WIZRD’s first album, Seasons (2022) was a breath of fresh air, blown across the North Sea from their homeland of Norway; a heady mix of indie flavoured prog and psychedelia. The follow up, Elements, has just been released, and their style is instantly recognisable, but they are noticeably experimenting with new ‘elements’ to their repertoire, and the results are very exciting.
The band revel in improvising, but on Elements, have honed their approach to be a little more concise, and that makes the new opus more immediate and memorable. Where they once tended to head off on jazz tangents, they now seem to be exploring the more psychedelic side of their oeuvre, but they are still more than happy to explore other directions when the fancy takes them.
The intriguingly titled opening track, GT, Me & My 6610 is typical of WIZRD’s sound. It’s kicks off with a tricky riff, Alex Skalstad’s drums clattering about with abandon, the opening verse giving way to a dreamy trippy segment before the riff reasserts itself. There’s something joyous about the contrasting sounds, and it’s a rocking start to the album. Mesmerised keeps the momentum going with guitar and keyboards playing the initial stanza in unison. Karl Bjorå’s exploratory guitar solo is indeed likely to render the listener mesmerised, and the chorus is memorable even after only a couple of listens.
The Void might only be three and a half minutes long, but is one of the proggier pieces, with dreamily sung verses, underpinned by gnarly bass from Hallvard Gaardløs. As it starts to fade, we segue into a longer song, and a departure of sorts. Fylkesvei 33 is driven by a pulsing sequencer, sounding a bit Ozrics-like, with spacey sound effects, and verses sung in Norwegian like a psychedelic mantra. The heartbeat seems to accelerate part way through, and things get very trippy. It’s not what I expected, and I love it! It fades away before anyone can get bored, in fact no song hangs around longer than you’d want it to. National Day is more driven psyche with an outstanding keyboard solo from Vegard Lien Bjerkan, who shines throughout this record.
Gaardløs leads the charge with a grumbling bass line for You’re Exposed!, one of the heavier tracks, and a song which typifies the ability WIZRD have to intuitively gel as a single entity, such is the tightness and empathy on display. It’s barely over when !!! sets off at breakneck pace again led by a lunatic bass line, the rest of the band hanging on for dear life. It’s a two minute jam serving as a coda for the previous song, and an exhilarating ride it is too.
Elements climaxes with the epic Fire & Flames, a dramatic piece featuring every band member, but especially Gaardløs’s passionate vocals and commanding bass, and some amazing keyboard playing from Bjerkan. It takes time to build, growing in intensity as it develops. Kaleidoskop is a gentle haunting song in contrast, and a perfect song to conclude the album. Again it is sung in their native tongue, with beautiful swelling backing vocals to calm the listener after such an energetic experience. It reminds me a bit of their countrymen Knekklectric, who strike me as a similar band in many ways.
WIZRD go from strength to strength, and show conclusively that their debut was no flash in the pan. Elements is a cracking rock album covering many styles, yet managing to remain cohesive and true to their developing identity. Their natural talents seem to magically gel when they play together, and that’s something rather special. They are another band I’d dearly love to see play live where I’m sure they’d be in their element! In the meantime, I do recommend giving Elements a listen.
TRACK LISTING
01. GT, Me & My 6610 (3:56)
02. Mesmerised (4:52)
03. The Void (3:26)
04. Fylkesvei 33 (6:13)
05. National Day (3:05)
06. You’re Exposed! (4:04)
07. !!! (2:04)
08. Fire & Flames (6:32)
09. Kaleidoskop (3:09)
Total Time – 37:21
MUSICIANS
Hallvard Gaardløs – Bass, Lead Vocals
Karl Bjorå – Guitar, Vocals
Vegard Lien Bjerkan – Keyboards, Vocals
Axel Skalstad – Drums
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Karisma Records | Bandcamp
Country of Origin: Norway
Date of Release: 6th December 2024
LINKS
WIZRD – Website (Karisma Records) | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube