Hazemaze - Blinded By The Wicked (Album Review)

Release Date: January 28th 2022. Record Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Format: DD/CD/Vinyl

Blinded By The Wicked - Tracklisting

1. In The Night Of The Light, For The Dark

2. Devil's Spawn

3. Ethereal Disillusion

4. Sectatores Et Principes

5. Ceremonial Aspersion

6. Divine Harlotry

7. Luciferian Rite

8. Malevolent Inveigler

Members

Ludvig Andersson - Guitar/Vocals

Nils Einéus - Drums

Estefan Carrillo - Bass

Review

Swedish Doom/Stoner Metallers Hazemaze waste no time in getting down to business of playing wickedly entertaining style of Seedy and Fuzz Driven grooves on their new album Blinded By The Wicked. Their first new full length album in three years and the first for their new label Heavy Psych Sounds. The album has that classic BLACK SABBATH sound merged with Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats seedy Occult Stoner Rock tones. Hazemaze operate in the classic world of Doom Rock/Metal and also the world of modern Fuzz/Stoner Rock with deliciously twisted results.

The album moves along at a cracking pace with shades of Classic Rock appearing on the excellent opening track In The Night Of The Light For The Dark. Screeching guitars and vintage based vocals allows Hazemaze to bring their own Occult Rock attitude to the Doom/Stoner Rock masses. The atmosphere is built upon GLOOMY lyrics that capture the true OCCULT ROCK spirit. The FUZZY Guitars have shades of IOMMI RIff Worship to them but with a small Stoner Rock/Metal flavour to give it more musical bite. The song does capture the 70s Doom Rock environment that many classic bands made their reputation from but with these guys being Swedish, you can also hear that classic Swedish Hard Rock/Metal swagger.

Second song Devil’s Spawn sees Hazemaze drift further into their Doom Metal odyssey with flashes of 60s style Psych Classic Occult Rock with almost AMPLIFIER WORSHIP levels of free-flowing Stoner Rock/Metal. The song also has a kick-ass Psychedelic element that can be quite spacey in places even with the Occult vibes of both the song and the album. The vocals remain firmly in the 70s Old-School of Doom Rock. Another great song that can be quite loud in certain places.

Third song Ethereal Disillusion shows the listener the bleak message of the whole album and Hazemaze just thrive bringing a bleaker style of Doom/Stoner Metal. The lyrics are very straight to the point with the music having a certain creative style to them. This song feels inspired by 60s/70s Classic Hard Rock bands such as CREAM or Blue CHeer with it’s free-flowing based riffs and when the guitar solos play the meaty sounds it’s the epic BASS LINE that’s the standout part of the song.

Fourth song is called Sectatores Et Principes which is beautifully played and shows a different side to Hazemaze that I wish they explored a little bit more. Still great to see a different side to the band,

There’s eight tracks on the album and I’ve only described the first half of the album in great detail. This should tell all you need to know on what to expect with the album. The album is a clever mix of different styles of Doom/Stoner Rock that fuses other areas of Hard Rock but keeping everything on the right side of Occult Rock.

Other standout songs include: Ceremonial Aspersion, Luciferian Rite and Malevolent Inveigler.

The production is excellent which you would expect this being a Heavy Psych Sounds release. The album does a wonderful job of showcasing the many different eras and timelines of music held on the album. 

Blinded By The Wicked is Hazemaze's best album to date with the record being a thrilling and superbly outlandish spectacle of Doom/Stoner Metal. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo. 

Blinded By The Wicked will be released on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds from Jan 28th 2022.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Hazemaze - Hymns Of The Damned (Album Review)

Release date: November 23rd 2019. Label: Ripple Music (CD) / Cursed Tongue Records (Vinyl). Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Hymns Of The Damned – Tracklisting

1.Shadow in the Night 06:36

2.Morbid Lust 05:19

3.Thrill Seeker 05:24

4.Lobotomy 05:56

5.Solicitor of Evil 06:56

6.Green River 03:33

7.Reverend Death 03:47

8.Forever Trapped in Hell 04:11

Members

Ludvig Andersson (Guitar/Vocals)

Nils Ein (Drums)

Estefan Carrillo (Bass)

Review

Hymns Of The Damned is the new album Swedish Fuzz/Doom/Stoner Rockers and it sees the band continue their Heavy Rock/Metal journey inspired by the classic 70s Hard Rock sound. The album is quite a confident affair with the band playing addictive grooves that feel influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath and Uncle Acid but with a more addictive Fuzz/Stoner Rock sound.

Opening song – Shadow In The Night – dives head on into the Doom Metal sound with heavy grooves aligning themselves to a more threatening Stoner/Fuzz based approach. The vocals are loud, brash and full-on from the start but the music is where the magic happens with this highly talented Power-Trio proving they can play some epic riffs of their own. The band do play some finely tuned psychedelic guitar solos along the way which is quite refreshing to hear.

Second song – Morbid Lust – as you can tell from the song title carries on with the almost Occult/Doom Metal approach with a heavy bass riff opening the song before the heavy gloomy guitars take centre-stage and drive the action to the very end. The vocals are definitely inspired by 70s Classic Doom Rock/Metal with the lyrics having quite an Occult feel to them. The music can be too theatrical and classed too “Retro” at times but there is an addictive charm to it all.

Third song – Thrill Seeker – has a more “Garage Rock” feel to it with the vintage production that is contained on the song. This isn’t as polished as the opening two songs but is the most intriguing. As the band feel truly alive on this song despite the raw sound and manic energy of it all. This feels like Hazemaze have stripped everything back for a true sounding 70s Doom/Stoner Rock offering and it ends up being perhaps the best song on the entire album.

Hazemaze follow the same path for the rest of the album with the band further exploring their strangely wonderful Doom/Fuzz/Stoner Metal hybrid sound with a few dangerous Psychedelic twists and turns along the way. Songs such as Lobotomy, Solicitor Of Evil and Reverend Death sees Hazemaze selling their creative souls to SATAN himself with some epic riffs being played just for the sheer FUN of it all.

The production is handled superbly well. As it sees the band play a fine balance between 70s Doom Metal and even modern sounding Fuzz/Stoner Metal atmospherics.

If you’re looking for old-school Doom Metal thrills and spills but with a more modern approach then you should give Hymns Of The Damned a spin. As it’s quite an exciting and action-packed listen that even LUCIFER himself would approve of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo. Hymns Of The Damned is available to buy now via the following labels and formats:

Cursed Tongue Records – Vinyl
Ripple Music – CD

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Exclusive Video Premiere Of HAZEMAZE New Song - SHADOW IN THE NIGHT

Swedish Doom Rockers - HAZEMAZE - will be releasing their highly anticipated new album Hymns Of The Damned on November 22nd 2019 through Cursed Tongue Records and Ripple Music.

We'll be reviewing their album at a later date. Though if you want to know what to expect you can read JJ's at The Obelisk review right now.

Hazemaze and Cursed Tongue Records have allowed me to exclusively premiere the video for Shadow In The Night from their upcoming new album.



Thanks to Hazemaze and Cursed Tongue Records for the info.

You will be able to pre-order the album soon from Cursed Tongue Records and Ripple Music

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp