Philadelphia-based psychedelic doom bringers, WIZARD EYE, will unveil the lead-footed wares of their self-titled new studio offering next month via Black Monk Records. Operating at the pinnacle of their creative and musical abilities, the record was captured in just three days at Haddon Heights, New Jersey’s Gradwell House Studios with Steve Poponi, mastered by Dave Downham, and boasts a cosmic fusion of bottom-heavy grooves, fiery fuzz, churning bass, otherworldly effects and raw vocals with roots planted firmly into the lysergic soil of ’70s acts like Hawkwind, Budgie, Blue Cheer, Captain Beyond, Motörhead and Black Sabbath.
In advance of its official release, now less than one month away, today Vice’s music portal Noisey thrusts forth the first official taste of the record with second track “Flying Falling.”
In a thorough breakdown of the track, vocalist/guitarist Erik Caplan elaborates, “This song took root two or more years ago, and it’s a bit uncommon for us because [bassist/vocalist] Dave [Shahriari] and I sing every lyric together. The combined texture of our voices — Dave’s being lower and more melodic and mine being higher and raspy — was interesting to us, so we decided to spread that dynamic across the entire song. It was a departure for us when we wrote it, but we plan to explore that area in greater depth in the future. The pulsing nature of the groove is kind of deceptive. While it seems fairly straightforward and simple, we threw a few challenging timing elements into the mix to entertain ourselves. The idea was to keep it from being predictable without disturbing the constant flow and feeling of the overall song. It is to [drummer] Mike’s [Scarpone] credit that he takes what could be fairly disparate sections and glues them together with a dead-solid pocket. The guitar solo and outro solo sections were a definite nod to Tony Iommi with obvious doubled fuzz-wah guitars, but the half-time psychedelic theremin freak-out at the very end ranges more into Hawkwind and Monster Magnet territory. I remember giggling a lot as I double-tracked wildly divergent theremin parts to create a maelstrom of sonic ridiculousness. [Engineer] Steve Poponi said it sounded like giant birds attacking. He’s kinda right.”
“Lyrically,” he continues, “this one was a collaborative effort. Dave wrote the first verse, including the wise-assed, ‘Flying is just like falling/Except for the end,’ which is obviously where we got the title. I wrote the chorus and the second verse, and I always felt the disparities between our lyrical approaches really illustrated our personalities well. Dave’s verse is analytical, smart and focused, whereas my contributions are more emotional, descriptive and exaggerated. That’s essentially the nature of our relationship within the band as well. It works for us.”
Witness the duality of “Flying Falling,” courtesy of Noisey at THIS LOCATION.
Since forming in 2008, the members of WIZARD EYE have put in countless hours honing their musical craft performing venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region sharing stages with the likes of Wino, Church Of Misery, Gates Of Slumber, Black Tusk, Sourvein, Sixty Watt Shaman, Karma to Burn, Pale Divine, Unorthodox, Lo Pan and countless others. The band has become a staple of the festival circuit, projecting its strength across stages for events like The Stoner Hands Of Doom, Eye Of The Stoned Goat, Autumn Screams Doom, Moving The Earth, Feast Of Krampus, Sludgement Day and Vultures Of Volume. Wizard Eye is the long-awaited release from a band whose time has come. Sites like The Obelisk have already listed the album as one of the “Top 50 Most Anticipated Releases of 2015.”
Wizard Eye will be released via Black Monk Records on October 10th, 2015 digitally and on limited-edition swirled vinyl with preorders and teaser tracks to be unveiled shortly.
http://www.facebook.com/wizardeye
http://www.facebook.com/BlackMonkRecords