Wails and Wildness
Sometimes, even for this old cyberpunk and chillwave nerd, you just need something more foundational. More primal. More visceral. White Wizzard's 2018 release Infernal Overdrive lights that fuse within me. A caveat: I don't really dig a lot of White Wizzard's other albums. But with Infernal Overdrive, they really hit the sweet spot. This is delectable hard rock, bordering on metal, that is hard to beat.
Nine tracks take you to just over sixty minutes of searing, blinding hard rock fury. Infernal Overdrive is magic of the darkest kind with everyone in the band coming together in, to steal a phrase, perfect harmony. A harmony that will kick your teeth and make your ears bleed. If your neighbours' dogs don't start howling, you're not listening to it loud enough.
Wyatt Anderson's vocals are majestic and huge. The guy hits high notes like he's been kicked in the nethers by an elephant and drops into melodies like no other. The vocals emphasise the lyrics and turn them into a sledgehammer for the ears. A simple phrase like “Gates of Hell” take a whole new nastiness in the hands of Anderson.
This is not to belittle the musicians, Jon Leon (bass and guitars), James J. LaRue (guitars) and the wonderful Dylan Marks (drums). The atomic levels of energy these guys bring to the sound is simply mind-numbing. They create an aural onslaught that rips you a new one and shoves 200 pounds of Carolina Reaper peppers up there. These guys are awesome and have to be some of the fittest people on a stage.
One of the my favourite songs is “Critical Mass” and its utter excoriation of art critics of all types. It is an eight-minute fest of fury and it is here where Anderson really ups the ante and wails into the human threshold of pain. Just the opening soundbite is delicious. The rest of the song is a thunderous tonne of vituperation of hypocrites and toss bags who think they know what they are talking about when they slate artists.
For nuclear rock music with everything you need from a band that will drag you, kicking and screaming into and alternate dimension, White Wizzard's Infernal Overdrive is a masterpiece. This is not too strong a word. This is the album that should be in any serious rock fan's collection.
I just wish they would bring it out in vinyl.