WIZARDRY

Brooklyn band Wizardry played their first show ever back in May at Union Pool. The invite read, "and I mean smoke, fire, ravens, chalices, actual wizards) 45 minutes of new blistering classic metal material, ohhhh!" They played the same venue in June, and I'm not sure how many times since then, but anyone who's seen them probably hasn't forgotten thanks to the 'classic metal' band's love of theater and costumes. - Brooklyn Vegan

This premiere performance included fur vests, leather pants, black face paint, a large papier-mâché skeleton of a tyrannosaur, a smoke machine, a chalice, and a large silk-screen zebra tapestry. Gimmicky? Yes. Bad? Not! - New York Magazine

...Shortly after King Dust's set was done, a black sheet was hung across the stage opening, blocking the audience's view of headliner Wizardry's stage set-up. Finally, after what seemed like the longest setbreak ever, I got the feeling that they'd be taking the stage when Sabbath's "The Wizard" was played over the PA, and the crowd (which had grown to a decent size by this point) started moving around impatiently. Eventually, the sheet was finally ripped down, revealing the bassist alone on the stage, with what looked like a giant skeletal pterodactyl spine and skull protruding from the cape covering his back/upper neck area, extending to at least three feet above his head. Pretty fucking funny. The stage was also adorned with three fake flame dealies, and the bandmembers' attire ranged from capes to pirate shirts to fur vests. Um, hilarious?

Of course, if these guys couldn't deliver the goods musically this would have basically amounted to a barrelfull of kitsch, but the music definitely rocked, and HARD. Wizardry's musical style covers NWOBHM/early Metallica territory, firmly within the category of Classic Thrash. And they certainly had their chops down, especially the lead guitarist, whose style took as much from Queensryche's Chris de Garmo as it did Kirk Hammett. The vocalist menacingly pranced around the tiny stage as best he could, at times disappearing backstage to let the musicians rock the fuck out undistracted, only emerging to perform his vocals. (This led to more than a couple humorous incidents where he seemed to get stuck between the lead guitarist and the bassist's monstrous skeletal appendage. All in good fun.)

After the awesome "Drink From the Chalice," a trapeze (?!) was let loose from the ceiling, suspended over the middle of the dance floor area. As the band lurched into "The Good Witch," said Good Witch descended the staircase from the soundboard area and leaped onto the trapeze, performing a stunning display of acrobatics in time with the music, which ended with her jumping off the trapeze, crawling across the floor, and grappling with the vocalist. Was this the most over-the-top concert I've ever attended? Quite possibly. And pretty frickin' awesome. - Tudd's Muddd

I have had the distinct pleasure of seeing Brooklyn, NY-based Wizardry twice in the past several months within the extremely cramped confines of the dirty, dank, dingy basement of the Lit Lounge (for those not familiar, imagine a dimly lit basement performance space no more than 15 feet wide, walls made entirely of stone, dirty couches in the corners, and a stage big enough to hold just the drummer for most bands… the whole place kind of resembles a medieval torture chamber). Both times, pretty ordinary dudes came in to set up the band’s equipment, left the stage, and less than 5 minutes later were back in the FULL accoutrement you see in this video — furs, robes, makeup, everything. In fact, I completely seriously remarked to the show promoter last week how I thought Wizardry were awesome for having their own roadies; man, that made me look like an idiot.

In any case their live show absolutely stunned all those in attendance; for all the possible ridiculousness a band that looks like this could bring, these guys are completely serious and totally pull it off. More people ought to know about this band, so hopefully posting their new video for “Under the Wizard’s Sleeve” will help. When you’re done, check out some of their heavier tunes on their MySpace page. Remember — completely serious. Seriously.

NYers can catch Wizardry at Union Pool in Brooklyn on August 23.

-VN
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 10:30am by Vince Neilstein - WWW.Metalsucks.net