full of changing tempos, lead breaks, and some impressive complex sections here and there. There are some songs that are put together fantastically and written very well (there are a few that aren't good, but I'll get to that), but the more I listen to this, there are a few things that are a detriment to the album.

The first and most obvious is the set of extremely weak lyrics. Each and every song on here is obnoxiously lacking well written and original lyrics. Songs glorifying the genre they play? Check. Songs talking about Satan and/or Hell? Check. Songs about the streets and partying? Check. Song about violence or war? Check. Obligatory "epic" song? Even have a check there too! I bet you can't guess what's wrong with the epic on this album! The lyrics suck, and it tries embarrassingly hard to be an Iron Maiden song. Usually lyrics never bother me, but songs like "Out of Control" just aren't cool at all and end up being a little annoying. Yeah, we get it, hail rock and roll, metallic overload yeah yeah. It gets old quick, and hurts the album in the long run in my opinion. The brains behind this band, Jon Leon, is a brilliant musician, he writes the riffs, basslines, and he puts the songs together; but his lyrics are pretty damn bland.

The other big thing that hurts this album, is the fact that it sounds forced sometimes. The lack of originality is one of the factors that goes into this. There was huge potential for this to be absolutely amazing, but it comes across as trying to be metal, instead of just playing their music, which is a very bad thing in my opinion. A band should express themselves lyrically in a natural and creative way, but it sounds like these got their lyrical influences simply from listening to the NWOBHM. The result is a band that has serious potential to actually be one of the best modern metal bands, but they present all of their musical prowess in a rather adolescent way half of the time. Even the two most complex tracks on the album, "White Wizzard", the awful and annoying "Death Race", and the ever so cleverly named (not) "Iron Goddess of Vengeance" are some of the weaker tracks on the album, because they are forced to try to sound a certain way. The latter is almost a blatant Iron Maiden rip-off, and it falls on its face, wasting a good seven and a half minutes of the album's run time. The band should have stuck with the formula used on the other songs, rather than trying to literally be Iron Maiden.

While I do have faults with the poor lyricism and overall lack of originality; the bad does not outweigh the good. The majority of these tracks are very enjoyable and, for the most part, put together with creativity and skill. Tracks like "Strike of the Viper", "Live Free or Die", "40 Deuces", and the title track are all excellent songs. Some of the riffs are great, and some of the bridge sections are fantastic. The album also has a general continuity and consistency that really makes it a great listen as a whole, winning it big points for me. I also really like the riffs that Jon Leon writes, they are usually fantastic and very creative. I really hope that this guy finds a stable lineup for his band, as he has some serious talent. His bass lines are top freakin' notch, some of them are actually very unique and would make Steve Harris proud. His contribution to the music is outstanding, as I said, this dude writes the songs, the lyrics, the riffs, the bass lines, everything. He nails everything except for lyrics, and if he would develop a strong sense of originality, we could be seeing this band do something amazing.

The musicianship on this album is an interesting case in my opinion, everybody is fantastic, but the guitar player is the weak link. The singer is great, he does an excellent job leading the band along. His voice also fits the music brilliantly, even though I am not a fan of those singers who are caught halfway between Bruce Dickinson and James Hetfield. The rhythm section is seriously top notch. Jon Leon is an extremely good bass player, even if he really is like a fucking sequel to Steve Harris. He does an excellent job of writing and playing far above average bass lines that not only support the song, but actually outshine the guitarist. I'm not kidding, the bass in this is way more impressive than the guitarist ever is. The drummer is also fantastic, he plays very adept and creative drum lines that (shocker) remind me of Nicko McBrain sometimes. The guitar player actually has some excellent leads here and there that (you'll never guess) are reminiscent of Iron Maiden. His performance is actually really good, with some interesting bits in a few places, but when your glorifying and worshiping a genre that glorifies and worships the guitar, you should put some more effort into it, especially if you are going to rip off Iron Fuckin' Maiden.

Despite its flaws, White Wizzard's Over the Top is a great album. This is one of the better albums from the NWOTHM and it is a great listen for someone who is sick of the usual metal going on nowadays (me). The album is a real treat with some great string work, especially those awesome bass lines. When I listen to this, I find myself focusing on the bass. The great production also has the bass turned up a lot, which is a plus in my book. If you don't mind dumb lyrics and if you love Iron Maiden, you'll love this. If you don't like Iron Maiden, yeah, you'll hate this. I actually really enjoy this, it seriously is a shame that this band cannot keep a stable lineup, I'd be curious to see if they could do some really great records. I wonder if they developed a sense of originality for their next two albums, I guess I'll find out. I hear they aren't good though, which is a shame.

If you are digging around in the NWOTHM trying to find some good stuff, this is seriously worth your time, but I'd recommend checking out Striker from Canada, that band is better than this one in every single way. Ambush from Sweden is by far the best band from this movement, the two albums from them are untouchable, but where does Over the Top sit in the NWOTHM hierarchy? It definitely has a seat at that table, but it isn't the special guest. It is actually a little overrated if you ask me. It is good at first, but the second half of the album is very weak. Overall though, this album is a great listen, but the album's structural integrity is cut short by a serious lack of originality. I would recommend checking this out, it's great, just don't expect another Powerslave.