Wizard Tattoo - When Gods Had Hands

The Indianapolis based one-man band/project Wizard Tattoo has been reviewed on Doomed For Metal a couple times prior and I’m happy I was asked to review their new release, and second full-length album, “When Gods Had Hands.”  Bram the Bard, the musician behind the band, has also released three EPs and a compilation under the moniker.    Two of those EPs, “Living Just for Dying,” and “One of these Knives,” were reviewed by me for the blog. 

Those two EP’s were quite eclectic and blended a variety of styles; in that respect, they definitely took a progressive approach to their brand of dynamic metal.  However, “When Gods Had Hands,” takes on a much darker, more vitriol path in the form of blackened doom.   I’m not going to lie so I’ll be honest:  it wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all if they continued on with this form.  Whether they do or not is anyone's guess but this album is fantastic.   While I could do without some of the spoken word/sound bites/samples, there is little else to complain about here.  

Despite their more extreme routing this time around, the album still has plenty of variety and dynamics—they retain their niche for uniqueness and keep their personality.  To put it simply, there isn’t a band out there that sounds like Wizard Tattoo and that certainly hasn’t changed.

The production and mix are appropriately dark but thankfully it isn’t overly raw and has an enjoyable sound to it that doesn’t tire out the ears.  The atmosphere is very raw, however, and there is very little light to behold here at least in terms of presentation.    

The vocals are extremely venomous, often excluding in short, concentrated bursts like a snapping turtle lying in wait for the kill. The riffs don’t delve into tremolo too much, instead focusing on a doom style that combines black metal’s classic, evil phone with a doom metal approach.  The bass is a musical void that pulls the songs together with dark tendrils of bleakness that devours even as it keeps the songs flow with a very intense undertone.

The drums are quite profane in their attack—the double bass in particular is oppressive but the snares and cymbal work are intricate and impressive.  It’s a brutal but smart attack that isn’t bashing just for the hell of it—these drums stampede with purpose.

If there is any convincing needed to just how extreme this album is, all one needs to do is just hit that play button and let the opening song, “Part 1 - The Fall,” batter the senses.  If the sea of double bass doesn’t collapse your brain, then the vocals will just punch holes in it.  At its most profane moments, it’s a way of sound that almost feels palpable.  Yet, there is melody and progressive elements that glue it all together with passages that feel both epic and straight forward in their placement in the song.  This opening song also showcases how well the album flows between longer and shorter compositions.  None of the songs feel like their actual length and from track to track, the journey feels like it has a true endpoint destination

“Part IV Sanctuary,” is one of the shorter tracks at just over four and a half minutes.  But the band commands their seconds well with a slow but steady poem of darkness.  The riffs are stark and Gothic, like distant towers that rise to the skies and cast their shadow miles around them.  The drums and bass are like fires in the distance, a danger that seems far but it can quickly spread.  There is a hypnotic, tribal feel to this song that makes it all the more gripping—and dangerous with its beckoning calls.  There is a subtlety in its atmosphere that makes its weirdly curious too.

That song fades into silence so it is only fitting that “Part V Retribution,” takes a more immediate approach.   This is one of my favorites on the album because, at least in my humble opinion, is a great example of how the album truly melds atmosphere and aggression together. The first minute or so of the song is really something else, with the surprisingly soulful solo cutting through the doom fuzz.  I’m partial to the last two minutes as well:  slow, brooding, like a moving death that can’t be seen but wholly felt. 

The final song, “Part IIX The Fault,” is another personal favorite for me.  The clean tones are deep and menacing in their own way, a sort of foreboding way that prepares the listener for the heavier passages.  There is a bit of…twang (for a lack of a better term) included among the strumming and it enhances the atmosphere well.   The vocals are freighting—-deep growls that come from a place I never want to go to.  

Wizard Tattoo is really onto something with “When Gods Had Hands.”  It isn’t an album I ever expected them to make but I’m glad they took the journey and brought me along with it, however harrowing and disturbing it can be.   The sky is the limit for this band and if it continues to be a bleak and thunderous one, then I’m right here for it. 

Rating: Great