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Wizrd — Seasons
(Karisma KAR239, 2022, CD / LP / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2023-03-02

Seasons Cover art

There is a constant stream of new bands coming out of Norway these days with Wizrd being one of the latest. This is a four piece band consisting of Hallvard Gaardløs (Spidergawd and Draken) on bass and lead vocals, Karl Bjorå (Megalodon and Collective) on guitar and vocals, Vegard Lien Bjerkan (Soft Ffog) on keyboards and vocals, and Axel Skalstad (Krokofant and Soft Ffog) on drums. In addition James Petralli (White Denim) provides guest vocals on “Fire and Water.” Wizrd is a band that explores a number of genres from 70s prog (think Gentle Giant and Yes) to jazz prog fusion to hard rock. The music is not at all what I expected from the band name and the vortex on the album cover. I was expecting a much more trippy listening experience than the quirky jazz grooves and occasional hard rock tunes, which left me flat. I do find Bjerkan’s keyboards interesting on several of the tracks, especially his organ riffs. And I was surprised by the nearly eight minute “Show Me What You Got” that started out with some 70s progressive hard rock that did not grab my attention until the gentle middle bridge where interesting musical things began to happen. And the last two tracks, “Divine” and “When You Call,” gently segue one the to other evoking Yes for a dreamy and mysterious ending to the album. Not a bad debut at all for a new band of experienced musicians, though they do strike me as a band in search of their own sound.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Soft Ffog, Wizrd

More info
http://wizrd.bandcamp.com/album/seasons

 

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